Message preached Sunday, August 30, 2015 from Mark 7:1-13
Theme: A devotion to man-made traditions can pull us away from a relationship of love and obedience with God.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
As we continue our study of the Gospel of Mark this morning, we come to Chapter 7; and it’s there that we find our Lord in a conflict with the religious leaders of the day. We’ve seen a few such conflicts already in this Gospel; but this one is a particularly intense one. There will be more of such conflicts as we move forward; and sadly, we will find that they will grow even more intense along the way.
Personally, I don’t enjoy conflicts. I would much prefer to look at happier stories in the Bible. But I believe that the reason that the Holy Spirit has preserved such ‘conflict’ stories for us in the Scriptures is because they help to clarify what ought to be important to us in our walk with the Lord. And in this particular conflict, our Lord teaches us—living for Him as we do in a pluralistic and diverse culture with a variety of values and priorities pressing in upon us—one of the dangers we need to watch out for in our service to Him in this world.
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Before we look together at the story of this conflict, may I tell you what I believe is important to the Lord Jesus in our walk with Him? There are many things involved, to be sure; but I think that they can be summed up in saying that it’s that we walk with Him in loving obedience to His commandments. I say “loving”, because I believe that is what He wants from us most of all. He wants that to be our great motivation—that we trust Him, enjoy a deep personal relationship with Him, and truly love Him with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength. And I say “obedience”, because obedience to His commands is how He wants us to put that love for Him into practical action.
Now, I’m not making that up. That’s what Jesus Himself said. He once told His disciples, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). He is presented to us in the Bible as God the Son—the second divine Person of the Trinity who is eternally one with the Father; and so, what the God of the Bible says is to be taken by us as what He Himself says, and what the God of the Bible commands are His commandments to us. So, if we truly love Jesus, we must keep His commandments given to us in the pages of the whole Bible—both Old and New Testaments. Jesus explained it to His disciples this way:
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:21-24).
So; I believe that that’s what is important to the Lord Jesus Christ in our walk with Him in this world. It’s that we show our love to Him by faithfully obeying His commandments in daily life, which are also His Father’s commandments. Beware, by the way, of those who say that we are only obligated to obey Jesus’ commandments of ‘love’ in the New Testament—as if Jesus’ commandments and the commandments of the Old Testament are in conflict with one another. That’s not true at all. What the Father commanded, Jesus also commands; just as He said elsewhere;
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:9-10).
If we walk in faithful obedience to Jesus, we will always end up obeying the Father’s commandments also; because Jesus Himself loves the Father and faithfully keeps all His Father’s commandments.
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Now; the reason I’m stressing all this at the beginning is because I believe it’s key to understanding the importance of the warning Jesus gives in this morning’s passage. The conflict that Jesus had at the beginning of Chapter 7 has to do with something that impacts our obedience to the Father’s commandments. It describes something that is important to all of us and that touches all our lives—but that has an inherent danger in it that, if we’re not careful, can pull us away from a faithful and loving obedience to our Lord and to His Father’s commandments.
That ‘thing’ is ‘tradition’—man-made standards or practices that are passed down to us as having symbolic significance or historic value. Such traditions—in and of themselves—are not necessarily wrong; but if we’re not careful, in time, keeping them can become more important to us than keeping the commandments of God. Those ‘traditions’ can look deceptively like ‘obedience to God’ on the surface; but they can, if misused, actually lead us far away from the sincere, genuine ‘loving obedience’ that our Lord desires from us.
“Tradition” is what the conflict in this morning’s passage was about. And surprisingly, the source of the conflict in this morning’s passage ended up being the traditions held to by the highly-esteemed ‘religious leaders’ of Jesus’ day—the Pharisees and the scribes. Look with me at the beginning of Mark 7; and let’s see how this conflict occurred. You see it in the first five verses and in . . .
1. WHAT THE PHARISEES WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT.
The Lord Jesus had arrived with His disciples at the shores of Gennesaret a short time before this. So, this confrontation most likely occurred in the regions of Capernaum—where multitudes of people were following Him and being taught by Him. Verse 1 tells us,
Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem (Mark 7:1).
The Pharisees, as you know, were the diligent custodians of the Law of Moses. They sought to carefully obey the written word of the Old Testament law; and they even constructed a whole set of rules and regulations and ceremonies—a ‘fence’, as it were, around the law—in order to prevent anyone from getting out of line. Along with them were the scribes; who were the professional scholars in the law of Moses.
Perhaps they had come from Jerusalem because they had heard about the things that Jesus was doing and teaching, and wanted to investigate things for themselves. And we’re told,
Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault (v. 2).
This wasn’t about merely washing one’s dirty hands before eating dinner. Rather, this was about a Jewish religious tradition. It was one that wouldn’t have made much sense to the Gentile readers of Mark’s Gospel, so Mark goes on in verses 3-4 to explain:
For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches (vv. 3-4).
