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"Why Do Your Disciples Not Walk According to the
Traditions?"
Mark 7:1-13
If a religious practice is centuries old; if it is encouraging and uplifting; if
it is beautiful to see or hear; if it is sanctioned by religious leaders around
the world; if it is highly symbolic and moves us to think righteous thoughts;
and if many, many respected people seem to get so much good out of it then it
must be pleasing to God. Am I Right?
Well, no I am not. Although all the above qualifications sound so good and
positive, none of them are a factor in determining what is pleasing to God. In
fact, when you think about it, the above qualities could describe a noble
Jewish, Moslem or Eastern religious tradition. The missing ingredient is the
acceptance of Christ's authority. Apart from the authority of God's Son, a
religious practice cannot be acceptable to God, no matter how beautiful or
popular. King Jesus has all authority (Matthew 28:18-20; John 14:6; Ephesians
1:22,23). The most beautiful worship in God's eyes is not those acts which
appeal to the eyes or flesh with glitter, pomp and circumstance. It is simple,
trusting hearts yielding to His Son and expressing the soul's adoration for Him
in the ways in which He has proscribed. The love of Christ and the keeping of
His commandments is the key to pleasing the Father (John 14:15;21). The keeping
and binding of religious traditions of human origin will obscure the truth if we
are not careful. Consider as our text Jesus' own statements concerning this, and
how He answered the question; "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the
tradition of the elders...?" (Mark 7:1-13).
A Beautiful Ceremony
"For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their
hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the
market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many
other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing
of cups and pitchers and copper pots." (Mark 7:3-4).
Sometimes, people judge the merits of a tradition based upon outward
appearances. If it appears holy, then it must be. The Pharisees partook in a
religious tradition of the washing of the hands. This was not a matter of
personal hygiene, but elaborate religious ritual full of deep religious
symbolism. It was widely practiced among the Jews of the first century, so much
so that it was thought extremely strange that the Lord and His disciples did not
bother with it.
Men had started this religious practice to symbolize their disdain for moral and
spiritual impurity. This washing of hands consisted of thoroughly and vigorously
washing the hands up to the elbows while offering prayers and blessings as a
religious ritual. This tradition deluded the Pharisees into thinking themselves
pure, when in reality they were only cleansing the surface. Spiritual cleansing
must come from within (Mark 7:14,15).
The Pharisees thought Jesus was less than righteous for not keeping their
traditions. The ceremony was so beautiful and elaborate, they thought. Likewise,
we should think carefully about religious rituals offered today. We'll have to
do better than the Pharisees to be pleasing to God.
To Obey is Better Than To Sacrifice
"And He said unto them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is
written, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men."'"
(Mark 7:6,7).
The real question with all religious ritual, practices and doctrine is, "Is it
of God or of man?" Jesus said that there were at least two things wrong with the
Pharisees'
practice. First, they were going through motions which had the appearance of
holiness but their hearts were far removed from God. Second, their worship of
God was rendered vain by the fact that they taught and practiced as "doctrine
the precepts of men." Jesus said both of these problems were serious enough to
render their worship vain.
We must remember that often times things may appear holy to men but are not
pleasing to the Lord. Paul mentioned "...matters which have, to be sure, the
appearance of wisdom in self-made religion..." but "...are of no value against
fleshly indulgence." (Colossians 2:23). It is as Samuel told the sinful King
Saul, "Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice." (1 Samuel 15:22b).
The Difference Between Commandment and Tradition
"Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." (Mark
7:8).
As if all this were not bad enough, Jesus points out that the Pharisees had gone so far as to "nicely set aside the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition." (Mark 7:9). He then proved it by citing a specific example and then added, "...and you do many things such as that." (Mark 7:13).
The specific example that Jesus uses is that of the command "Honor your father
and mother." This was the commandment of God, and included caring for parents
when they became less able to provide for themselves due to age. But the
Pharisees would sometimes take that with which they might have given to their
parents, and make it "a gift to God." They would say the phrase "corban" over an
item, and thereby set it apart as devoted to God. So, the parents would go
without their due honor, contrary to God's commandment, and the son would retain
practical ownership of the "dedicated" items.
It would be bad enough to insist our traditions were of equal weight and
authority to the commandments of God, but to go even further and set aside the
commandments of God for the sake of tradition is possibly even worse. For
example, by the commandment of Jesus we are not to wear special religious
clothing , have special places of honor, and use special religious titles to
distinguish ourselves above other brethren. We are all brothers (Matthew
23:5-12). But many have set aside this commandment of Jesus by wearing special
clerical garb, having special seats of honor and using religious courtesy
titles, thereby "nicely setting aside the commandment of God for the sake of
your tradition."
Let God's New Covenant Be Enough
"...thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed
down; and you do many things such as that." (Mark 7:13). The covenant of Jesus
Christ is complete and adequate for all of our spiritual needs. There is simply
no room for any religious practice or doctrine that one cannot find authorized
within it (2 Timothy 3:16,17; James 1:22-25). It is nothing but a lack of faith
to suppose that we can enhance this covenant by adding to it our own religious
dogmas and practices. The religious world has no shortage of religious
traditions of human, and not divine, origin. For example, one simply cannot find
any special annual observances of either Christ's birth or death in His
covenant. While we are gladdened by His coming, our way of celebrating it is to
lovingly obey Him each day and be dedicated to His will being done. One cannot
find babies being "christened" in our covenant. This practice also had its
origin in the minds of men.
But there are rituals that are ordained of God. There is the Lord's Supper, full
of meaning, sobering beauty and uplifting. There is the singing of hymns and the
offering of prayers as we assemble together. There is the baptism of believers
for the remission of sins as we symbolize our Lord's death, burial and
resurrection. Let us be fully satisfied with keeping the Lord's covenant.
By Jon W. Quinn
From Expository Files 4.1; January 1997
