Worship God From Our Hearts.
Mark 7:1-23
Key Verse: 7:6b-7
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”(Pro4:23) This is a timeless word of wisdom, proven and confirmed by generations throughout history. It teaches that the most important thing we should protect is our heart – keeping it pure from sin and evil and devoted to loving and worshipping God. Today’s passage can be viewed as a social issue, a legal matter, or a conflict between people. But, Jesus looks beyond the outward symptoms and exposes the deeper reality. The deepest problem is the human heart -wounded, distorted, and corrupted by sin. Since we all know from experience how difficult – indeed, how impossible – it is to change the human heart, we cannot help but feel helpless in the face of this problem.
Therefore, we need Jesus. Jesus is the one who came to heal our hearts, renew and give us a new heart. He enables us to truly love God, and worship God from the depths of our hearts. Through today’s passage, may God give us a new heart and a new spirit, so that we may truly worship God with all our hearts.
- Lips vs. Heart
Jesus’ Galilean ministry had been truly beautiful. He had revealed God’s compassionate heart toward helpless people – teaching the word of God, healing the sick, feeding thousands. But as we know, wherever there is a great work of God, opposition is never far behind. Look at verse 1. “The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.” They were sent from the religious headquarters in Jerusalem. Notice what they were doing – they were not coming to learn from Jesus or to understand his ministry. Rather, they came to investigate him and find somethin they could use to accuse him. Following Jesus around, checking out him and his disciples, taking notes, and looking for weaknesses – vulnerability that could discredit his ministry. Eventually, they found what they were looking for.
Verse 2 tells us that they noticed that some of his disciples were eating food with unwashed hands. Jesus and his disciples were very busy serving the crowds. So many people were coming and going that they often had no time to eat. I remember one time when we bought a box of roasted chicken and placed it on the table. I stepped away for just a moment to wash my hands. When I returned, the chicken was gone! Only the neck and the tail remained. After that experience, I learned never to leave food behind when hungry people were around. Perhaps Jesus’ disciples were much the same. With so many people to serve and so little time to eat, they did not worry much about ceremonial handwashing. They munched and crunched, laughed and talked, and occasionally even burped. They were indeed free in Jesus.
However, this became a big issue to the religious leaders. It was not a matter of hygiene; rather it was a violation of the tradition of the elders. Look at verses 3-4. “(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)” Mark explains what that washing looked like for us gentiles, who are not familiar with “the tradition of the elders.”
Look at verse 5. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands’?” To Peter, it was no big deal. He saw nothing wrong with eating without performing the ceremonial washing. However, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law viewed it very differently. In their eyes, the disciples had defiled themselves by breaking the traditions, and were therefore serious sinners who should be excluded from the religious community. Why did they take this matter so seriously? It was not because God had commanded it. Rather it was because these traditions had become an important part of their effort to remain holy and righteous. They believed that by carefully observing these traditions, they could preserve their identity as God’s holy people living in a pagan culture. However, over time, these traditions became the standard or measurement by which they judged who was holy and righteous. Anyone who failed to keep them could be shamed, ostracized and treated as an outsider. The religious leaders had built their reputation, influence, and authority upon their strict observation of traditions. Their identity as spiritual leaders depended on being seen as experts and guardians of these traditions. Consequently, they became more devoted to preserving their traditions than to seeking God’s heart. What Jesus and his disciples were doing was not merely challenging a set of customs, but challenging the very foundation of their religious authority. So, by asking “Why…,” they were actually condemning the disciples as unclean people – no different from pagan, ungodly Gentiles.
Then, how did Jesus respond? Look at verses 6-7. “He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”’ Jesus called them “hypocrites”. This is a strong word. In the original Geek, it literally means “actor.” A Good actor such as Al Pacino, can follow scripts perfectly. In a movie, he can deliver a passionate sermon like Billy Graham; he can tear their clothes, and weep bitterly in repentance and move people to tears; he can even portray a righteous man so convincingly. Yet, no matter how convincing the performance, it is still only an act; none of these reflects who he really is. That was exactly what the Pharisees were doing. So, Jesus pointed out their hypocrisy in two specific ways.
