To many of you reading this blog, the words conservative and traditional are sacred cows. I think of myself as a conservative Christian. If you are a traditional, conservative Christian, you may be committing the sin of idolatry in your pursuit of conservatism. John’s warning against idolatry at the end of his first epistle is not gratuitous. Very few Westerners bow before physical idols. Instead, idolatry in Western civilisations always hides behind a mask. Is your conservative Christianity idolatry? In a series of short articles over the next few days, let’s examine Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in Mark 7, where he exposes the idolatry of traditionalism.
Worldview Conflict
Every time we encounter the Pharisees in Mark’s Gospel, they are opposed to Jesus Christ. They are not friends. They represent two different kingdoms, two disparate worldviews, and two distinct sets of ideas about how life works and our place within it. What is the precise point of difference between Jesus and the Pharisees?
The Pharisees come to Christ with a question about defiled hands and the tradition of the elders.
Mark 7:5
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?”
We know that Mark writes his Gospel for a Gentile audience because he explains defiled hands and the elders’ tradition in verses 3–4. Defiled hands, Mark tells us, mean unwashed hands. What is the problem with unwashed hands? Jesus doesn’t seem to mind. Why do the Pharisees? What’s the essential difference between the two that drives one’s ambivalence and the other’s scruples over unwashed hands? What’s the heart of the controversy?
Defiled Hands
Notice three things about defiled hands. First, Mark tells us that all Pharisees and Jews who fell under their influence washed their hands before they ate and when they returned from the marketplace. This makes Jesus and his disciples stand out. It was strange to see a Jew who didn’t wash his hands. The Pharisees point this out to Jesus. Second, Mark tells us why they wash their hands. Jews washed their hands because of the tradition of the elders. That meant the disciples were not walking in accordance with these traditions. We will examine this idea in more detail further on in this series. This tradition extended beyond hands to include the washing of pots, vessels, cups, and dining couches. When any of these things were brought into a Jewish home from the marketplace, they were washed before use. Third, Mark tells us this practice of washing is not driven by a desire for hygiene. They washed, not because their hands were dirty but because they were defiled. The practice of washing was a way of un-defiling one’s hands.
Defilement and Holiness
So, what are defiled hands, and how does that integrate with the tradition of the elders? Defilement is a matter that the Old Testament law addresses in some detail. It doesn’t necessarily mean sinful, as if these hands were stained with sin. The Old Testament uses a parallel word: profane. The word profane means dirty speech to us. That’s not what it means in the Old Testament. We can understand these ideas as well as the tradition of the elders from Exodus 30–31.
Exodus 31:14
You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Profaning the Sabbath, or defiling the Sabbath, is set in contrast to keeping the Sabbath holy. Therefore, to understand defilement, we must first understand holiness.
We think of holiness as sinlessness, but that’s not what the word holiness means. The previous chapter of Exodus is a fantastic passage for understanding the concept of holiness. We will examine verses 22–38.
In verse 22, God told Moses to gather the finest spices and prepare a sacred anointing oil (vs. 25). This oil was to be holy (vs. 25). Does that mean that while there are varieties of oil that had sinned, this oil, in contrast, was to be holy? Of course not!
So, what is holiness?
With this oil, Moses was to anoint the Tent of Meeting and its furniture and accoutrements. When these things have been anointed with the holy oil, they will become “consecrated,” a word that means made holy. The holy oil would transfer its holiness to each article of furniture to which it was applied (vs. 29). Because the furniture was now holy, whatever touched it would become holy (vs. 29). Holiness can be transmitted from a piece of furniture to anything laid on it (so also uncleanness in Leviticus 15:19).
So, what is holiness?
In vs. 30, this holy anointing oil was to be poured on Aaron and his sons to consecrate (make holy) them. Vs. 32–33 says it must not be poured on any ordinary person, and no one was to make anything like it in composition on pain of excommunication from Israel. Oil was used as a salve for wounds, but if a person was injured, this was oil that could not be used for that medicinal purpose. It is holy. And it was used for making people and things holy.
So, what is holiness?
In verse 34, God tells Moses to gather sweet spices and make incense according to a precise mixture. The incense was to be holy (vs. 35). The mixture must not be duplicated or used as a perfume (vs. 37–38).
So, what is holiness?
Zechariah 14:20–21 says that on the day of Christ’s return to earth, the horse’s bells will be inscribed as “Holy to the Lord.” So also, all the pots in the Lord’s house and in every other part of Jerusalem. Because every pot in Jerusalem is holy to the Lord, any pot could be used for sacrifice in the temple. It’s not that the bells are sinless and the pots innocent. Instead, every pot will become holy as the bowls used at the altar are holy by virtue of their contact with the holy anointed altar. The pots in people’s homes that are used for cooking will all be holy to the Lord on that day.
So, what is holiness?
Holiness is . . .
Holiness is . . . uniqueness, not sinlessness, first. The oil is holy because there is no other oil like it. When it touches the tabernacle furniture, it communicates its holiness to the furniture because there is no other furniture that has been anointed with that holy oil. The pots in the temple aren’t like regular cooking pots. They are unique, distinct, and serve a specific purpose. These pots are holy. They are in a separate category from all the others. When God says the Sabbath must be kept holy, he doesn’t mean, “Be sure you don’t sin on this day.” Rather, he means the Sabbath must be kept distinct, unique. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the Sabbath is a holy day to the Lord. Make it different (consecrate it) by refraining from work on it. When God says he is holy, he doesn’t mean that he is sinless, though he is. Instead, he means he is unique, like no other. There are many beings in the universe, and God is like none of them. They all belong in one category. He belongs in another. God’s holiness infects every one of his attributes. Both human beings and God may love, but God’s love is different to ours. His love is holy. God and human beings both execute justice, but God administers justice in a manner unlike any other being.
If holiness is the opposite of defilement, what does it mean to defile? Defiling the Sabbath is treating it like any other day, engaging in the same activities on that day that one engages in on all the other days. Such an act removes the Sabbath from the category of holy and places it in the category of common. It’s just another day of the week now. The Sabbath is no longer sacred, no longer holy, no longer consecrated.
This is what Mark 7 means by the word “defiled.” The Pharisees are concerned because the disciples are eating with hands that are profane and defiled. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to you right now, so let’s tie in the tradition of the elders and then, I think the picture will be clear. And, for that, we must wait for the following article.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible.
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