Mark 6:53-7:1
The Judges Are Judged
Outline:
I. \\#Mark 1:1-15\\ Introduction
A. \\#1:1-8\\ Jesus Was Announced
B. \\#1:9-11\\ Jesus Was Authenticated
C. \\#1:12-13\\ Jesus Was Proven
D. \\#1:14-15\\ The Bridge
II. \\#Mark 1:16-2:28\\ Meet Jesus
A. \\#1:14-2:12\\ Jesus’ Authority
1. \\#1:16-20\\ Jesus Has Authority over Men
2. \\#1:21-22\\ Jesus Has Authority in Doctrine
3. \\#1:23-28\\ Jesus Has Authority over Demons
4. \\#1:29-39\\ Jesus Has Authority over Sickness
5. \\#1:40-45\\ Jesus Has Authority over Disease
6. \\#2:1-12\\ Jesus Has Authority over Sin
B. \\#2:13-28\\ Jesus Cares for Sinners
C. \\#2:13-28\\ Jesus Is Not Like Others
1. \\#2:13-17\\ He’s not like everyone else.
2. \\#2:18-22\\ He’s not like the disciples of John or the
Pharisees.
3. \\#23-28\\ He’s not like the Pharisees.
III. \\#Mark 3:1-35\\ Things Are Changing
A. \\#3:1-6\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the Pharisees
B. \\#3:7-12\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the People
C. \\#3:13-19\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and His Disciples
D. \\#3:22-30\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the Scribes
E. \\#3:31-35\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and His Family
IV. \\#Mark 4:1-10:52\\ The Words and Power of Jesus
A. \\#4:1-20\\ Bad Weeds Kill Good Seeds
B. \\#4:21-34\\ Parable Epilogues
C. \\#4:35-41\\ Faith
D. \\#5:1-43\\ The Tormented Delivered
1. \\#5:1-20\\ Tormented by Demons
2. \\#5:21-24, 35-43\\ Tormented by Death
3. \\#Mark 5:24-34\\ Tormented by Disease
E. \\#6:1-44\\ Opportunities
1. \\#6:1-6, 14-20\\ Missed Opportunities
a. \\#6:1-6\\ Nazareth Missed Theirs
b. \\#6:14-20\\ Herod Missed His
2. \\#6:7-13, 30-44\\ Taken Opportunities
a. \\#6:7-13. 30-32\\ The Disciples (at least most) Took
Theirs
(1) The Opportunity to be Saved
(2) The Opportunity to Serve
(3) The Opportunity to See the Power of God
b. \\#6:32-44\\ The Multitude Took Theirs
c. \\#6:45-52\\ The Disciples Too Theirs
d. \\#6:53-56\\ Gennesaret Took Theirs
Mark 6:53 And when they had passed over, they
came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the
shore.
54 And when they were come out of the ship,
straightway they knew him,
55 And ran through that whole region round about,
and began to carry about in beds those that were
sick, where they heard he was.
56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages,
or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the
streets, and besought him that they might touch
if it were but the border of his garment: and as
many as touched him were made whole.
7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees,
and certain of the scribes, which came from
Jerusalem.
I believe that the last verses of this chapter serve as a transition
to the Holy Spirit’s teaching about Christ’s power and the incident
of chapter 7. They give us several facts:
1. Jesus went to the region of Gennesaret.
2. Jesus’s popularity continued to grow.
I. \\#1\\ The Location - The Pharisees gathered to Jesus at
Gennesaret.
A. The Pharisees were coming TO Jesus FROM Jerusalem. This seems
a little strange remembering the last decision the Pharisees
had made
1. Mark 2
a. Pharisees were a part of the crowd in Jesus’ early
ministry.
b. It appeared they may have had expectations of
recruiting Christ into their fold; but Jesus did not
fit in.
2. \\#Mark 3:5\\ - Jesus healed the man with the withered
hand on the Sabbath Day.
3. \\#Mark 3:6\\ - The Pharisees along with the Herodians and
probably the scribes sought to kill Christ.
4. \\#Mark 3:7\\ - Jesus left Jerusalem and everything that
Mark has recorded since has Jesus in Galilee and the
surrounding areas.
5. Since that time, the Pharisees have not been mentioned.
B. Now Jesus is in Gennesaret.
1. The region of Gennesaret was around 80 miles from
Jerusalem. Quite a journey for a group to make to see
Someone they hated.
