Lenten Musings - seven

Mark 7
verses 1 -23
I think this is one of the definitive sections of this book. There was all of that early emphasis on sin in the first few chapters. Here, the Pharisees are grumping to Jesus about how His disciples are doing something sinful, something that makes them unclean. To this Jesus replies, "it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out". Inside of all of us is the capacity for horrible things. There's a song by Sufjan Stephens that I think speaks to this nicely. It's about John Wayne Gacy Jr, a serial killer from Illinois. I read his bio, he did some pretty horrible things. At the end of the song it says , "in the end, I'm just like him". So many people are so concerned about not doing the wrong thing, and making sure that others don't either. But in some respects it doesn't matter if we do these things are not, because all of those things are in us already. It doesn't mean we're off the hook or anything, but rather that no matter how hard we try, we can't run from sin. We have to face it. And that's what Jesus does. He offers forgiveness, so that we can just come clean and be free. I know it doesn't always work that easily, but that's the goal... freedom. From guilt, pain and the whole gamut of consequences of sin.