You see; the Pharisees—and all pious Jewish people at that time—thought that the world around them was a place that was contaminated by things that were profane and impure before God. When they would go to the marketplace, or travel around in the daily business of life, they would have contact with much that was profane and common and ceremonially impure. And so, as an act of devotion to God, they would symbolically wash their hands of the impurities of this world—along with also washing their cups, and their pitchers, and their containers, and anything else that might have been made ‘profane’ or ‘common’ and not sanctified unto God.
Now; this was not something that God commanded the Jewish people to do. Certainly there were instructions in the Old Testament law about washings; but this was a man-made addition to them. It was a tradition—handed down to them from the Jewish elders and teachers from long ago—as a way of symbolizing that they considered themselves holy and devoted to God. And it was a religious tradition that they were very careful to observe. But what they had noticed—and what had upset them considerably—was that Jesus had not insisted that His followers keep true to this same tradition. Mark tells us;
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” (v. 5).
Now; let’s be clear. The idea of washing was not necessarily wrong. That’s something important to notice about traditions—including religious traditions. For the most part, there’s nothing necessarily harmful in them. But look at what was happening! The man-made tradition of ceremonially washing hands before eating—something that God never commanded—was becoming a cause for the Pharisees to judge and condemn the disciples. They were viewing the disciples as less than holy before God because they didn’t keep this tradition. And in that respect, the tradition became a dangerous thing.
By the way—just an aside. I can’t help but notice how the Pharisees and scribes were watching the behavior of the disciples; checking to see if they would keep true to the man-made tradition. That’s a remarkable characteristic of legalism. If you believe that people have received God’s grace and are free to walk before Him in His favor—accepted in His sight—then you don’t need to go around keeping them under surveillance all the time. But if you make up rules and regulations for everyone to follow, then you have to constantly watch them to make sure that those rules and regulations are enforced.
What a burden ‘legalism’ places on everyone! May God keep us far from it!
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Now; the Pharisees and the scribes would have thought that they were walking in a holy manner before God. They would have thought that they were the ones in a deep relationship with Him, because they were keeping true to the traditions. But it must have come as a real shock to hear . . .
2. WHAT JESUS SAID THEIR REAL CONDITION WAS (vv. 6-7).
They wanted an answer to why Jesus did not insist that His disciples wash. He gave them an answer all right—but not at all the kind of answer they were expecting! In verses 6-7, we read;
He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written [and here, by the way, He’s quoting from Isaiah 29:13]:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (vv. 6-7).
And in answering them in this way, Jesus told them four very shocking things:
(1) He told them, first, that that passage from Isaiah—one that they would have known very well, and that they would have thought applied to other people—was actually a prophecy about them!
(2) Then, He called them out for what they really were—hypocrites. They were judging and condemning other people for not being righteous before God; but they were doing all their judging from behind a mask of religious piety. On the other side of that mask, they themselves were not right with God.
(3) He next told them that even though they did a great deal of talking with their lips about how close to God they were, their heart was actually far from Him. They did not have the close relationship with God that they pretended to have.
(4) Finally, He told them that their outward expression of devotion to God—their worship through the traditions of men—was actually in vain. It was a useless waste of time. In fact, it was worse than useless; because it kept them far from God.
That helps us appreciate the danger inherent in man-made traditions. They may seem harmless in and of themselves. Sometimes, they may even seem positively helpful in a spiritual sense. But if we’re not careful, they can actually deceive us into thinking that we are close to God when—in fact—our hearts are far from Him. Too great a devotion to them can lead us far away from that all-important, personal relationship of loving obedience to God. The evidence was pretty clear in their case; because there they were—in opposition to the Son of God Himself.
And let me suggest one more thing for reflection. We’ve been talking here primarily about ‘religious’ man-made traditions. A lot of people look on such things, see the religious hypocrisy of them, and self-righteously declare, “That’s why I don’t have anything to do with either ‘religion’ or ‘religious traditions’.” But wouldn’t the same danger be inherent in other kinds of traditions? Wouldn’t this warning also apply to certain ‘cultural traditions’?—the kind that allow people to engage in certain kinds of injustices, or that celebrate things that God has forbidden, all on the argument that such things have a long history or that that’s the way we’ve always done things? What about certain ‘societal traditions’, where certain kinds of sinful practices of a group are accepted—so long as they are kept within the group? What about ‘political traditions’?—the way some people are willing to reject what God’s word clearly says if it would mean that they would have to go against their political party’s platform?
It’s not just man-made ‘religious’ traditions that are the problem. Any man-made tradition or standard of conduct—in any context—that might draw us away from a pure, loving, whole-hearted obedience to our Lord’s clear commandments in His word is a dangerous thing!
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Now; how does such a thing happen? How does someone get to the place where they put such a high priority on human traditions that they disobey God’s commandments? I believe that the Lord shows us when He told these Pharisees and scribes . . .
3. HOW THEY SLIPPED DOWNWARD INTO ERROR.
I believe we can see a first step in the words of verse 7. When the Lord quoted from Isaiah 29:13, He said,
“And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (v. 7).
Here, we see that they taught the commandments of men as if they had the same degree of authority as the doctrines of God. That’s a very common thing to do. We can hold on to a tradition so long and so devotedly that, after a while, we actually begin to think that it has a binding authority that it doesn’t really have.
