Jesus Breaks Tradition- Mark 7 | Overflow Church Grand Prairie, Tx | Notes
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Jesus Breaks Tradition- Mark 7

Jesus Breaks Traditions
Mark 7:7–9 (ESV)
7 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and 
when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he 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 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!


Jesus is exposing motivation.
  • They were honoring tradition over people.
  • They were honoring tradition over God
Jesus was saying “You have clean hands but your hearts are filthy.”

“Being traditional doesn’t make you moral.”

Mark 7:14–23 (ESV)
14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15
 There 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.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And 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, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Matthew 12:35 (NLT) A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.


They had made up their mind about God….based upon their tradition. 

You may not have methodical practices or rituals but you have trending mindsets—predetermined ways of viewing the world, viewing others, of viewing God.

Reforming our inner-man
1. Re-think thinking
  • “Having a strong mind is not the same as a stubborn mind.” 
  • A weak mind is one that is un-willing to change. “Hard-Hearted”
  • “We must unlearn what we have learned.” -Yoda
“In the Kingdom, repentance is always at the threshold of what we are coming into.”

Think about your thoughts….
  • Don’t dismiss all your thoughts, ask questions about them.
  • “Why am I thinking this way?”
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2. Renew & Reform patterns
Romans 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

"That the way that you feel is determined by how you think."

3. Re-learn what you have leaned

4. Reconnect and realign
Encounters will reconnect and realign our inner-man.
Mark 7:31–36 (ESV) 31 He returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Ephphatha:
What comes into man, the way we hear.
What comes out, the way we speak.

Ministry:
Ephesians 3:16–17 (NLT)
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

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Additional reading:
  • What defiles a person: Mt 15:1–20
  • Jesus heals a deaf and mute man: Mt 15:29–31