Heavenly Father, we come humbly before You seeking wisdom and revelation. Share with us the true meaning of Your Holy Word. Let Your burden removing, yoke destroying power be loosed and deliver us. Show us where our tradition is in conflict with Your Will. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Let us begin by looking at the same incident twice, once from the book of Matthew and once from Mark.
Mat 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2 Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 But He answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your
tradition?
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to [his] father or [his] mother, [It is] a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship Me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
And now from Mark.
Mar 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash [their] hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the
elders.
Mar 7:4 And [when they come] from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be,
which they have received to hold, [as] the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the
elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This
people honoureth Me with [their] lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and
cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition.
To understand the traditions Jesus was talking about here we need to look at a few things. The Jews of the day had two sets of laws. First was the the written law, the Word of God that we refer to as the Old Testament. It consisted of the first five books of the bible, "The Law", which were recorded by Moses and contained six hundred and thirteen commandments (mitzvah's in Hebrew), and another thirty four books referred to as "The Prophets". Even though some of these books contain stories, songs and poetry they are all considered prophetic by nature. In the very least they are prophetic "types" that foreshadow things to come. For example the book of Ruth has as its theme a "kinsman redeemer" or "goel" (close relative) which presents a clear picture of the mediating work of Christ. The prophets and the Word of God given through them were to be a guide to the people of Israel. They were to live by the Law and be guided by the Prophets. But it did not work out that way.
Neh 9:26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and
slew Thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to Thee, and they wrought great provocations.
The second law is the oral law, known in Hebrew as the Mishna. This was a law which was passed down verbally from generation to generation. Today it is recorded in written form as part of the Talmud. But it is the unrealistic teachings of these traditions that Jesus was challenging. The scribes and Pharisees were experts on the man made traditions that were based on the written Word of God, but did not represent the Will of God. The scriptures above are a clear example of that. Look at what Paul has to say about it.
Tts 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
This to me is basically what religion boils down to. The Truth is what God says. Religion is what man says that God says.
Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered,
and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Col 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not
in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
So what does this have to do with us? This is just the problem of the Pharisees, Sadducees, the scribes, and the people who believed them, right? Wrong. We have as much, if not more, false religion running rampant in our churches today as they did.
No church is perfect, no person is perfect either. That goes double for me. I am not faulting anyone who is seeking the Truth but may be misguided. But when people refuse to accept the Truth of God because it is contrary to their denomination, or their Church's creed, or what is preached in their particular congregation, or any other tradition they may have, I have to ask the same question Jesus did. Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
There are a few other things I want to comment on quickly.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
2Cr 11:13 For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Cr 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Cr 11:15 Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who
privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
There have been many of these false ministers that have founded movements that have grown and grown. Never accept anything that I, or anyone else says. NEVER! Not without testing it first. Why should you test everything that you are told? The bible commands you to.
1Th 5:21 Test all things; hold fast to what is good. (NKJV)
How do you test all things? Anyone who has read many of my teachings will know this right away. The Word of God. The Word of God is the litmus test for everything.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned [them];
2Ti 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
That concludes this weeks look into the Word of God. Would you join me in prayer before we go? Heavenly Father, let Your Word penetrate us, let it's sharpness remove our religious traditions and false beliefs from us like a surgeons scalpel slicing away a growth of cancer. We give You praise and honor and glory and thanks. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
Please contact me with comments, questions, prayer requests, or suggestions at [email protected]
If you would like to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Please pray this prayer, and as you confess it with your mouth and believe it with your heart (Romans 10:9-10), He will wash away your sin with the blood He shed for you on the cross.
Lord Jesus, I know that You died in my place on the cross. I know that You were raised from the dead. I know that there is no other way to heaven except through You, for You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I ask You into my heart to be my Savior and my Lord from this day forward. Wash me clean of all my sins and turn me completely toward You. If I died today, I know I would go to heaven and be with You. I pray this prayer in Your Holy Name. Amen.