The Heart of the Law May 14
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
Inner work has rarely been a focus of those in the seat of power. This does not extend their illusion of control.
External appearances can be observed and quantified. External appearances can be made into law and rewarded. Those who do not outwardly submit by obedience can be identified easily and punished by the law.
Note that these words may be true of anyone in authority, from government to churches, from schools to homes. The false power exerted may be global or national or personal.
The Pharisees, the experts on the Mosaic Law according to their interpretation, arrive and criticize the clear disobedience of Jesus’ disciples to a vital law: they eat bread with unwashed hands.
We read these words today, and they seem superficial, as indeed they are. Do we also impose superficial, external requirements on people? Do we demand that the traditions of the religion, of the culture, of the tribe, of the family, be honored? Is there a badge that must be worn to belong to the group?
We should ask of any law, “What is the heart of this law? Does this law improve the character and integrity of the people for whom it is written, or does it serve only special interest groups and the rulers?”
Hypocrites May 15
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Isaiah’s words tell of how the religious authorities of his era focused on external acts rather than relationship of the heart.
The doctors of religion of Jesus’ day are the authorities on what actions are acceptable and what are not. The focus is on works, the things that people do and say.
Schooled in the traditions of men that have drifted over time from God’s intention. The emphasis is on external actions, the symptoms, rather than the thoughts of the heart, the relationship of people with their God.
Like a medical tradition that focuses on symptoms rather than causes, the process of restoring wholeness is expensive and misses the mark.
Hypocrites abound in all times and in many different guises. The word comes from the Greek for actor, dissembler. I have been and am in many things such a person, an actor, a dissembler. Perhaps you see yourself as a sometime hypocrite, also.
God is looking for a clean heart, a purity of character. That the clay pot or cup is dirty has no bearing on the character of the person holding it. To miss this is to miss the essence of relationship, with each other and with God.
True relationship is a desire for oneness with the other, and to be in the other’s service toward that goal. There is a mutual benefit, for as the other is lifted up, so we ourselves are also lifted up.
Beliefs Rule May 16
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,/But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,/Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Belief is the foundation of our being.
A number of people in different cultures and times have spoken of this fact. Beliefs become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become character, and character becomes destiny.
Solomon summed up the process: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).
The proverb tells us that the heart is the gatekeeper determining our relationship with the world, controlling what is allowed into our calculations and what we reveal from within to the world.
The common assumption is that the brain determines our direction and the brain is in control of the body. Anyone who has struggled with love, hate, despair, or any strong emotion, and lost the battle can testify to the overwhelming power of the heart over the mind.
God says through Isaiah that the people say the right things, but their hearts are not in their words. Their actions belie their words.
There is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). Jesus states that the Pharisees and their followers are doing the same thing all of these hundreds of years later.
Have we learned to say the right things and appear to be a certain way, dressing our speech and appearance in accordance with God’s will, but our hearts dictate actions that are in opposition to this?
Perhaps it is time for a wilderness experience to examine the heart, to explore the foundation of our beliefs.
Control May 17
Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
The religious leaders sought control of the spiritual realm, and they gained this by redefining the rules. A religion focused on laws based on works replaced a spiritual union with God based on relationship.
A religion is based on beliefs, practices, and values. For monotheistic Israel, there is a God Who had created the world and had given His people a set of laws by which to live. The Ten Commandments are a covenant between God and mankind, an agreement on the relationship between God and the Israelites, and how the people are to relate with Him and one another.
Laws dictate acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Breaking the law has consequences, both in terms of the law and the character of the individual.
Clearly defined sacrifices or penalties encouraged restoration of the sinner’s relationship with God. Additional laws established rules for restoring or remaining in relationship with other people.
The religious leaders were the Law interpreters and, eventually, were establishers of more detailed laws. These additional laws are relatively superficial, primarily dealing with external matters, such as diet, Sabbath observance, clothing, and such. These became law by tradition, by practice rather than by the command of God.
These laws became a means of controlling behavior, a legal strait jacket, rather than setting boundaries to relationships.
Lawmaking is a very great power easily abused.
Changing the Law May 18
Mark 7:9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
God respected mankind enough to give them the freedom of obedience or disobedience to the Law. He did not remove the freedom of choice, nor did He remove the natural consequences.
The traditions of men, additions to the Law originally given, came to be the doctrine of faith. This religious law, rather than divine Law, became belief.
The result was that the religious law could be maintained perfectly while the spirit of the Ten Commandments was violated egregiously.
Rewriting the Law in favor of works unrelated to character or relationship allowed the doctors of the law to place God in their debt. After all, if they performed what they regarded as His Law perfectly, God was bound by the covenant to show them His favor.
