Year 8, Day 154: Mark 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Mark 7 gives us an incredible change to traditional theological understanding.  In the past, traditional human wisdom says that if you want to stay clean, keep away from dirt.  This makes sense.  As little children we are taught that we don’t go out and play in the mud when we are dressed up for church on Sunday morning.  You don’t see women who are dressed up for a night on the town open up the engine of their car and start working on the greasy parts.  Before putting on a fresh pair of clothes, most of us know enough to take a shower.  We understand this fact.  To stay clean, get rid of the dirt and stay away from it.

If this is a motto for our life, then it worms its way into our theology as well.  To stay ritually clean, we need to keep away from sin.  If I don’t have contact with nefarious people, I’m supposedly less likely to become nefarious.  If I want to stay away from lust, then I need to stay away from situations that will cause me to lust.  If I want to stay away from greed, then I need to avoid things that will cause me to become envious.  It all makes logical sense.

The problem is that it is horrible logic.  I still get angry, even if I stay away from people who make me angry.  I still have lustful thoughts even if I avoid looking at people dressed in such a manner as to evoke lust.  I still become greedy even if I avoid conversations and situations that inspire a keeping up with the Jones’ mentality.  I still become impatient when I’m driving down the road in a car all by myself!

What we learn here, and what Jesus is teaching us in the first two-thirds of this chapter, is that sin does not have to originate from the outside.  Yes, I can be led into temptation by external forces.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t have enough means of sinning that comes from the inside of me, too!  I can get into enough sinful behavior with what lies within my heart; I don’t need external help.

This is why Jesus teaches us to pay attention to what is going on inside.  I need to monitor the condition of my heart and the desires of my flesh.  If my inside is clean, then I will have an easier time avoiding external temptation.  But if my inside is sinful and unchecked, then no amount of avoiding external temptation will keep me from sin.

So often we think that if we could just live inside a perfect spiritual bubble that life would be easy and righteousness would come.  That’s a lie.  Jesus tells us as much in these passages.  It is the condition of my heart that is far more significant than the circumstances of my life.  If I truly want to pursue righteousness, I need to look within first.

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