St. Mark 7:1-13
Dearly beloved,
We now turn our attention to the gospel of St. Mark for a
few weeks. Having focused so heavily on the Bread of Life discourse the
last several weeks, the church now ponders confrontation and conflict
between the Pharisees and Jesus. This gospel focuses on the ceremonial
nature of hand-washing, which is not easy to understand.
The disciples fail to do the ceremonial washing before they
eat. This failure to act in the ways of the Jews and the Pharisees prompts
a strong rebuke by the Jewish teachers of the Law. Jesus responds by
quoting the Old Testament scriptures, particularly the prophet Isaiah. The
topic that is swirling in this account between Jesus and the Pharisees is
the question of the heart. This deserves our attention today.
The prophet Isaiah spoke words that would not have been well
accepted in our culture today. They weren’t very well accepted in his day,
either. But Isaiah highlights a dimension of sin that can take over people
and often does. Isaiah says that the eyes of the prophets and teachers have
been closed. They entered a spirit of deep sleep. Even in Isaiah’s day the
prophets and teachers of the law were unable to understand the Holy
Scriptures.
We are told in the Old Testament lection for today that when
they try to read the Old Testament, they say they cannot for it is sealed. In
other words, they read the words and they cannot understand what they read.
They do not “get” what God is trying to say. This is because the teachers
had become more interested in what they were accustomed to and less
interested in what God was trying to teach. They sold out the Holy Spirit
for their own contentment.
It is hard to know for sure what was really getting to the
Pharisees. Were they so blinded by what they were used to that they could
not really see that the Old Testament speaks and prophecies of Jesus Christ?
Indeed. The Pharisees, by clinging to their practices and their comfortable
ways, were holding on to job security. But when this man, Jesus, comes with
some raggedy fishermen and they don’t tow the old line, then the disciples
are bad.
More than that, Jesus taught with power. This, too,
threatened “job security.” So, how fitting that Jesus would quote from
Isaiah 29. The reason it is fitting that Jesus would quote from there has
to do with the fact that Isaiah is prophesying that the teachers of the Law
would be replaced by the most unsuspecting of characters. Isaiah says, “And
the Lord said: because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me
with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is
a commandment of men learned by rote; therefore, behold, I will again do
marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous;
“and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the
discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Isaiah is saying that
in the future the so called wise men will be utterly ignorant. There will
be a seal on the interpretation of the Scriptures. But this book will be
opened by the most unsuspecting of people. A very important verse comes out
in Isaiah. “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of
their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall
obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy
One of Israel.”
This is prophecy of the days of Jesus. Those who did not
understand will come to understand. Lowly fishermen will preach God’s word
with power. The Pharisees and the Scribes must have looked at the disciples
with disdain. These men were nothing to look at. It just so happened that
the hearts of the disciples were open to learning and seeking God. They
were willing to be surprised by what was taught to them. The Pharisees were
not willing to learn; they were not willing to be surprised and accept what
they heard.
There are a few very important points for us to ponder for
our own Christian existence. First, we must always be ready to be
surprised. If we desire to be comfortable, we will also become complacent.
We will stop growing spiritually and then hold on for dear life to the
things that have made us comfortable. This can be a roadblock to our growth
and maturing as Christians. Second, Jesus uses people that we would not
expect to further His work of the kingdom.
Jesus wants to use the meek and the humble. The reason
Jesus does this is so that His heavenly Father’s name will be glorified and
not the person. If Jesus had chosen great, worldly, savvy men for the
apostolic ministry, then men would attribute wonders and success to those
savvy men. But, if Jesus uses tax collectors and fishermen, then people
will marvel at God’s work.
This is all why Isaiah prophesies that in the future, “the
meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult
in the Holy One of Israel.” This is fulfilled in the disciples who sit
there with unwashed hands. Applying this to ourselves, then, we must be
careful that we do not become to conceited in what we think we know. For if
we think we have all things figured out and then condemn those who do
differently, we stifle the Holy Spirit. We do not leave ourselves open to
unsuspected blessings from the Lord.
We must repent of all sins, including sins in this regard. We
must seek the Lord’s will for His church, not our will for His church. Christ
aims to bestow great blessings on His people through the word and
sacraments. He, in fact, has done it on the cross. Your sins have been
washed away and you have been redeemed from the condemnation of the Law. You
have been set free by the Spirit of God and you walk as His holy children.
The blessings shall abound if we but let the Lord do His
work in His church, His beloved Bride. The goodness of God is made known to
us and the seal of the Scriptures has been broken open by the teaching of
Christ and carried on by His apostles. His love is in your midst, and His
truth envelopes you with the proclamation of everlasting life and holiness
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