Tradition and doctrine became substitutes for the Commandments of God. This is Jesus’ charge, an accurate appraisal of a corrupt system. But the system has been in place for so long that it is considered normal rather than a travesty of justice, considered tradition rather than a violation.
What in the modern Christian belief system, the traditions and doctrines of the various denominations, rejects the spirit of God’s Commandments?
The universe is a living organism. Its existence implies an underlying force, a power that has created the physical reality and the rules by which it operates. We tinker with those rules to our own detriment.
Rebellion May 19
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
When a government is overthrown, a new power takes the reins and establishes new laws in accordance with the values of its supporters. Although the religious leaders still give nominal authority to God, they have rewritten His code of laws in accordance with their own desires.
In effect, they made themselves as gods.
Jesus gives an example here of the nullification of the fifth Commandment by placing mankind’s law above it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Ex. 20:12). This Commandment is a very straightforward command with a promise attached.
A man could dedicate his wealth as Corban, a gift to the Temple Treasury, but the wealth could be retained as long as desired, even until death. A son need not support his parents in their old age using this logic.
The natural order of relationship, a person with God, with family, and with the family of mankind, has been established from the beginning of time. “Tradition” is not a reason for overturning this truth, but is a weapon in the arsenal of rebellion.
Nullifying God May 20
Mark 7:13 “…making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Belief in God includes the knowledge that He has created all things. His order is the original order of the universe, which allows existence to continue as all of the parts combine to create an enduring whole.
When we disturb this order by inserting our own “word,” our substitute law, we disturb the wholeness, the oneness that holds all of existence in a dynamic and enduring equilibrium.
Becoming lawmakers, we have made the word of God of no effect. Destroying the web of relationship based on its central piece, we have become lawbreakers.
This is like an airport manager changing scheduled landing and departure times to suit his lunch break. Eventually, the schedules of all flights around the world are thrown into confusion. Chaos ensues and becomes the new normal. The lunch break becomes the lynch pin of flight scheduling rather than the efficient and effective transportation of people. A new tradition!
The Pharisees willfully destroy the relationship between parent and child with this particular tradition of corban. A small reinterpretation of the Scriptures destroys the essence of the parent-child relationship.
Jesus says that He did not come to destroy the law, to interpret it incorrectly, but to fulfill the law, to interpret it correctly and to live by God’s intention.
We are still to live by God’s intention for us, not by mankind’s reinterpretation of God’s will.
Next day
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
Inner work has rarely been a focus of those in the seat of power. This does not extend their illusion of control.
External appearances can be observed and quantified. External appearances can be made into law and rewarded. Those who do not outwardly submit by obedience can be identified easily and punished by the law.
Note that these words may be true of anyone in authority, from government to churches, from schools to homes. The false power exerted may be global or national or personal.
The Pharisees, the experts on the Mosaic Law according to their interpretation, arrive and criticize the clear disobedience of Jesus’ disciples to a vital law: they eat bread with unwashed hands.
We read these words today, and they seem superficial, as indeed they are. Do we also impose superficial, external requirements on people? Do we demand that the traditions of the religion, of the culture, of the tribe, of the family, be honored? Is there a badge that must be worn to belong to the group?
We should ask of any law, “What is the heart of this law? Does this law improve the character and integrity of the people for whom it is written, or does it serve only special interest groups and the rulers?”
Hypocrites May 15
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Isaiah’s words tell of how the religious authorities of his era focused on external acts rather than relationship of the heart.
The doctors of religion of Jesus’ day are the authorities on what actions are acceptable and what are not. The focus is on works, the things that people do and say.
Schooled in the traditions of men that have drifted over time from God’s intention. The emphasis is on external actions, the symptoms, rather than the thoughts of the heart, the relationship of people with their God.
Like a medical tradition that focuses on symptoms rather than causes, the process of restoring wholeness is expensive and misses the mark.
Hypocrites abound in all times and in many different guises. The word comes from the Greek for actor, dissembler. I have been and am in many things such a person, an actor, a dissembler. Perhaps you see yourself as a sometime hypocrite, also.
God is looking for a clean heart, a purity of character. That the clay pot or cup is dirty has no bearing on the character of the person holding it. To miss this is to miss the essence of relationship, with each other and with God.
True relationship is a desire for oneness with the other, and to be in the other’s service toward that goal. There is a mutual benefit, for as the other is lifted up, so we ourselves are also lifted up.
Beliefs Rule May 16
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,/But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,/Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Belief is the foundation of our being.
A number of people in different cultures and times have spoken of this fact. Beliefs become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become character, and character becomes destiny.
Solomon summed up the process: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).
The proverb tells us that the heart is the gatekeeper determining our relationship with the world, controlling what is allowed into our calculations and what we reveal from within to the world.
