1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,800 In the name of Jesus, amen. 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:10,033 So whose idea was it to eliminate the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy 4, today 3 00:00:10,033 --> 00:00:12,166 of all days on the commemoration of Moses? 4 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:24,133 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you and do 5 00:00:24,133 --> 00:00:31,400 them, that you may live and go in and take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God 6 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:33,033 of your fathers is giving you. 7 00:00:33,233 --> 00:00:39,300 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it that you may keep the 8 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:43,533 commandments of Yahweh your God that I command you. 9 00:00:44,733 --> 00:00:48,400 Now you can't get much more Moses than that. 10 00:00:48,833 --> 00:00:50,533 Keep the Lord's commandments. 11 00:00:51,166 --> 00:00:55,900 Now in Mark 7, at first glance, Jesus kind of kicks Moses to the curb. 12 00:00:56,900 --> 00:01:01,666 Well, not really, but He does overturn Levitical or Mosaic law. 13 00:01:02,233 --> 00:01:02,700 You heard it. 14 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:08,533 Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him since it enters 15 00:01:08,533 --> 00:01:11,966 not his heart, but his stomach and is expelled? 16 00:01:13,333 --> 00:01:18,600 I love how Dr. Tinetti read that little parenthetical statement from Mark. 17 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,333 Thus he declared all foods clean. 18 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:26,666 Well, adios Moses, but not really. 19 00:01:27,466 --> 00:01:28,400 Jesus loved Moses. 20 00:01:28,566 --> 00:01:30,266 He quoted Moses a lot. 21 00:01:30,766 --> 00:01:34,200 The verses before our gospel text are just one example. 22 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:40,133 He cites Moses when he schools the Pharisees and scribes on the fourth commandment. 23 00:01:40,133 --> 00:01:46,633 For Moses said, honor your father and your mother and whoever reviles father and mother 24 00:01:46,633 --> 00:01:48,500 must surely die. 25 00:01:49,633 --> 00:01:53,733 Now their manmade traditions have become more important than the actual commandments. 26 00:01:54,333 --> 00:01:59,066 Offerings that were not commanded but were part of the tradition caused some of them 27 00:01:59,066 --> 00:02:03,866 to neglect caring for their parents and thus break the fourth commandment. 28 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:06,433 Jesus exposes their hypocrisy. 29 00:02:07,133 --> 00:02:11,033 Just before that, the issue was hand washing, a tradition of the elders. 30 00:02:12,033 --> 00:02:19,566 So imagine the reaction when Jesus takes Mosaic law about clean and unclean foods and undoes 31 00:02:19,566 --> 00:02:20,133 it. 32 00:02:20,266 --> 00:02:21,366 That's huge. 33 00:02:21,966 --> 00:02:25,033 Peter himself struggled with this later on in Acts 10. 34 00:02:25,666 --> 00:02:27,433 Rise, kill, eat. 35 00:02:28,266 --> 00:02:29,433 Bacon's now on the menu. 36 00:02:30,233 --> 00:02:33,733 And not that paper thin, fully cooked, microwavable stuff. 37 00:02:33,833 --> 00:02:37,333 No, it's the two pound thick cut package from Costco. 38 00:02:38,833 --> 00:02:44,966 But it's not like from this moment on that the followers of Jesus change their eating 39 00:02:44,966 --> 00:02:45,333 habits. 40 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,066 That comes later. 41 00:02:47,533 --> 00:02:52,733 In fact, Jesus isn't really dealing with food here per se and he's certainly not giving 42 00:02:52,733 --> 00:02:53,733 Moses the boot. 43 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:56,400 He's getting to the heart of the matter. 44 00:02:57,733 --> 00:02:58,033 The heart. 45 00:02:59,566 --> 00:03:05,866 Manmade rules and traditions are leading Jews away from the truth, the real human problem. 46 00:03:05,866 --> 00:03:10,666 You guys honor all these traditions but you can't keep the commandments, the divine will 47 00:03:10,666 --> 00:03:17,133 of God, hand washing, offerings, and yes, even Levitical laws of what's clean and unclean. 48 00:03:17,333 --> 00:03:22,933 Some Jews are missing the real problem of sin, sin that's at the core of every human 49 00:03:22,933 --> 00:03:27,233 being descended from Adam, Israelite, Gentile, everybody. 