In Mark 7:1-23, some Pharisees and scribes have come to be with Jesus. During their time with him, they notice that some of the disciples are eating with unwashed hands. Holding to the traditions of men, the Pharisees judge the disciples and their actions, and it seems they believe the disciples, who are eating without first washing their hands, are sinning against God. Sinning because they are not keeping the traditions of the elders, mind you. This causes Jesus to call the Pharisees hypocrites and for him to say the prophesy of Isaiah 29:13 is about them!

In verses 14&15, Jesus says to all those gathered that what defiles, or spoils, a person does not happen by the outside coming into a person, but what comes out from inside a person. The disciples ask him to explain this parable and Jesus states that food is not what defiles a person since it enters into their stomach, not their heart. He then says this, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

I believe Jesus makes a clear distinction between our circumstances and our intentions in passage. The circumstance was that the disciples, who were working men, ate food without washing their hands. Their intentions did not seem to be that they ate with unwashed hands to make a statement. Had the latter been the case, surely, they would have been in the wrong because their intent would have been to cause strife.

I believe we spend much time in our circumstances saying, “I don’t watch this.” and “I don’t support or participate in that.” Many times, we forget God doesn’t only look at what situation we are in, but how his people deal with the circumstances they find themselves in. He looks at what we produce through ourselves and our children, for what we produce shows the intention of our hearts. Remember this week that it’s easy to look around and see all the evil we aren’t participating in, but let’s make sure we are looking inward and to our children to make sure we aren’t producing evil. May we live continually asking ourselves, “What am I intentionally producing?”