Grace Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion - Mark 7:14–23 (ESV)
Mark 7:14–23 (ESV)
14[Jesus] called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus, he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Almost everyone has heard the advice, “Just follow your heart” and the saying, “The heart wants what the heart wants.” Even non-Christians know these statements are foolish. The heart is the center of emotions which means that by following positive or negative feelings, chances are you will make some bad decisions. There are those who suggest it is better to follow your head or instincts because that is where intellect and intuition are seated. Christians believe that by nature the heart, intellect, and intuition are sinful, and we should not follow them. In Mark chapter 7, the religious leaders believed, taught, and lived by the idea that whatever went into the body defiled a person. It was believed that people must eat the proper foods in the right way. That is merely outside works invented by man and not commanded by God (see verses 1-5).
As Christians, we believe there is only one solution for our defiled heart, and that is God acting outside of us for our benefit. And that is exactly what God does! He takes our defiled hearts and creates clean, fruitful hearts by His Gospel. Because of His love for the people, Jesus called out the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees, quoting God’s Word given through the prophet Isaiah, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6). Jesus explains, “whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled” (15-16). He says that what defiles a person comes “from within, out of the heart of man comes evil thoughts,” (see verse 21). It is true that we are not sinners because we sin; no, we sin because we are sinners!
Through His Means of Grace, God creates in us a new, clean heart through His Spirit-filled Gospel. In Holy Baptism, God gives you “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7). However, our sinful hearts were not removed in Baptism, they remain in us until the moment Jesus calls us home to be with Him forever. Despite our good intentions, that catalogue of evil thoughts and vices will seek to defile our hearts (cf. Romans. 7:18-19). Because of this, we return to the cleansing of our Baptism by confessing our sins and receiving God’s absolution in faith. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John. 1:9). Just as evil flows from a defiled heart, so too from the heart cleansed by the blood of Jesus flows” “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
As Christians, our belief is not, “Just follow your heart,” it is “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). By His Means of Grace, God cleanses our hearts in the flood of Jesus’ blood, which causes us to sing with joy: “By grace! On this I’ll rest when dying; In Jesus’ promise I rejoice; For though I know my heart’s condition, I also know my Savior’s voice. My heart is glad, all grief has flown; Since I am saved by grace alone” (Lutheran Service Book 566:6).
825 North 1st West
Cheyenne Wells, CO, 80810-0728
Sunday Service begins at 9:00AM