50 00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:31,400 The disciples need to understand this. 51 00:03:32,366 --> 00:03:37,866 Notice the change in audience after verse 15 or after the missing verse 16. 52 00:03:38,566 --> 00:03:39,366 We won't go into that. 53 00:03:39,966 --> 00:03:45,033 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about 54 00:03:45,033 --> 00:03:45,733 the parable. 55 00:03:46,833 --> 00:03:52,833 Jesus went inside with the disciples and there they asked him to explain it all. 56 00:03:52,866 --> 00:03:54,466 They were struggling too. 57 00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:57,866 Jesus even got on their case a bit for not getting it. 58 00:03:58,733 --> 00:04:03,533 But that's how deeply the traditions of the Pharisees had taken root among so many. 59 00:04:04,033 --> 00:04:10,266 Also the Levitical laws of clean and unclean drove how they went about their lives, from 60 00:04:10,266 --> 00:04:13,633 how they ate to how they interacted with the world around them. 61 00:04:14,433 --> 00:04:18,033 But again, Jesus doesn't talk about food here with the disciples. 62 00:04:19,266 --> 00:04:22,666 That's on the agenda for much later with the apostles and the church. 63 00:04:23,233 --> 00:04:25,766 Here He clarifies the big issue. 64 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:29,100 What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 65 00:04:29,433 --> 00:04:35,133 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, 66 00:04:35,333 --> 00:04:41,933 murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 67 00:04:41,966 --> 00:04:49,000 All these things, all these evil things come from within and they defile a person. 68 00:04:50,433 --> 00:04:54,000 It wasn't merely 30 pieces of silver that corrupted Judas. 69 00:04:54,733 --> 00:04:58,500 It wasn't just the fear of arrest that suddenly made Peter deny Jesus. 70 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:00,366 He'd shown his true colors before. 71 00:05:00,733 --> 00:05:05,333 It wasn't just the lure of kingdom power that attracted James and John when mommy dearest 72 00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:08,100 asked Jesus to give him a place that is right and left. 73 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:13,433 It's the corrupted, sinful, evil heart of man. 74 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,100 So it is for you. 75 00:05:17,033 --> 00:05:20,466 Now I could rail against our traditions, whatever they may be. 76 00:05:20,466 --> 00:05:25,566 We can single out all of our Pharisaic tendencies, whether it's right worship or whatever the 77 00:05:25,566 --> 00:05:27,233 rocks are that we throw at each other. 78 00:05:27,233 --> 00:05:33,166 But I don't think any of that really captures for us the spirit of what Jesus teaches His 79 00:05:33,166 --> 00:05:33,800 disciples. 80 00:05:34,966 --> 00:05:39,966 Even earlier, when He singled out the problem of man-made traditions, He pointed to the 81 00:05:39,966 --> 00:05:40,400 heart. 82 00:05:40,833 --> 00:05:45,833 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 83 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:47,566 And he quoted Isaiah. 84 00:05:48,266 --> 00:05:49,700 So it's nothing new. 85 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:51,466 It's divine truth. 86 00:05:52,333 --> 00:05:55,533 The nature of sin and the nature of man. 87 00:05:56,433 --> 00:06:02,966 All of us here in a community like this one, students, faculty, staff, we're no different. 88 00:06:03,233 --> 00:06:07,533 We may think we know more than the Israelites, the Pharisees, or even the disciples. 89 00:06:07,766 --> 00:06:12,200 We may think we're more advanced in our theology, whether you're first year or fourth year, 90 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:14,200 whether you've taught here one year or 30. 91 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,366 It doesn't matter if you've graduated and now you're working on a PhD. 92 00:06:18,733 --> 00:06:23,266 It doesn't matter if your husband's a seminarian and soon you'll be the pastor's wife. 93 00:06:24,933 --> 00:06:32,466 We have this sense of piety that sometimes obscures such divine truth that makes our 94 00:06:32,466 --> 00:06:37,766 Lord's teaching here sound absolutely absurd when we put it in our context. 95 00:06:38,300 --> 00:06:44,033 We know we're sinners, but that's not always a helpful proclamation in itself. 96 00:06:44,033 --> 00:06:45,766 That's why Jesus gets specific. 