Spiritual Growth, Mark 7 - 8

Seek spiritual understanding. Our part: listening ears and seeing eyes! Ready always to be obedient and correcting our thinking and behavior.
ACCUSATION: The Jewish religious leaders were openly hostile toward Jesus and His ministry. They often followed Him from place to place to watch for anything to criticize and question. In Mark 7 account they are accusing the disciples of failing to practice the Jewish ceremonial washing...based entirely on tradition…not for hygiene nor required by Law. Anytime the Lord did something differently than they did, it put their authority in question. The traditional ritual of washing had been a reminder that the Jews were a special people…others were unclean…while they were to be separate. The good reminder had gradually degenerated into an empty ritual…pride and religious isolation were the result.
The washing ritual displayed a wrong attitude toward people, but also exposed their wrong idea of the nature of sin and their personal holiness. The Pharisees thought they were holy for the wrong reasons. They obeyed externally and still broke the Law in their hearts. The outer cleanliness did not agree with the inward condition. We are prone to hold onto traditions and ignore or disobey the living Word of God. Some traditions are helpful as reminders of our rich heritage, or as CEMENT to bind generations, but we must constantly beware lest tradition takes the place of truth.
CONDEMNATION: In their defense of tradition, the Pharisees eroded their own characters and also the character of the Word. They were hypocrites! Their religious worship was practiced in vain. True worship must come from the heart, and it must be directed by God’s truth, not man’s personal ideas. They and many today practice religion and become the worse for doing it!
v.7, 8, 9, 13 They taught their doctrines as God’s Word, laid aside God’s Word, rejected God’s Word and finally, robbed God’ Word of its power. People who revere man-made traditions above the Word eventually lose the power of God’s Word in their lives. No matter how devout they may appear, their hearts are far from God.
How much influence do the church fathers have in our own Christian churches. Are we guilty of replacing God’ truth with man’s traditions?
God’s definition of hypocrisy: acting in a way that you are not! Satan’s: acting differently than you FEEL!
Jesus specifically dealt with their breaking the 5th commandment. They had an ingenious way of breaking the Law and not feeling guilty. Instead of using their wealth to support their parents, they dedicated that wealth to God (Corban=an offering, a gift Nub. 30) and claimed that the wealth could now be used only for “spiritual purposes.” They continued to get the benefit of that wealth, even though it technically belonged to God. They claimed to love God, but they had no love for their parents!
DECLARATION: Jesus announced to the crowd that the source of holy living is from within, not from without. He was declaring null and void the entire Mosaic system of “clean and unclean” foods (did not explain). The religious accusers realized that Jesus was breaking down the walls that separated the Jews from the Gentiles. In every period of history, true holiness has always been a matter of the heart, a right relationship with God by faith. Ceremonial purity was a matter of external obedience to a law as evident of that faith. Moses made it clear in Deut. that God wanted love and obedience to come from the heart, and not be merely outward obedience to rules.
EXPLANATION v. 17-23 was given privately to His disciples when they asked Him concerning the parable. These men had been brought up under the strict Jewish dietary code that categorized all foods as clean and unclean. It is not easy to change our religious traditions. As a lost man, the human heart is sinful and produces all manner of evil desires, thoughts, and actions, everything from murder to envy. Lost man is a sinner, unable to control or change his own nature. That is why Jesus came to earth—to die for lost sinners!
The dietary laws were given by God to teach His chosen people to make a difference between what was clean and what was unclean. (There are also other reasons like sanitation, and health.) To disobey these laws was a matter of ceremonial defilement, and that was an external matter. Food ends up in the stomach but sin begins in the heart. The food we eat is digested and the waste evacuated, but sin remains and it produces defilement and death.
Truth vs. tradition was a constant irritant to the Jewish religious leaders.
Looking at the differences:
Man’s traditions God’s truth
Outward forms-bondage Inward faith – liberty
Trifling rules Fundamental principles
Outward piety True inward holiness
Neglect, replace the Word Exalts the Word of God