2. Evidently, the fame of Jesus mentioned in \\#Mk 6:53-56\\
was so great they could no longer wait for Him to return
to Jerusalem to stop Him.
3. So they sent a group to start an "official investigation."
a. The Pharisees were not coming to serve but to spy.
b. They were not there to learn about Jesus but to lie
about Jesus.
II. \\#2-5\\ The Issue -"Why don’t your disciples wash their hands
before they eat?"
Mark 7:2 And when they saw some of his disciples
eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with
unwashen, hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except
they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the
tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, except
they wash, they eat not. And many other things
there be, which they have received to hold, as
the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels,
and of tables.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why
walk not thy disciples according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat bread with
unwashen hands?
A. The word "tradition" is used five times in this chapter.
1. That word is used 5 times in this chapter.
2. It does not mean Scripture.
3. It is the word used to describe the Jewish interpretation
of the Scripture.
4. We might call it their "commentary."
B. IF the Pharisees could have produced a Scriptural
transgression, it would have been obvious to the people that
Jesus was NOT the Messiah but just another sinner.
III. \\#6-23\\ The Answer - Jesus’ answer included several details
about the Pharisees. Here is where the judges are judged.
A. \\#6\\ It gave the Pharisees’ condition.
Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well
hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it
is written, This people honoureth me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me.
1. Notice the last line, "their heart is far from me."
a. They did not love Jesus.
b. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, by now they
did not even LIKE Jesus.
(1) Their purpose was to kill Jesus and that is why
they were there (i.e. to gather some kind of
information to have Jesus killed).
(2) They came to judge Jesus, but Jesus would judge
them.
2. Jesus called them "hypocrites." They said one thing but
did the opposite.
3. I don’t know that there is anything worse than heartless
religion.
a. It is cruel, condemning, judgmental, tyrannical, and
uses God’s name, God’s Word, and God’s authority to
force people to do its biding.
b. Such were the Pharisees.
c. We can become that; at least, I could. Let’s be
careful that we do not.
B. \\#7-8\\ It gave the Pharisees’ sins - To be honest, the
Pharisees’ sins were many. The text said three times that
"many such things" they did \\#Mark 7:4,8,11\\. But I will
just mention a few.
1. The Pharisees had become fake writers of the Word.
a. \\#8\\ They laid aside God’s commandments…
b. \\#7\\ to replace them with their own.
Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye
hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots
and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
c. The Pharisees were not looking for the most accurate
translations. (A lot of error has been introduced
into the church every by the people doing that!)
d. The Pharisees were replacing the Word of God with
their own traditions.
(1) I am a preacher.
(2) I understand the need to teach the Scripture and
to exhort the people.
(3) But when our explanations—whether they be
sermons, lessons, commentaries, quarterlies,
creeds, or catechisms—add to, take away from,
or somehow change the Word of God, they cease
to help the mind and begin to hurt the soul.
e. There is a second sin inherent with this sin.
2. The Pharisees had become either careless in their ministry
or else arrogant in their minds.
a. It is a dangerous thing to MIShandle the Word of God.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book,
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall
add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away
his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are written
in this book.
b. Whether we do it by carelessness or arrogance, the end
results will be the same.
(1) Some soul someplace is going to be misled, and
perhaps many souls in many places will be.
(2) God will judge all who have handled His Word,
both those who handled it well and those who did
not, both those who handling was before the
many and those who handling was before the few.
3. The Pharisee had become greedy in their reach.
Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye
reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep
your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy
mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let
him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father
or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift,
by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his
father or his mother;
a. This is one of those Bible passages that is confusing,
and it does not get any clearer reading it in another
translation.
b. Jesus gave an example showing how the Pharisees had
replaced God’s Word with theirs.
(1) The Word that God gave was….
Ex 20:12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD
thy God giveth thee.
(a) That is the fifth in the Ten Commandments.
(b) We know that keeping the Ten Commandments
does not save; but we have to figure that
the Ten Commandments that God craved on the
tablet were important.
(c) Changing one of those can’t be good!
(2) To honor our parents means:
(a) to obey them when we are children,
(b) to respect them when we are adults,
(c) and to help them when they are old.
(3) But the Pharisees made a new rule.
(a) It seems to me that the rule was connived by
both the selfish kids and the greedy
Pharisees.
(b) If a selfish kid called or designated their
money "Corban" \\#1\\, then the Pharisees
would forbid them to use it in the care of
their parents \\#12\\.
