In today’s episode, we examine Mark 7:1-13, where the Pharisees confront Jesus and his followers for not washing their hands. Rather than focusing on outward rituals, Jesus urges the Pharisees to examine their own hearts. In this episode, J. Mark examines the dangers and downfall that come when tradition is elevated above true worship and a heart of obedience.
Transcript
It’s a privilege to be with you and study the Word of God together. Thank you for making this a part of your day. When the child of God spends time in the Word of God, good things happen. Today, we will be thinking about traditions. Our title is The Trouble with Tradition, and we will look at Mark 7, where the Pharisees confront Jesus about His disciples not washing their hands. Jesus uses this moment to get to the heart of the matter, their hearts.
Jesus’ goal has not changed. He wants our hearts as well. As we discuss and look at some of our tendencies with tradition, take a step back and examine your traditions. Are your traditions leading you to God and making you more like Him? What is the real point of the tradition? And where is your heart?
Turn to Mark 7, and J. Mark will lead us through this passage.
Traditions are as old as humanity. Through traditions, we transmit information, beliefs, and customs from one generation to the next. Traditions uphold social attitudes, customs, and institutions, ensuring that a culture endures. However, it’s essential to understand the origins of traditions, as when they are lost over time, their practice can become meaningless.
Mark records an interaction between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees that centers around traditions. Traditions often arise out of sincere attempts to please God. However, if they are not handled carefully, they can lead to hypocrisy. I hope you can stay with me as I teach “The Trouble with Tradition” from Mark 7:1–13.
1Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.
2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they specially wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders.
4 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.
5 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?”
6 He answered and said to 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.
7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
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.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
11 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),
12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother,
13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Jesus’ interaction with the religious leaders reveals the dangers of relying solely on tradition to guide our beliefs and practices. It underscores the need for a balanced approach in which tradition is respected but not mindlessly followed.
Tradition can be manipulated for selfish ends.
Our text tells us that a group of religious leaders from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. His fame had spread across the region, and they weren’t happy about it. So, they watched Jesus and His disciples with a critical eye.
They observed Jesus’ disciples eating bread without first washing their hands, which is proper for sanitary reasons. However, the religious leaders’ objection wasn’t sanitary; it was ritual. Mark explains, “For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they specially wash their hands, holding the tradition of the elders.” The Pharisees washed their hands, including the wrists, as prescribed by the elders.
This practice was more about control than cleanliness. It was a means of classifying people. Those who observed the Pharisees’ traditions were regarded as righteous. Those who ignored their traditions were considered unclean and ignorant sinners whom God would reject.
Previously, the Pharisees had accused Jesus’ miraculous powers of originating in Satan, Matthew 12:24. Since He allowed His followers to eat without washing their hands, He was a law-breaker. He was one of those unclean, ignorant sinners. In their minds, these proofs should put to rest any claims that He could be the Promised One.
Though traditions often begin as something positive and valuable, they can, over time, become a tool for approving or sanctioning people, much like the Pharisees did. They can assume an outward form, obscuring the principle they are intended to uphold. God commands His people to be holy, clean, and separated from the defilement of sin. However, the Pharisees misinterpreted the command to serve their own ends. They became the final judges of who was clean or unclean.
Tradition can be elevated to the level of Scripture.
Using tradition to achieve selfish ends is bad enough. However, elevating tradition to the level of Scripture, or above it, is a greater sin!
Jesus’ words drip with sarcasm. “Finely, Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain, they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 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.” Jesus called them hypocrites because they appeared to honor Him with their words, but their hearts were far removed from Him.
The Pharisees neglected and dismissed God’s commandments by elevating their traditions. They gave greater weight to the scribes’ teachings than to the Word of God. The Pharisees were focused on outward cleanliness rather than inward holiness. That is why Jesus took such a dramatic stand on this.
Almost the entire chapter of Matthew 23 is devoted to Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees for this error. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you, cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside, they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may also be clean.”
To distill Jesus’s words into one sentence, I would say, “He rebuked the Pharisees for paying more attention to appearance than to substance.” That happens when traditions are elevated to the same level as Scripture.
Tradition can be twisted to violate biblical commands.
After rebuking the Pharisees for elevating their traditions above the Scriptures, He gave them an illustration of their hypocrisy. He sarcastically tells them, “You are clever at setting aside the command of God to follow your tradition.” Imagine how this multiplied their hatred for Him.
The fifth of the Ten Commandments is “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Jesus reminded them of Moses’ command to respect their father and mother and stated that whoever curses their parents should be put to death. Part of that respect is caring for the parents later in life.
However, in their hypocrisy, the Pharisees found a way to avoid keeping this command. A person responsible for their parents’ care allocates a specified amount of money for that purpose. However, if he says to his parents, “The money set aside for your care is a ‘gift to God’” (korban), he is removed from the obligation of spending it on their care.
Korban meant “devoted to God.” It referred to offerings of money or material goods promised to God. This meant they were promising to use those resources for sacred purposes. The Pharisees justified the son’s trickery and held that he was prohibited from using it to care for his parents. However, he could use it for his own purposes. By their traditions, the religious leaders nullified God’s command. Jesus said that they did many other things with similar results.
The Judaism of the scribes and Pharisees was an unbiblical religion that invalidated God’s Word. The true faith of the Hebrew Scriptures had been lost, obscured by layers of rabbinic traditions that hindered people from fulfilling God’s intent.
While Jesus detested the traditions of apostate Judaism, tradition itself isn’t inherently evil. All of us practice traditions in one form or another. We have traditions surrounding our observance of the Lord’s Table. For example, the only commands associated with the Lord’s Table are to partake in a worthy manner of the bread and the cup, thus remembering the Lord’s death until He returns. Whether you use unleavened bread or not, whether you use wine or grape juice, these are matters of preference and tradition.
Trouble arises when traditions are manipulated for selfish ends or used to classify or control people. This often occurs when the tradition’s original purpose is forgotten, resulting in an empty form.
Tradition should never be elevated to the level of Scripture. Genuine Believers will joyfully obey God’s commands, even if it means breaking with tradition. They embrace Jesus’s words in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Finally, tradition should never be twisted to violate biblical commands. That is hypocrisy! Hypocrisy isn’t limited to ancient Israel. It is still pervasive in Christendom today. It thrives in empty ceremonies, indifferent prayers, superficial worship, false doctrines, and moralism. It looks good on the outside but is corrupt on the inside.
The solution for hypocrisy is the same as for any other sin: repentance. Every hypocritical, self-righteous religious person must realize that, before God, his works are like filthy, disgusting rags (Isaiah 64:6). True righteousness is only available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All who embrace Him in saving faith will be cleansed and transformed from the inside out. They will become true worshippers. Are you one of those true worshippers?
Am I a true worshipper? Thanks for the introspective question, J Mark. I can’t answer that question for you, and you can’t answer it for me. Each of us must look inside and examine our hearts. Please take the time to do this, knowing your heart is deceitful. Our hearts are desperately wicked, and we need His help to look at ourselves honestly. Praise God, He is with us.
If you have any questions about today’s lesson or would like to contact us, please let us know. You can contact us by email or online. Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks so much for being with us today. We wish you God’s best as you walk with Him and value the things He values, keeping the good traditions and letting go of or modifying the ones that need improvement, knowing He will give you wisdom to know the difference.
