Gospel of Mark Series: Chapter 4 Part 7: Need for Interiority ( 7L14-23).

Welcome to my Gospel of Mark Series. During 2012-13, each week, I will write a post about the Gospel of Mark as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season of Year B.  In today's post, we explore chapter 7: 14-23 which is called need for interiority.

In this passage, Jesus call the people around Him and teaches what religious practices is meant to be, and what constitutes uncleanliness or impurity in God's eyes.  Jesus gives His teaching in two ways: first there is a teaching for all (7:14-15), second a deeper teaching for the disciples ( 17-23).

To the crowd, Jesus tells a brief parable.  A person can never be made unclean by something which comes form the outside.  it is what come from within a person that bring uncleanliness.  The source of true purity and religion that unites one with God is inside a person not outside.  Merely external circumstances or situations can never separate a person from God.  Only personal choices can do this.

For the disciples, in the privacy of a house, an early Christian symbol of the church, Jesus explains His teaching.  He first points to the lack of understanding of His teaching among the disciples, as He has already done before (4:13, 6:52).  Then He gives the earthy parable of food passing into and out of the human body (16-19).

By this comparison He clarifies for the disciples His emphasis that a right interior disposition, and not merely exterior religious practices, constitute in God's eyes genuine purity.  Jesus twice repeats to His disciples what He has already taught the people.  Real evil can come to a person only from within one's own heart ( 20 and 230.

The teaching  of  Jesus on the need for interiority in religious practices ends with a systematically arranged list of different kinds of evil that can follow for interior uncleanness or disorder in the human heart.  In Mark's list, there are 12 evils, six in the plural indicating particular actions: sexual vices, thefts, murders, adulteries, acts of coveting and wickednesses, and six in the singular describing habitual attitudes: deceitfulness, wantonness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly or lack of moral judgement.

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?
• Reflect on the keywords in this passage for they contain the substance and purpose of all the things Jesus said and did-
• Reflect on the method of Jesus in the way He taught the disciples. What can I learn from this method in teaching others about Jesus?
• Reflect on my relationship with Jesus and this teaching in the light of this gospel passage. What are my experiences of interior and exterior religious practices?
• 
  Reflect on my personal religious practices which do give genuine personal freedom and a true concern for others. Reflect on how these practices bring me closer to the true meaning of God’s law.
• Reflect on what hinders me from having a genuine personal freedom and a true concern for others in my interior and external religious practices.
• What are some things in my life that I can honestly admit to be evil?  Make a list of areas in my life that need a change of heart and develop an action plan on how this change of heart might occur. (eg name an area and name one/two changes that you will implement with God's help.
• What impact does Jesus’ teaching have on you (7:14-23).
• How has this passage spoken to you- what does it say to you personally?