The common assumption is that the brain determines our direction and the brain is in control of the body. Anyone who has struggled with love, hate, despair, or any strong emotion, and lost the battle can testify to the overwhelming power of the heart over the mind.
God says through Isaiah that the people say the right things, but their hearts are not in their words. Their actions belie their words.
There is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). Jesus states that the Pharisees and their followers are doing the same thing all of these hundreds of years later.
Have we learned to say the right things and appear to be a certain way, dressing our speech and appearance in accordance with God’s will, but our hearts dictate actions that are in opposition to this?
Perhaps it is time for a wilderness experience to examine the heart, to explore the foundation of our beliefs.
Control May 17
Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
The religious leaders sought control of the spiritual realm, and they gained this by redefining the rules. A religion focused on laws based on works replaced a spiritual union with God based on relationship.
A religion is based on beliefs, practices, and values. For monotheistic Israel, there is a God Who had created the world and had given His people a set of laws by which to live. The Ten Commandments are a covenant between God and mankind, an agreement on the relationship between God and the Israelites, and how the people are to relate with Him and one another.
Laws dictate acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Breaking the law has consequences, both in terms of the law and the character of the individual.
Clearly defined sacrifices or penalties encouraged restoration of the sinner’s relationship with God. Additional laws established rules for restoring or remaining in relationship with other people.
The religious leaders were the Law interpreters and, eventually, were establishers of more detailed laws. These additional laws are relatively superficial, primarily dealing with external matters, such as diet, Sabbath observance, clothing, and such. These became law by tradition, by practice rather than by the command of God.
These laws became a means of controlling behavior, a legal strait jacket, rather than setting boundaries to relationships.
Lawmaking is a very great power easily abused.
Changing the Law May 18
Mark 7:9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
God respected mankind enough to give them the freedom of obedience or disobedience to the Law. He did not remove the freedom of choice, nor did He remove the natural consequences.
The traditions of men, additions to the Law originally given, came to be the doctrine of faith. This religious law, rather than divine Law, became belief.
The result was that the religious law could be maintained perfectly while the spirit of the Ten Commandments was violated egregiously.
Rewriting the Law in favor of works unrelated to character or relationship allowed the doctors of the law to place God in their debt. After all, if they performed what they regarded as His Law perfectly, God was bound by the covenant to show them His favor.
Tradition and doctrine became substitutes for the Commandments of God. This is Jesus’ charge, an accurate appraisal of a corrupt system. But the system has been in place for so long that it is considered normal rather than a travesty of justice, considered tradition rather than a violation.
What in the modern Christian belief system, the traditions and doctrines of the various denominations, rejects the spirit of God’s Commandments?
The universe is a living organism. Its existence implies an underlying force, a power that has created the physical reality and the rules by which it operates. We tinker with those rules to our own detriment.
Rebellion May 19
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
When a government is overthrown, a new power takes the reins and establishes new laws in accordance with the values of its supporters. Although the religious leaders still give nominal authority to God, they have rewritten His code of laws in accordance with their own desires.
In effect, they made themselves as gods.
Jesus gives an example here of the nullification of the fifth Commandment by placing mankind’s law above it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Ex. 20:12). This Commandment is a very straightforward command with a promise attached.
A man could dedicate his wealth as Corban, a gift to the Temple Treasury, but the wealth could be retained as long as desired, even until death. A son need not support his parents in their old age using this logic.
The natural order of relationship, a person with God, with family, and with the family of mankind, has been established from the beginning of time. “Tradition” is not a reason for overturning this truth, but is a weapon in the arsenal of rebellion.
Nullifying God May 20
Mark 7:13 “…making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Belief in God includes the knowledge that He has created all things. His order is the original order of the universe, which allows existence to continue as all of the parts combine to create an enduring whole.
When we disturb this order by inserting our own “word,” our substitute law, we disturb the wholeness, the oneness that holds all of existence in a dynamic and enduring equilibrium.
Becoming lawmakers, we have made the word of God of no effect. Destroying the web of relationship based on its central piece, we have become lawbreakers.
This is like an airport manager changing scheduled landing and departure times to suit his lunch break. Eventually, the schedules of all flights around the world are thrown into confusion. Chaos ensues and becomes the new normal. The lunch break becomes the lynch pin of flight scheduling rather than the efficient and effective transportation of people. A new tradition!
The Pharisees willfully destroy the relationship between parent and child with this particular tradition of corban. A small reinterpretation of the Scriptures destroys the essence of the parent-child relationship.
Jesus says that He did not come to destroy the law, to interpret it incorrectly, but to fulfill the law, to interpret it correctly and to live by God’s intention.
We are still to live by God’s intention for us, not by mankind’s reinterpretation of God’s will.
Next day