Anchor My Faith

What Defiles a Person?

Scripture: Mark 7:14-15

We looked at the problem of Corban in the previous lesson. In this lesson we will look at the heart that would allow the condition of Corban to exist.

^{Mk 7:14} And [Jesus] 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.”

There was a pause in teaching from verse 13 to verse 14. Maybe time was taken to eat or for some other reason, but now Jesus calls the people back together for another teaching session. Jesus begins by telling the people to listen carefully and understand what he is going to say because it is important. What he says is recorded in just one sentence. It seems to me that Jesus said much more when he spoke to the people, but the essence is summarized in verse 15. Might the following not have been included in his comments.

He might have said something like, the problem of the defiled human heart is much deeper that one might assume and then reference verses from the Old Testament. Maybe he referred to Isaiah 29:13 – 16 (ESV): “13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, 14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” 15 Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” 16 You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?” Doesn’t this passage describe Jesus, who is bringing the message, and these people with defiled hearts?

Consider what Jeremiah had to say in chapter 17 (ESV): “9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”’ I can imagine Jesus saying this to these people, pointing out the sick nature of their hearts.

The core problem of defilement is what resides in the heart and is expressed through what we say and how we behave. Those words and actions is what defiles us, not the foods we eat or even the things we read and hear. It is true that the food we eat affects our health and what we read and see will affect our heart, but it is the output that defiles us or taints our life.

In using the word “heart” above, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a group of students when I was teaching in China. To them the word heart referred to the organ in their body that pumped blood. They felt the Bible should use a different word. I tried to explain to them that in the Bible, heart refers to the center of one’s being, including the mind, emotions, and will. I further explained to them that English words sometimes have several different meanings. For example, the command to turn left, and we have this much left. Left is used as a direction and as a quantity in our example.

We are at another good break point in the narrative, and so we will pick up our study in the next lesson with Mark 7:17 as there is no Mark 7:16 in the ESV Bible.

Conclusion

We are defiled by what comes from our heart. What is there in your heart that needs to be removed that is causing you to be defiled? Ask the Lord to search your heart and reveal to you what should be removed and replaced with that which would honor God.