Purity

Purity

Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.’ ”

Mark 7:6-7

At the point in Jesus’ ministry when he spoke these words to the Jewish religious leaders, they were openly hostile to him. They were in the habit of looking for something to criticize. The verses above were Jesus’ response to the Pharisees when they asked why his disciples didn’t participate in ceremonial hand-washing, which had been a tradition of the Jewish elders. These ceremonial hand-washings were not commanded in the Mosaic law, nor were they done for personal cleanliness. Instead, the Pharisees used them as a way to separate themselves from the “unclean” common people and make themselves look especially religious. The tradition probably had a good beginning—reminding the Jewish people that they were set apart for God’s purposes—but as the years went on, it became a statement of pride and contempt.

Jesus addressed two issues, and they are important for us to look at closely, both in our lives and the lives of our children.

1. Man-made traditions are not more important than God’s truth. Sadly, human nature sometimes holds on to human ideas and ignores God’s wisdom.
2. The true source of purity is what is in a person’s heart, not outward obedience to certain rules. No matter how many times we wash the outside of our body, only the blood of Jesus can make our hearts clean on the inside. That is the reason Jesus died for us.

God,

You look at our hearts, and you know what is there. Thank you that your Son’s blood can cleanse our hearts and make us spotless from the inside out. Please help us to teach our children that purity of heart is more important than following man-made traditions. Amen.