I’ve told the story before about the woman who always cut the ends of her ham off before she put it in the pan and set it in the oven. She threw the end away; and no one ate it. She did this every Thanksgiving. A friend noticed this ritual, and asked her why she did it. She looked perplexed and said, “Come to think of it, I don’t really know. My mother always did it; and I thought that it was what you were supposed to do.” So; she called her mother and asked why she did it; and her mother said the same thing: “Well; come to think of it, I don’t know. My mother always did it; and so I just assumed that it was what you were supposed to do.” And so, they called Grandma and asked, “Grandma, why did you start the tradition of cutting the end of the ham off before you put it in the oven?” She said, “What tradition? My pan was too narrow.”
But that’s what happens with traditions. We forget the reason why they were done in the first place. There might have even been a good reason for it; but that good reason becomes long forgotten or no longer an issue. And yet, the tradition goes on and takes on an authority all its own. Why do so many people of a certain branch of the Christian faith so carefully abstain from meat and only eat fish on Friday? Have you ever wondered? There’s no commandment from God in the Scriptures that requires it. I’ve read some pretty elaborate ‘spiritual’ explanations justifying it; but it doesn’t seem that anyone knows for sure. And yet, it’s often thought of as a spiritual requirement that has divine authority. The best explanation I can find for how it started is that it was something that a pope commanded in the thirteenth to fourteenth century to help boost the failing Italian fishing industry. Is that a really great need right now?–especially here in the Pacific Northwest? But that’s how it is with ‘traditions’. Soon such “commandments of men” begin to take on the authority of “doctrines”.
Well; that’s what these Pharisees and scribes were doing with the tradition handed down to them about washing. They began to take on an authority they didn’t deserve. But there was a next step—a very serious one. The Pharisees grew to value the traditions of men more than they valued God’s commandments. We see this in what Jesus says in verse 8:
“For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do” (v. 8).
The act of “laying aside” the commandments of God showed that they preferred the traditions of men over them. Pretty soon, the commandments of God weren’t looked to. What was looked to were the traditions. We see this today when people follow religious traditions without ever once stopping to consult the Scriptures to see if God even commanded them.
The next step, however, is even more serious. It’s when they actually choose to reject the commandments of God whenever they were in conflict with the traditions that they held dear. To ‘reject’ God’s commandments in order to keep the traditions is a step far beyond merely ‘laying them aside’. We see this in the example that Jesus gives:
He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death’” (vv. 9-10).
You recognize those commandments, don’t you? One is the Fifth Commandment, from Exodus 20:12. The other is a subsequent commandment from God in Exodus 21:17. They are clear, unmistakable commandments given through Moses, with all the binding authority of the God of Israel.
But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother (vv. 11-12).
You see; the Pharisees taught a tradition that if someone had some money, and they declared that it had been dedicated as a gift to God, then the money was considered ‘sacred’ and could not be used for common purposes—not even for the purpose of caring for one’s parents. God’s word nowhere teaches such a thing. It was a man-made ‘tradition’ that the Pharisees considered more binding than the clear commands from God to honor father or mother.
Finally, then, they ended up making God’s commandments to be of “no effect” in the lives of people through their traditions. Jesus goes on to say,
then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do” (vv. 12-13).
Even though God commanded that mother and father be honored, the man-made tradition of declaring it “Corban”—to their mind—annulled the commandment of God!
So; from this, we can see the dangerous downward pattern: (1) Give tradition an authority equal with the commandments of God’s word, (2) prefer tradition over God’s commandments, (3) reject the commandments of God in order to keep the tradition, and finally (4) make the commandments of God to “no effect”.
What a dangerous potential ‘tradition’ can have when we allow it to rob us of a pure, genuine loving relationship of obedience to God!
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Now; that’s just the first half of this passage. In the first half, the Lord Jesus deals with the danger of ‘religious tradition’. But that is only secondary to what He really teaches in this passage. In the second half, He deals with the greater question of whether or not we can be made ‘profane’ by things on the outside.
Let’s read the rest of the passage:
When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (vv. 14-23).
That’s a significant subject that needs a treatment all its own. If the Lord wills, we’ll deal with it next time. But for now, let’s consider what we do with the dangerous potential of man-made religious traditions.
Should we throw them all out? I don’t think that would be wise at all. For the most part, they are harmless; and in some cases, they are very helpful. Let’s not try to make a list of ‘religious traditions’ for everyone to avoid; because that could end up just as legalistic as making a set of traditions that people must follow.
Instead, I’d say let’s keep the focus where it always should be. Let’s make sure that we are in a relationship with God by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Let’s make sure we place the greatest priority on the wonderful gift of a relationship with Jesus by faith, and on our 100% acceptance and favor before God through Him. Let’s love Jesus Christ with all our being; and let’s make sure we show that love to Him by our obedience to His commandments. Let’s study the Scriptures faithfully and diligently, so that we know what it is that He commands of us; and let’s obey His commands in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that if we do that, ‘traditions’ will always be kept by us in their proper place. Then, I believe we will be keeping true to what the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian believers:
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:8-10).