(c) "Corban" means a gift or sacrifice to God.
(d) So some sorry kid could abandon the care of
his parents designating his money as a gift
to God.
i. The text never says it outright but
it would seem logical that the child
did not give ALL of it to the
Pharisees.
ii. If he were going to lose it all any
way, he might as well use it to take
care of his parents.
iii. Apparently, some would be given to
the Pharisee and some would be kept
by the child; but regardless of who
got their cut, the parents suffered.
(4) So basically, as long as the temple made some
money out of it, the parents could be neglected
with the Pharisees blessings.
c. Here is the thing that makes this sin seem acceptable.
(1) It has a ring of superficial righteousness to it.
(2) It is good to give to God, isn’t it?
(a) That sounds right.
(b) By the way, it is that superficial air of
righteousness that causes so many people to
send their money to the fake TV preachers.
(c) It is good to give to God, isn’t it?
(d) I am about to say something that you will
not hear many preachers say…
(3) It is NOT always good to give to God.
(a) Neither in the Old or the New Testaments did
God command us to give everything to Him.
(b) He commanded the tithe (tenth) and suggested
additional offerings, but, beyond that, God
never commanded His people to give what
they could not afford to give.
(c) I am NOT talking about the TITHE here, but
beyond the tithe.
(d) If you can’t afford to give an offering,
don’t give it; and if you would have to
neglect your parents to give an offering,
don’t give it.
i. Someone today says, "I won’t to give
to the Parking Lot Fund; but if I do,
I won’t be able to pay my rent, my
power bill, buy the children
groceries."
ii. Somebody says, "But it is always good
to give to God, isn’t it?"
iii. No. It is good to honor your word and
pay your debts.
iv. What about faith? If God speaks to
you—and you know God spoke to you—
do what He tells you; and you will be
just fine; but you better understand
upfront that if God does not pay the
bills you owe, YOU DID NOT HEAR FROM
GOD.
v. God is not going to tell you to cheat
someone else to give Him an offering.
vi. It may well be that you are making
bills that you should not be making,
and if that is keeping you from
giving offerings to God, you are
depriving yourself of a great
blessing, but Christians are not to
steal from Paul to pay Peter.
4. The Pharisees had become Pharisaical.
a. I know you are not supposed to use the word you are
defining to define a word, but this term was coined
to describe this very behavior.
b. To be pharisaical means to be a hypocrite, smug, and
to care for the outside more than the inside.
Mark 7:14 And when he had called all the people
unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me
every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that
entering into him can defile him: but the things
which come out of him, those are they that defile
the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
17 And when he was entered into the house from
the people, his disciples asked him concerning
the parable.
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without
understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that
whatsoever thing from without entereth into the
man, it cannot defile him;
19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but
into the belly, and goeth out into the draught,
purging all meats?
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the
man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man.
c. How easy it is to focus solely on the eternals and
not the internals, especially when you have no love
for Jesus yourself.
(1) Don’t get me wrong.
(a) I am not one of those that says you can’t
judge a book by its cover because you can.
(b) If I am in a convenient story looking for a
magazine to read, the cover most certainly
will tell me what is on the inside.
(c) Why a person who calls himself a Christian
would want to mark the body that God made
for him or her with tattoos and body
piercing, dress it in revealing clothing,
or keep it in an unkept fashion is beyond
me; but understand, it does say volumes
about who you are.
(d) You might dress that way and surprise some
people, but the only reason they were
surprised is because your look caused them
to expect something else.
(2) Even so, Jesus made it clear that the ministry is
not first to the body but to the soul; and once
the soul gets right with God the body should
start to reflect it.
d. The Pharisees missed that in their ministry.
C. It gave the Pharisees’ effect.
Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me…
Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect
through your tradition, which ye have delivered:
and many such like things do ye.
1. By perverting God’s Word, becoming greedy, and looking
only at the outside, the Pharisees had negated the power
of God’s Word and worship itself.
2. They had done that by negating the people’s confidence in
God’s Word.
3. Do people influence other people for God?
a. Absolutely.
b. The Pharisees barred the door keeping many people out
of heaven.
Matt 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom
of heaven against men: for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in.
At this point, those who set themselves as judges are standing before
the Judge. He showed them mercy, even as they exposed themselves as
corrupt and wicked; but His mercy has limits. If those Pharisees did
not accept that Judge as their Savior, they are forever damned. Don’t
delay. Trust Jesus tonight.
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