Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

Oh my…Becki and I agreed to take on our walk/jog at 7:15am…now it’s after. But just going online to send this dumped a bunch of other email messages into my INBOX…which becomes a time-consuming distraction. So, I’ll send this off…then run off. A few minutes ago, there was a shaft of sunlight poking through the clouds, making the woods a beautiful mix of color…but now it’s raining again.

I hauled my track hoe up to a guys property yesterday afternoon to load up a bunch of logs that I had agreed to buy. But then he said, “Take them…they’re yours…Merry Christmas!” Very nice logs. Can’t beat a deal like that! With the track hoe still on my equipment trailer, I’ll go to another location and load up more logs…special logs for a structure I am supposed to build to support a big mural at a Molalla City Park.

Becki’s waiting. Blessings on your day. Love, Dad/Ray.

Take note of what begins this passage and prompts Jesus’ teaching. The Jewish legalists are irritated over seeing Jesus’ disciples eating in a way that violated their sacred tradition of ceremonial washing and state their complaint to Jesus. Jesus takes them by surprise when He responds with a hot rebuke against their glaring hypocrisy and their imbalanced preoccupation with tradition and ceremony over and above godly principles.

Please pay careful attention to what Jesus is really saying. He is delivering a key concept that is vital for victorious Christian living. Jesus establishes its importance when he says, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.” If Jesus said that this is something important to understand, let’s agree that it is something important to understand. Let’s avoid the pitfall of being dull—a negative condition afflicting the disciples and which Jesus clearly condemned (v. 18).

Throughout scripture we see the dichotomy of man addressed. We learn that man is composed of both an exterior (the outside, the physical, the outward appearance, the body), and an interior (the inside, the soul and spirit, the center, the heart). Jesus is proclaiming in no uncertain terms that the interior of a man is far far FAR more important in establishing either his righteousness or unrighteousness before God than his exterior. Indeed, a dirty interior is what tends to produce a dirty exterior. What an idea!

Let’s understand that ceremony is a focus on the exterior. Rightly used, it is to be a true expression of the interior. So then, ceremonial anything is really quite worthless if it does not involve the interior—the heart. A ceremonial wedding is not very healthy or lasting if it does not involve a heart-level love and commitment to each other as a husband and wife. A ceremonial baptism is of no value that does not accompany the heart condition of being “dead to sin, but alive to God” (Rom. 6:11). Ceremonial Holy Communion is of no value if it does not reflect the heart’s hunger for and identification with Christ (Gal. 2:20). Ceremonial conversion of going forward in an altar call and “saying” a prayer is useless if it is not a manifestation of a heart-felt love for Christ and surrender to His Lordship. Please see to it that this important truth expounded by Jesus always remains in a prominent place within the boundaries of your understanding.