HELPING THE GENTILES v. 24 – 8:9 Three miracles that Jesus performed as He ministered to the Gentiles. He was practicing what He had taught the Disciples: there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles – all are sinners and need the Savior.
Casting out a demon: v.24-30 A concerned mother discovered the Lord was in her area about 40 miles from Capernaum. Obstacles: She was a Gentile, a woman, Satan was against her and at first it appeared that Jesus was against her.
It was not an easy situation, and yet she triumphed because of her great faith. We have much that we can learn from her about faith. Even when Jesus made His mission clear, it did not hinder her from pressing on. First time she addressed Him as Son of David. The next time she simply said, Lord, help me. Matt.15:25 NOT throwing the children’s food to “the little pet puppies” gave her hope and she took hold of it. She did not deny the Jews special place…all she wanted were a few crumbs of blessing from the table. She took Jesus very words and used them as a basis for her plea. She accepted her place, she believed His Word, and she persisted in her plea; and Jesus not only met her need, but commended her for her faith. This woman dared to believe that Jesus could deliver her daughter. Great faith is faith that takes God at His Word and will not let go until God meets the need. Great faith can lay hold of even the slightest encouragement and turn it into a fulfilled promise. “Lord, increase our faith.
Healing a deaf man 31-37: The man did not HEAR Jesus speak, but the creation heard the command of the Creator, and the man was healed. Both the tongue and the ears functioned normally again. These Gentiles “glorified the God of Israel” Matt. 15:31
Feeding the 4,000: The first feeding of the 5,000 took place in Galilee, near Bethsaida and involved predominantly Jews. The feeding of the 4,000 took place near Decapolis and involved mostly Gentiles. The 5,000 – 5 loaves and 2 fish, 12 small wicker lunch baskets – people with Him one day. The 4,000 – 7 loaves and a few fish, 7 large hamper baskets (big enough to hold a man) of fragments – people with Him for 3 days. We are encouraged by our Lord’s compassion and His complete control over the situation. The blindness and unbelief of the disciples is almost unbelievable to us. Had they completely forgotten the previous miracle? Don’t be too hard on them…how many times have WE forgotten the mercies of the Lord? He is always the same…we need to trust Him, give Him our all, and obey!
Warning the Disciples v. 10-26 The still angry accusers met them on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. This time they tempted Him to prove His divine authority by giving them a sign from heaven. They wanted some kind of spectacular event to prove Who He was – sent from God. His response was one of deep grief and disappointment. They were hardhearted and spiritually blind. True faith takes God at His Word and is satisfied with the inward witness of the Spirit.
It seems the disciples were almost as blind as the Pharisees. When they crossed to the east side – Jesus taught. The men discussed their food supply. The fact that He had multiplied bread on 2 occasions and fed over 10,000 people had apparently made little impression on them! Why argue and worry over one loaf of bread when you have Jesus in the boat with you? Their minds were dull, their hearts were hard. 6:52. Their eyes were blind, their ears were deaf Mark 4:11-12. We often have a tendency to forget His blessings. He meets our needs, but then when the next problem arises, we complain or become frightened. As long as we are with Him, we can be sure He will care for us. It would do us all good to pause occasionally and remind ourselves of His goodness and faithfulness. If we practice “Giving thanks in all things”! it will effectively put us into a state of being reminded of His hands in our lives all the time!
Leaven: is consistently a symbol of evil. At Passover they had to remove all leaven from their dwellings. And it was not allowed with the offerings. Evil, like leaven, is small and hidden, but it spreads and soon infects the whole. The Bible uses leaven as a picture of false doctrine. Gal. 5:1-9, unjudged sin in the church I Cor. 5, hypocrisy Like 12:1. Here Jesus warned them about the teaching (false doctrine of the Pharisees and the followers of Herod. The Pharisees practiced and encouraged hypocrisy; the Herodians were a worldly group who catered to Herod, accepted the Roman way of life, and saw in Herod and his rule the promised kingdom for the Jewish nation. If the false teaching got into the hearts and minds of the disciples, it would infect them and pollute the truth Jesus had given them to proclaim about Himself and His kingdom.
We cannot ever be too careful about detecting and avoiding false doctrine. Only a small deviation from the Word may get into an individual or a church, but before long it will grow and infect everything. Heresy: A whole lot of Truth with a little bit of lie/evil in it!
The two miracles: the deaf man and the blind man: perhaps we can see the disciples’ spiritual condition! Friends brought the men to Jesus and Jesus led the men away from the crowds. The man was healed gradually…not usually the way. The man was not ready for instant sight, so Jesus restored him gradually.
LESSONS the disciples were taught and we must learn:
• Don’t seek after signs, but live by faith in His Word;
• Trust Jesus to meet needs;
• Avoid the leaven of false doctrine
• Let Jesus work as He wills, and expect variety in His working.

In v. 27-33:
What people believe and say about Jesus Christ IS important, for He is the Son of God and the only Savior of sinners. Your confession, concerning Jesus is a matter of life or death. The only confession that saves us is “Jesus is Lord” when that confession comes from a heart that truly believes in Him. In His words and His Words, Jesus gave every evidence to the people that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, and yet they did not get the message. People listened to popular opinion and followed it, just as many people do today. They had opinions instead of convictions, and this is what led them astray. Elbert Hubbard defined public opinion as “the judgment of the incapable many, opposed to that of the discerning few.” Thank God for the discerning few!
“Get thee behind me, Satan”????????
We must be ready to speak those same words to the enemy today. He still must be defeated by the Word ‘at the place of the skull’ anytime he tempts us in our thoughts!