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Jordan Whittington 3/19/26 Jordan Whittington 3/19/26

Inside or Outside

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).

Yesterday we looked at this passage to see that nothing that has been done to us can defile us in God’s eyes. However, we are all defiled by the same thing. The sin and evil in our hearts.

We like to deny and minimize it, but if you look at Jesus’ list in verses 21-22, I know you are guilty of multiple things on that list (as am I). If nothing else we have at least great pride and foolishness to claim!

Tomorrow we will look at the good news that being defiled by our sin is not the end of the story, but today we mourn and repent of our sin.

Don’t minimize it, hide from it, or run from it. It is your sin that makes you guilty before our perfect God. So repent, turn from your sin, confessing it to God and to other faithful brothers and sisters, and see what happens in your heart. What the enemy tries to convince us will lead to our destruction actually leads to freedom and prospering life!

Take a few minutes this morning (or whenever you are reading this) to repent of your specific sins and ask God to forgive you and to help you leave your sin behind and run toward God with all the strength the Holy Spirit works within you.

Jordan Whittington 3/18/26 Jordan Whittington 3/18/26

Undefiled

Mark 7:14-23

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.

Jordan Whittington 3/17/26 Jordan Whittington 3/17/26

When Christians Reject Christ

Mark 7:9-13

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)[d]— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Yesterday we saw the danger in trusting in tradition rather than in the heart transformation that God offers. Today we see what happens when that danger is unnoticed or ignored.

The one who relies on tradition to save them will inevitably reject Christ and everything He stands for.

In this story, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for allowing or even condoning a truly vile practice. Part of the Old Testament Law (God’s Law, not any human law) protected the elderly (and other often marginalized groups) by securing a method of provision for them. In this case, it was the responsibility of the son to take care of his parents should they need it as they age. However, the Pharisees were allowing younger men to declare that their possessions were “an offering to the Lord” (Corban). While not necessitating an immediate change in the son's lifestyle (the property would go to the religious leaders upon his death or slowly over time), the Pharisees then required the man to NOT support his parents, because then it would be taking something away that was promised to God.

Jesus offers the Pharisees a scathing rebuke for allowing or condoning this. In their efforts to so tightly follow tradition, religion, and rules of piety, the Pharisees forsook a key essential principle God’s Word teaches. Love and care for all, especially amongst God’s own people.

And before we think ourselves superior, we are just as capable of this as the Pharisees.

How many times have we seen the church fail to care for its community on the grounds of a specific sin of an individual or community, or even that community's hatred of the church?

How many times have we seen people in the church abuse authority, power, and influence to do what they think is best even when it flies in the face of what God’s Word teaches?

How many times have we seen the church callously treat the most broken people who seek Jesus out, because their sin or life circumstance is deemed too heinous or too difficult?

The answer is often, and we are not immune to that temptation, so we must watch to make sure we follow the commandments of God and not the commandments of men.

Jordan Whittington 3/16/26 Jordan Whittington 3/16/26

Tradition or Transformation?

Mark 7:1-8

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,[a] holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.[b] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.[c]) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

7 in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

This week, I’ll take us through the passage I preached on Sunday, Mark 7:1-30. I had to go over a lot of it quickly, so these devotionals will give us a chance to catch some important things we didn’t have time for Sunday or re-hit essential things.

The Pharisees had a major issue. Well actually they had multiple, but one is the most important. They were devoted to tradition, while lacking any transformation of their hearts. They followed all kinds of rituals, had all kinds of checklists of things to do and things to avoid doing (and even people to avoid).

Yet they are condemned by Jesus again and again. Why? Look at verse 6-8.

Their hearts were far from God. Do you see how that contaminated everything else they did? It didn’t matter that they had great things to say and to sing about God, because in their hearts they were far from Him. It didn’t matter that they thought they were following all the commandments, because in their hearts they were doing what they thought God wanted, even though He had told them again and again in His Word what they should do.

They all knew Micah 6:8, they probably even had it memorized.

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,[a]

and to walk humbly with your God?

So I ask you today, is your heart far from God? Have you created traditions to follow instead of receiving the heart transformation that Jesus offers?

Ask God to draw your heart near to Him and to transform your life.

Jordan Whittington 3/13/26 Jordan Whittington 3/13/26

Authority over Death Itself

Mark 5:35–42
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

Death is the great equalizer. No one escapes it.

As a child, death terrified me. To this day, it still does. I don’t want to die (is that too honest to admit?). I wish I were like Paul, who penned, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I still have growth needed in my understanding of how great heaven will be (especially compared to this broken world I love).

Death scares most of us.

In Jesus, we trust in the One who has authority over death. In Mark 5, we see Jesus give us a glimpse of this power as He raises a 12-year-old girl from the dead. I believe this was shown so that we already had a taste of the resurrection power that was to come on the third day.

Unless Christ returns first, death awaits us all.

Yet, death is not final. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, just as Jesus raised this daughter and His friend Lazarus, Jesus will raise us—not to dwell again bodily on this broken earth, but to dwell with Him in the New Heavens and New Earth where all is made right.

What does this mean for us? It means that the final enemy that seemingly defeats all is actually defeated by the resurrection power of Jesus. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “O Death, where is your sting?” The power of death has been swallowed up by the resurrection power of our God.

Death is scary. I want to live to see my son grow old. I want to experience things on this earth. I want to enjoy this life as much as possible. I want my life to be used to point others to this hope I have found. And yet, I know I will die. But I also have full confidence that death is not final. There is hope beyond the grave for those in Christ Jesus. So while death is scary, it is not ultimate.

May this morbid truth encourage you today!