What Can Wash Us Pure As Snow?
IF WE MISS WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR WORLD, WE’LL MISS WHAT MAKES OUR WORLD RIGHT
Last time in Mark, Jesus confronted the disciples' hardness of heart and unbelief (6:52). In the following scene, he encounters opposition from those who focus upon cleanliness of their hands while their hearts remain far from God (7:6). In the scribes' and Pharisees' zealous observance of the ceremonies and traditions of the elders, they'd actually come to abandon God's moral law (7:1-13). All the outward cleanliness, ritual, and observances were powerless to cleanse what was actually morally defiled: their hearts. No amount of ceremonial washing, law-keeping, or personal strategies can cleanse us to the core (7:14-23). We need God to do a cleansing work in us and in so doing, draw our hearts near to Him. It’s something that nothing but the blood of Jesus can do.