By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 7:8
You leave the
commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
(ESV)
Traditions are an important part of any culture. While it is July and in many places of the
country, and world, it is hot with no hint of snow, let us take a moment to
look at the traditions surrounding Christmas.
There is the exchanging of gifts, the lights, the busy stores, and full
hotels due to those coming in to be with family. While it is easy to complain about the stress
or hassle of the season, we do it each year because of its tradition. However, in each of these traditions, we can
see a type of Jesus Christ.
The tradition of exchanging gifts should cause us to
remember that Christmas is about God giving His only Son so we can have
forgiveness of sin and eternal life (John
3:16). The lights remind us that
Jesus is the light of the world (John
8:12). The context of Jesus’ birth
was people traveling for the Roman census leaving Mary and Joseph without a
hotel room and Mary giving birth in a barn (Luke
2:7). The busy stores remind us that
Jesus birth came during a hectic time in the world.
However, the Pharisees and Scribes approaching Jesus in Mark
7:1 are not coming to point to tradition as symbolic of Jesus and instead seek
to condemn Jesus for not following their traditions. Jesus has been busy healing the sick, casting
out demons, and feeding five thousand from five loaves and two fish, and yet
what they notice is the disciples not washing their hands (Mark
7:2). The reason for this is tradition
has blinded them to what was happening in front of them (Mark
7:3-4). This prompts them to ask
Jesus why he allows his disciples to abandon the traditions of the elders and
eat with defiled hands.
Jesus does not answer their question but instead quotes Isaiah
29:13-14 and accuses them of putting on a show of worshiping God. However, instead of worshipping God, they
prefer to hold on to their traditions and condemn anyone not following
them. While it is easy in hindsight to
condemn these religious leaders, the words of Jesus are words the church must
heed to ensure we do not hold tighter to church traditions and neglect the
calling of the Church to spread the Gospel and make Disciples (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).
Unfortunately, church services today can more resemble a secular
concert or self-help seminar that stirs up emotions rather than a place the
spiritually sick go to and receive healing.
Ministers also hesitate to speak out against sin because of fear of
offending attendees or having people pull their financial support. It is time for the Church and those in the
church to pause and ask why they obey God.
While tradition brings comfort and stability, it must not become
something distracting us from obeying the mission God has for the Church.
After scolding them for their abandonment of God’s law for
the traditions of men, Jesus provides an example. In this example, Jesus points out that one
can conveniently reject the commandment to honor parents by simply stating that
whatever the parents have gained from them now belongs to God. When a young person would do this, tradition
no longer allowed them to do anything for their parents (Mark
7:9-12).
However, tradition can also lead to the Church becoming
overly judgmental as occurred with the Pharisees and Scribes in this text. They were judging Jesus, the Son of God’s
allowing his disciples to eat without first going through the ceremonial
washing of their hands. While washing one’s
hands before eating promotes good health, this is not the issue with the
Pharisees. Jesus threatens their lofty
position as religious leaders, and they are seeking a reason to accuse Jesus of
blasphemy so people will quit following Him.
The church today faces many issues like gay marriage, abortion, and
transgenderism for which it must take a stand.
Those choosing to continue living in wickedness will suffer the
consequences of their decision (John
3:18) but judging them is not the mission of the church. Instead, the Church must take a biblical
stand on these issues and point those living in these sins to Christ the source
of salvation through sharing the Gospel.
The job of judging and saving sinners is the Lord with Jesus providing
the path to forgiveness on the cross.
The church mission is directing people to the cross.
Everyone reading this who has not already done so should now
take the opportunity to ask God to forgive their sins. John
3:16 promises eternal life to those choosing to make Jesus his or her
savior with John
3:17 promising no condemnation to those that do. To free yourself from condemnation, please
take a moment to pray with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, was
buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
Obedience to God is not a religious matter of adherence to age-old
traditions and a matter of the heart. When
we serve God out of love for what He did for us in providing His only Son as a
substitute for the death penalty of our sins, our obedience is not a drudgery
but something we look forward to doing. Everyone
reading this should now take time to reflect on the great gift God has provided
and obey as an expression of great love for God and what He has done.
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