97 00:06:45,866 --> 00:06:50,100 He goes to the core of the human heart from which there's no escaping the truth. 98 00:06:50,233 --> 00:06:52,333 Your heart is evil by nature. 99 00:06:53,166 --> 00:06:55,833 Jesus challenges our definitions, our categories. 100 00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:58,566 No, no, no, Jesus, that's evil. 101 00:06:59,266 --> 00:07:00,866 I am trying really hard. 102 00:07:01,033 --> 00:07:01,633 I love you. 103 00:07:01,966 --> 00:07:02,800 I'm a pastor. 104 00:07:02,833 --> 00:07:03,466 I'm a deaconess. 105 00:07:03,533 --> 00:07:04,333 I'm a sem student. 106 00:07:04,633 --> 00:07:05,833 I'm married to a sem student. 107 00:07:06,133 --> 00:07:07,200 I teach theology. 108 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,366 But above reproach doesn't mean sinless. 109 00:07:12,033 --> 00:07:16,633 There's no commandment in our Lord's list that you haven't broken. 110 00:07:17,500 --> 00:07:23,533 And he prefaces it all with your thoughts rooted not just here, but here. 111 00:07:24,633 --> 00:07:25,666 The commandments are all there. 112 00:07:25,866 --> 00:07:30,900 Sixth, seventh, fifth, ninth, tenth, eighth, the first, second, and third are there too. 113 00:07:31,066 --> 00:07:31,900 Probably even the fourth. 114 00:07:32,333 --> 00:07:34,800 Wickedness, pride, and foolishness cover a lot. 115 00:07:36,066 --> 00:07:43,200 Today, Jesus brings you, His dear disciples, into the house and He teaches you just what 116 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:44,600 He taught the 12. 117 00:07:45,633 --> 00:07:46,633 And He went full Moses. 118 00:07:47,866 --> 00:07:49,033 And that's what you get too. 119 00:07:50,066 --> 00:07:50,466 Repent. 120 00:07:51,866 --> 00:07:53,300 It really was nothing new. 121 00:07:53,433 --> 00:07:55,133 Moses, he knew all along. 122 00:07:56,033 --> 00:07:58,466 Deuteronomy 4 is quite revealing actually. 123 00:07:58,466 --> 00:08:04,266 Moses isn't optimistic as he exhorts Israel to keep all of Yahweh's commandments. 124 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,633 After all, he'd wandered the wilderness for 40 years with a stubborn and rebellious people. 125 00:08:08,733 --> 00:08:14,433 And so he's not very optimistic about this new generation finally on the brink of entering 126 00:08:14,433 --> 00:08:15,300 the promised land. 127 00:08:15,433 --> 00:08:17,166 He knows what's ahead. 128 00:08:18,433 --> 00:08:19,700 He knows what will happen. 129 00:08:20,733 --> 00:08:26,633 In fact, as much as Moses preaches the good life in Deuteronomy, enjoying the abundance 130 00:08:26,633 --> 00:08:33,066 of the promised land, the children, the grandchildren to come, the envy of the nations, he foretells 131 00:08:33,066 --> 00:08:35,000 Israel's downfall. 132 00:08:36,333 --> 00:08:38,700 He tells of their inevitable idolatry. 133 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:40,833 He prophesies the exile. 134 00:08:41,566 --> 00:08:46,933 Israel will be scattered and serve gods of wood and stone. 135 00:08:47,233 --> 00:08:51,566 And yet he still exhorts his people to faithfulness. 136 00:08:52,333 --> 00:08:56,900 He exhorts them to cling to Yahweh's mercy through all of it. 137 00:08:57,333 --> 00:09:03,633 When their children and grandchildren are far away in exile and all hope seems lost, 138 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,033 Moses encourages, from there you will seek Yahweh your God and you will find Him. 139 00:09:10,133 --> 00:09:16,133 If you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul, when you're in tribulation 140 00:09:16,133 --> 00:09:22,133 and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to Yahweh your 141 00:09:22,133 --> 00:09:23,633 God and obey His voice. 142 00:09:24,033 --> 00:09:27,266 For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. 143 00:09:28,466 --> 00:09:34,833 He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore 144 00:09:34,833 --> 00:09:35,400 to them. 145 00:09:37,233 --> 00:09:43,633 Moses knew that the old covenant had its place, but he also knew that a new one would eventually 146 00:09:43,633 --> 00:09:44,533 supersede it. 147 00:09:44,533 --> 00:09:47,733 None of that would happen because of Israel's doing. 148 00:09:49,833 --> 00:09:55,600 Moses closes his sermons on the plains of Moab saying Yahweh your God will circumcise 149 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:02,233 your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love Yahweh your God with 150 00:10:02,233 --> 00:10:06,233 all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. 