Firstly, they honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from God. In the synagogue, they taught and preached powerful and moving sermons. But they never let the word of God examine their own hearts. They taught about God’s compassion, but had none for others. Rather, they loaded heavy burdens upon them. They preached humility, but were consumed by pride. Their religious life had become a skilled performance for an audience of people, not for a genuine relationship with God.
Sometimes, we can easily fall into the same trap. We may go through the motions of Christina life – attending Sunday service, weekly Bible study, Orchestra or Bend practice, prayer meetings, and fellowship gatherings – without truly engaging our hearts. What, then, is the consequence of hypocrisy? Look at verse 7 again. Our life of faith becomes weary and burdensome. Our worship becomes a meaningless performance. Though we go through all the right motions, there is no real joy, no genuine love, no true hunger for God. Eventually we become exhausted from merely performing religious activities. When our focus shifts to religious performance, our Bible study becomes little more than learning rules and regulations about how to appear spiritual. Our concern becomes outward conformity rather than inward transformation. As a result, our worship becomes vain.
Why? Because God does not accept heartless worship service. He does not delight in mere lip service. They worshiped God with their lips. They served God with their lips. They repented their sins with their lips. They loved brothers only with their lips. They obeyed the command “You give them something to eat!” with their lips. They do everything with their lips. They really have powerful lips. But their hearts are far from God, and their worship was in vain.
Christians life cannot be lived with our lips alone. It must come from the hearts. Worship is the time to honor and love God from our hearts. It is the time to bring our hearts to God. What God desires is not an impressive religious performance, but hearts that are devoted to Him. That is why God commanded his people … love the Lord your God with all your hearts!
Their hypocrisy is also revealed in their attitude toward the command of God. Look at verse 8. “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” God wants us to worship him based on the truth of his word. In fact, God is seeking those who worship him in spirit and truth. But the religious leaders valued human traditions more than God’s word.
In verses 9-13, Jesus illustrated how they set aside the word of God. God’s written law says, “Honor your father and mother.” This is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. Not only that, but this is also written: “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” This tells the seriousness of honoring one’s parents.(Ex21:17) This is the commands of God. It cannot be set aside.
But the religious leaders had found a clever way to set aside the command of God in order to observe their own tradition. In verses 11-13, Jesus explains how they did this through the practice of “Corban.” Corban means “sacrificial offering to God.” It could refer to an animal sacrifice, a grain offering, property, or even a person’s service, in the case of a Nazirite. Such dedication could be commendable.
However, the religious leaders misused the practice of Corban. They claimed to dedicate their property to God, but in reality they kept it for their own use, while avoiding their responsibility to care for their parents. Not only did they do this themselves, but they also encouraged others to practice Corban by dedicating their property to God. In this way, they created a circumstance in which people could neglect their parents in order to keep the tradition Corban. Outwardly, they appeared devoted to God, but in reality they were disobeying God’s command. Look at verse 13. “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you handed down . And you do many things like that.” They nullified the word of God in order to keep their traditions.
This is a warning we need to take seriously. It is possible to build up so many rules, cultural expectations, and community traditions that they begin to replace the actual commands of God. God’s commandments are simple and clear. “Love God and love your neighbors.” Our rules, traditions, and programs should serve these two commandments, not replace them. When we become more concerned about maintaining meetings, programs, and events than actually loving a person in front of us, we have fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees. Our meetings, Bible studies, fellowships, prayers, programs and ministry activities must all serve God’s greater purpose – “Love God and Love your Neighbors.” When our traditions help us obey God’s commands, they are beneficial. If not, we need to take a serious look at our meetings, programs, and ministries in the light of God’s word: Do they lead us to love God more deeply and love our neighbors more practically? If they do not, then we must have the courage to change them accordingly.
