The Gospel of Mark 6:53-7:23 – Legalism Versus Love

In the book of Acts, Peter summarizes a good portion of Jesus’ earthly ministry: “And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).

We see Jesus healing many as we continue our study in Mark 6. How could anyone find fault with Jesus of Nazareth for going about doing good with God’s anointing? The Pharisees could—and did. They made it their mission to find fault with Jesus. These religious leaders from Jerusalem were devoted to preserving the culture of Judaism instead of Scripture.

Somewhere along the way, they began to believe that their culture was more important than Scripture. Too often, we are guilty of the same thing. We too sanctify our own preferences or write our own set of rules, or preserve our own culture at the expense of Scripture.
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When we do, we need to heed the warning Jesus gives us in Mark 7. Watch or listen to our study from Sunday and learn how legalism always fails to accomplish what only love can.