gty.org/Resources/Sermons/41-32
Let’s go to Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7 is like so many of the sections in Mark because it is an abbreviated gospel, it’s a briefer gospel, it’s a fast-pace gospel. His favorite word is the word “immediately.” He keeps moving rapidly. He is very selective on the sections that he chooses to write about in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is one of those very notable ones you cannot overlook. Matthew had a very carefully crafted account of this same incident as well. And, of course, Mark’s account before us is a full and enriched parallel account as the one in Matthew.
I want to look at these thirteen verses that start the seventh chapter. I could take the time to read them all but I think what I’m going to do is just kind of work our way through so that we experience the event as it unfolds. That’s one of the enjoyable aspects of narrative texts, we are there and we live out the very experience of our Lord and the people who are part of the scene.
I will point to one verse, that is verse 7. This is the key verse to understanding this entire incident. “In vain do they worship Me.” Vain worship...vain meaning empty, useless, pointless, lifeless, hypocritical worship. This characterized the people of Israel at the time of our Lord. And it wasn’t anything new, it was deeply imbedded into their religion. It was in the water. It was in the ground. It was in the air. It was in the fabric of how they thought and how they acted. They were literally the products of centuries of hypocritical, superficial, empty, useless worship. It was directed at the right God but in the wrong way. God does not accept worship, even worship in His name directed at Him done wrongly. It’s a problem, a serious problem to worship the wrong God, and it’s equally a problem, a serious problem, to worship the right God in the wrong way. And the Jews had turned this into a highly sophisticated art form...