Undefiled

Mark 7:14-23

14 And he 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.”[e] 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[f] (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

First, an important definition of defile: means sully, mar, or spoil. In this case, Jesus references us being defiled in terms of us being spoiled in God’s eyes. This does not mean He does not love us, or instantly casts us aside, but that we are no longer able to be in His presence, because He is perfect in all things, and we are all corrupted by sin to our very core (until and unless we believe in Jesus and let Him do His work in us).

So, I want to spend the next two days looking at this key passage that is central to this chunk of text. This passage is so essential because in it Jesus teaches what truly defiles us. There are two dangers we may fall into when it comes to perceiving what defiles us (see definition of defile in this context above).

The first danger is that we will see ourselves as defiled for the wrong reasons.

Jesus makes it clear that nothing that goes into us may defile us (in this case using the metaphor of eating, hence there are no “unclean” foods that make us morally unable to be with God). However, some of you need to also hear this metaphor expanded today.

Just like nothing you eat can defile you, nothing that can be done to you can defile you. No matter how evil, how cruel, or how vile. Some of you reading this have experienced some truly awful, unfair things at the hands of other people.

And yet you are not defiled. God does not look upon the victim of someone else’s sin and say “that one is defiled now”. He sees you and says “my child, come to me and I will wrap my arms around you”.

So if reading this today, you feel defiled by something that has been done to you or has happened to you, know that is a lie from the enemy.

And it is a dangerous lie, because it tempts you to focus on what has been done to you rather than your own sin in your heart that actually defiles you. Best case scenario is the recipe for a bitter and joyless life, worst case it makes it much harder for you to repent of your sin and ask Jesus to save you.

So hear today, what has been done to you does not defile you.