Unclean hands or unclean heart

George preached at church this last Lord's day...it was a good message...on Mark 7...Jesus disciples getting raked over the coals by the Pharisees for not washing their hands according to the "tradition" handed down by the elders.

When Jesus quotes the Old Testament He is quoting Isa 29;

This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

When you read Isa 29 you see Israel in one of her low states...being idolatrous again.

What happens when you have a ship that has rebelled against her captain?

Mutiny!!

How would the rebellious crew view someone in their midst who balked at their agenda, and who thought they should serve the Captain?

The rebels would view this position as mutiny...mutiny against their mutiny.

When men set up their traditions it is usually with good intentions...but good intentions are not good if they are not founded on God's word.

Jesus was saying it is better to have dirty hands and not follow the idolatrous beliefs of the Pharisees, who exalted their own traditions above God's word, then to have dirty hearts, idolatrous hearts

Dirty hearts that manifest themselves by teaching and following traditions that are not supported by God's word...teachings that actually make void God's word.

Jesus says clean the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean also.

Have a clean heart and your hands will follow.