Mark 7:1-23
The Heart Defiles
1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?”he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him,“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
One day some Pharisees saw Jesus' Disciples eating with unwashed hands and they questioned Him about it...Jesus was communicating to the Pharisees that day, but also to those listening, and to us...Jesus explained to them it is not what we eat or how clean our hands are that defiles our heart...Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this...Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them...Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”... After He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples asked Him about this parable...“Are you so dull?”, He asked...“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?...For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.”...(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)...Jesus on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them...For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly...All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”...
Jesus explains that the heart is what can be defiled, but also it is the heart that brings us salvation...
Jesus showed in His communications and teachings with others to show how we feel with our hearts...Jesus often ate dinner with people and He showed Himself, and taught others by His heart how He felt...They saw and heard this feeling in His heart and saw His understanding of others in His teachings and deeds...
Today, our relationships with others have gotten quite modern...We live in an age of texts, e-mails, and other forms of electronic communication with others and how to get their attention...The old fashion ways of communicating to others are seeming to have gone by the wayside...And these new and different forms of communications, to me, are seemingly remote, and avoid the face to face interaction of old times...They also much of the time avoid heartfelt feelings...
Without being with the ones we want to communicate with, we can be less sympathetic and less empathetic and have less of our heart in this type of communication...We do not have to open our hearts in a text...We can do a short text and fill it with emoticons and be on our way...
Jesus' ministry was to show His heart to others and be open to them in how He felt...He opened and opens people's hearts to His teaching ways and showed what it was like to let people know how He felt about them and how He felt about others in His teachings...On that day that Jesus ate with him, Zaccheus got to experience this feeling of the heart of Jesus...And what he learned changed him...Salvation came to Zaccheus that day...Zaccheus learned from Jesus and became more charitable and a better man...Jesus had changed his heart by sitting down with him and talking to him...