Principle & Revelation

After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16[“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]  Mark 7:14-16 NASB

On this day, Jesus is simply stating a truthful principle to the crowd present. But His heart is not that they would just hear the principle but that they would understand the principle. Jesus says: "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand." Jesus does not make a distinction between who He wants to listen and understand, because He called everyone to listen and understand. The heart of Christ is not that we would simply be those who hear, but that we would be those who hear, understand, and become doers of the word also.
This is why revelation is so important. Jesus is providing a principle for all to hear, but is then going to provide the revelation to the principle. When we are teaching our kids about scripture and the things of the Lord, we need to incorporate the revelation aspect of what those scriptures mean and how they are practically lived out in every day life. Paul, addressing the last days in his second letter to Timothy, pointed out that there will come a time when people will become those who are always learning, but they never come to the point of understanding. Paul says: always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:7 That word for knowledge means experiential knowledge. These people never come to truly understand and experience the things they are learning. They have an abundance of principles but a lack of experiential knowledge and revelation in regards to those principles. 
Truth, is often confrontational and contradictory to our own understandings. The humble in heart love to be confronted with truth because the humble are always hungry. The prideful on the other hand despise any truths that confront them because they are already full of their own ideas. A confrontation of wrong thinking often happens before a revelation comes about. Jesus will often bring about a principle that is completely contrary to our level of understanding to create a hunger for more. This is what Jesus is doing here in Mark 7. He is bringing about a truth that is completely contrary to everything that everyone knew to be true; which in turn creates a hunger in His disciples. This hunger is expressed in verse 17 when the disciples pull Jesus aside to ask Him what those words meant. They had a taste of the principle just like everybody else, now they want a full meal of revelation, which Jesus freely gives them. 
Let us be a people that hunger and thirst for more of the word of God. Then let us walk in obedience to His word so that the hungry and thirsty among us, find satisfaction in Him. 

Questions to Consider:

1. In verse 16, Jesus uses a phrase the He used often "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear". What do you think this means and why does Jesus use it so often? 

2. Why is it important for us as disciples to know the principles and teachings of Christ, but also have the revelation behind the principles?