151 00:10:08,666 --> 00:10:12,733 Really, full Moses is more than commandments and law. 152 00:10:13,733 --> 00:10:18,766 Moses preached the gospel, he longed for the promised Savior, he knew that he himself needed 153 00:10:18,766 --> 00:10:21,733 that circumcised heart just like Israel. 154 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:27,433 What prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel later preached on the new covenant, Moses first 155 00:10:27,433 --> 00:10:29,333 preached and proclaimed. 156 00:10:30,166 --> 00:10:37,500 New covenant, new heart, a heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh, malleable, teachable. 157 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:44,433 And thanks be to God in Jesus, in His ministry, He was already teaching, already crossing 158 00:10:44,433 --> 00:10:49,366 the lines of what Israel knew as clean and unclean even though their hearts were far 159 00:10:49,366 --> 00:10:49,966 from Him. 160 00:10:51,033 --> 00:10:58,533 And evil, He sought them out, He called them, He taught them, He loved them because He is 161 00:10:58,533 --> 00:11:01,366 the very heart of God for you. 162 00:11:01,366 --> 00:11:07,633 Not a God of wood and stone, a God of flesh and blood, God incarnate, the God who takes 163 00:11:07,633 --> 00:11:14,133 your place, the God who lives His heart for you, who fulfills the law and who willingly 164 00:11:14,133 --> 00:11:20,266 takes what defiles you upon Himself at the cross and leaves it dead and buried. 165 00:11:21,733 --> 00:11:25,033 And now, now He declares you clean. 166 00:11:26,266 --> 00:11:28,000 Here's divine truth too. 167 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,033 There's nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him. 168 00:11:32,733 --> 00:11:37,766 But get this, it's exactly what's outside a person that goes into him and makes him 169 00:11:37,766 --> 00:11:38,100 clean. 170 00:11:38,266 --> 00:11:40,300 Jesus speaks you clean. 171 00:11:40,733 --> 00:11:45,833 Today he puts his life giving gospel into your ears, he puts his very body and blood 172 00:11:45,833 --> 00:11:49,266 into your mouth for forgiveness, life and salvation. 173 00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:58,600 And what Moses says of Israel of old is true of you, the new Israel, baptized into Christ's 174 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:04,533 death and resurrection, your heart has been circumcised to love God with all your heart 175 00:12:05,066 --> 00:12:08,133 and with all your soul and to truly live. 176 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:14,733 You're not driven by that evil heart but by a new one filled with the Spirit of God. 177 00:12:14,733 --> 00:12:22,066 Daily you return to Him, daily you seek Him with all your heart and soul and He's not 178 00:12:22,066 --> 00:12:23,066 far from you. 179 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:29,533 He's there when evil within you shows itself, He's there when the evil around you attacks 180 00:12:30,966 --> 00:12:35,833 in the midst of all of your temptation and tribulation, the Lord is near. 181 00:12:37,066 --> 00:12:43,433 So we rejoice with Paul, pray at all times in the Spirit, put on God's armor and stand 182 00:12:43,433 --> 00:12:47,700 against all that evil, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 183 00:12:48,700 --> 00:12:54,033 Oh yeah, also go eat some jambalaya, crawfish, shrimp and grits. 184 00:12:54,766 --> 00:13:02,233 And as our Lord forms you into a Paul or into a Moses, boldly proclaim the mystery of the 185 00:13:02,233 --> 00:13:07,533 gospel of Jesus that declares evil sinners clean. 186 00:13:09,500 --> 00:13:15,166 Lord God, Heavenly Father, through the prophet Moses you began the prophetic pattern of teaching 187 00:13:15,166 --> 00:13:21,366 your people the truth and faith and demonstrate through miracles your presence and creation 188 00:13:21,366 --> 00:13:23,600 to heal it of its brokenness. 189 00:13:23,866 --> 00:13:29,333 Grant that your church may see in your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end times 190 00:13:29,333 --> 00:13:35,433 prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in your church through the healing medicine 191 00:13:35,433 --> 00:13:40,000 of the gospel and the sacraments through Jesus Christ our Lord. 192 00:13:40,966 --> 00:13:41,500 Amen. 193 00:13:42,333 --> 00:13:44,066 And that's how you commemorate Moses. 194 00:13:44,633 --> 00:13:46,800 In the name of Jesus, amen.