- Clean Our hearts (14-23).
After directly addressing the Pharisees, Jesus then called the crowd to him and told them, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” (14-15) Do you understand what Jesus is talking about? We are often just like the disciples. The disciples did not understand it. Later, when the disciples asked him about this in private, Jesus explained the parable in verses 18-19. “Are you so dull?” he asked, “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of his body.” Mark adds the parenthetical comment, “(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean.’)”
Do you know that this is a revolutionary statement? With this teaching, Jesus brought the Old Testament ceremonial food laws to their fulfillment. He swept away the traditions of the elders as a measure of holiness and exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. All foods are clean. Thank God. We are free to eat any kind of food, as long as we can digest it. We can enjoy ham, bacon, even squid without any problems of conscience. Holiness is not determined by our diet but by the condition of our hearts before God. The real question is not “What am I eating?” but what is filling my heart?”
Those laws had served an important purpose. When God brought Israel out of Egypt, they had lived as slaves for generations in the midst of an idolatrous and immoral culture. They had little understanding of holiness. The gods of Egypt and Canaanite were associated with corruption, immorality, violence, deception, and wickedness. But the God of Israel was holy. Therefore, God’s people were called to be holy as well. They could not follow the corrupt culture around them. Instead, they were to build a distinct and godly culture as God’s covenant people. This is why God commanded them, “Be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev 11:44-45) The laws concerning clean and unclean food were part of God’s plan to shape a holy people in the middle of a pagan world. However, true holiness was never about what a person ate or did not eat. It was always about the heart.
Jesus wanted to teach what really defiles a person. The real problem of all people is a heart problem. Now Jesus, the son of God, makes this clear. Food does not defile a person. It enters the stomach and passes through the body. What truly defiles a person is not what goes into them, but what comes out from them.
Look at verses 20-23. “He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” This is a sobering list. If we are honest, we can find ourselves somewhere in it. These are not just problems out there in the world; they are the problems in our hearts. God wants us to honor and worship him from our hearts. But the problem is that our hearts have been deeply defiled by sin. How can we honor Holy God with sinful hearts? It is impossible. We cannot fix this ourselves. No amount of hand-washing can clean what is inside us. No religious activity, moral effort or self-discipline can purity the human heart. Left to ourselves, we are truly hopeless.
Is this Jesus’ purpose – to leave us in despair? Not at all. He wants us to realize that we cannot truly honor God or worship him from our heart without Him, without His sacrifice and without his blood. Remember the context of this passage, Jesus is about to leave Galilee. And make his way toward Jerusalem. There he will suffer and die on a cross.
This is not a coincidence. The entire flow of Mark’s gospel is heading toward that moment – the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. Jesus, the Son of God, became the lamb of God whose blood can cleanse the hearts of sinners. Heb 9:14 says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.” Only the blood of Jesus can purify our sin-stained hearts. It is because the blood of Jesus was not tainted by sin. This blood was the blood of the Son of God. There is power in the blood of Jesus. As the hymn says: ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
This blood of Christ is essential for all sinners who desire to be cleansed, reconciled to God and able to worship him. This blood will be given to those who confess their sins, put their trust in him. God forgives them, purifies them from all sin, and enables them to love God and love others from our hearts. The blood of Jesus is the key to honoring and worshipping God. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
What does it actually look like to honor God from our heart? We do not wear Christianity merely as a badge to show off. Instead, we live out our faith in our daily life by putting God’s word into practice. Be kind, Be patient, Be generous, Love your neighbor.
These are ways we honor God from our hearts. Let the word of God not merely inform us, but examine us and transform us. Let us come to Jesus today—not with a performance, not with religious masks, but just as we are with our hearts. If we trust in him, he, who is faithful, will forgive us, cleanse us from all sin, and give us new hearts. He will transform us into his holy people who love, worship, and serve God from their heart.