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Mark

Mark 
Day 
Day 161

2 Peter 1:10 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure..."

Day 161 – Mark 7

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure…”
2 Peter 1:10

ADDRESSING THE MULTITUDES

At least three groups were present when Jesus dealt with this issue of ritual-washing.

1. The scribes and Pharisees

They were the ones who attempted to fault Jesus over the issue of ritual-washing. To them, anyone who eats without first undergoing ritualistic hand washing, the individual is defiled.

2. The Disciples

They were the ones singled out by the scribes and Pharisees as the people who had broken the tradition of the elders. (They did not know how to defend themselves at this stage).

3. The Multitudes

They were there listening and watching. They were now exposed, for the first time, to a different way of understanding the subject of “cleansing” and “defilement”.

WHAT TRULY DEFILES?

Jesus was bringing this open debate to an end. He knew that the scribes and Pharisees would not agree with Him. He was more concerned about the multitudes, for they were the most vulnerable.

“When He called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them.
‘Hear me, everyone, and understand:
There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can
defile him, but the things which come out of him, those are
the things that defile a man.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!'”
MARK 7:14-16

1. That which will not defile- the things that “enter a man from outside”

a) The scribes and Pharisees promoted the idea that food eaten with hands that have not gone through ritual-washing will defile a person.
b) Jesus rejects this idea outright.

2. That which will defile- “the things which come out of him”

a) Jesus taught that “the things that come out of him” will defile a person.
b) The scribes and Pharisees were conspicuously silent on this matter!