GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 7:23
Dénouement
Murdoch Mysteries is a long-running television series set in Toronto, Canada, in the late 19th century, featuring Detective William Murdoch. The detective often uses cutting-edge forensic techniques to solve crimes. As a crime unfolds, Murdoch exposes the culprit, and the episode ends with an explanation of the affair to be sure the viewer understands the plot.
Some time ago in an English Literature class in my university days, the professor explained the importance of the dénouement, that part of a story, play, or sermon—where it is often called the application—in which the writer or speaker ties up loose ends, resolves the conflict, and reveals the outcome for the characters. In a recent Murdoch Mysteries episode, a son murdered his father. The episode ends with the revelation that the father had murdered his wife and tortured his children—he was a horrible individual. The dénouement doesn’t absolve the son, but it leaves the viewer with some sympathy for him.
In Mark’s account of Jesus’ confrontation with the cultic guardians from Jerusalem—Pharisees and scribes—and Jesus’ explanation to his disciples of the principle that it is not what enters a man that defiles him but what comes out that defiles him, Jesus said, “All these evil things come out from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:23) — the dénouement. Matthew gave the same list of internal polluting conditions and wrote the same dénouement. (Matthew 15:19-23) Jesus “drove home the point” that all these things come from within, from the heart of man, and defile him.
I get it, Jesus, and I will try to guard my heart so that none of these defiling behaviors comes out from within.
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