Wednesday: 5^th Week in Ordinary Time-B:

I Reading: 1Kings 10:1-10: The queen of Sheba saw all the Wisdom of Solomon.

Gospel: Mark 7:14-23: it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.

The Things that Defile. That Make a Person Unclean.

This is one of the most startling things Jesus ever taught. It shook the world of his day, and it has ever since. It revolutionizes man’s idea of evil and wrong doing, of just what evil is and what causes it. It knocks the props out from under man’s religion and morality. It lays man bare before God making him totally dependent upon God for salvation and life.

1.     Jesus called the crowd to Him (v.14-17)

a.     The importance stressed: Listen and understand

b.     The point stated

c.      The disciples’ dullness

2.     Explanation 1: the thing that enters the body does not defile nor make unclean (18-19)

a.     It does not enter the heart

b.     It inters the digestive tract

3.     Explanation 2: the thing that comes out from the heart does defile (20-22)

a.     The progress of sin

b.     The sins

4.     Explanation 3: the source of evil is the heart (23)

Thought: It is not enough for us to hear what Christ is saying, we must understand.