I. The Minors

A. Man-made laws in the church--vv6-8; Col 2:21-22; Rev 22:18

B. Dietary laws that were changed in the NT--Acts 10:14-16, especially Heb. 9:10 & 13:9

II. The Majors: God’s law and the dirty dozen + 2--verses 14-23

III. The MAJOR solution--Heb 9:9-14, especially vv12 & 14

Barnes Notes on the New Testament: Neither by the blood of goats and calves--The Jewish sacrifice consisted of the shedding of the blood of animals. On the great day of the atonement, the high priest took with him into the most holy place:

But by his own blood--that is, by his own blood shed for the remission of sins. The meaning is that it was in virtue of his own blood, or "by means" of that, that he sought the pardon of his people. That blood was not shed for himself, for he had no sin, and consequently there was a material difference between his offering and that of the Jewish high priest. The difference related to such points as these.

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The Message for Children

(Mark 7:1) The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2) saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed.

Visual: hand cleaner

When I was growing up, two things happened before we could eat. My mother would ring the dinner bell and we would come from the barn or the fields for lunch. Can you guess what else we had to do before we could eat? (Allow for answers) Right! Mom insisted that we washed our hands before we could eat.

(Show hand cleaner) Washing your hands is a good idea even at other times. This is a hand washer, and you don’t even need water!

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees washed their hands and many other things so that they would be right with God. Jesus and his disciples didn’t! Not because they didn't care about dirt, but to show that a ceremony type hand washing didn't help you to get right with God. Why not? Because Jesus said the really dirty stuff with us isn’t on your hands, but inside of us, in our hearts! And then he told us about a different kind of GERM! It's the germ we call sin. Jesus made a long list of 14 sins that come from inside of us.

I tell you more about that in a few minutes. Just remember that the only washing that works with these "inside germs" is the one Jesus’ disciple John wrote about: "The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses from all sin."

Make sure you get the right cleaner and that comes only from Jesus!