Tradition Nullifying God’s Word: Mark 7:1-13
We might ask someone this question: “Are you going to Heaven when you die?” They answer affirmatively, “Yes, I recently joined the church.”
Does joining a church guarantee your one-way ticket to Heaven when you pass from this life? In the New Testament, the Bible recognizes the existence of churches comprised of believers. No where does the concept of joining a church come up, and it never comes up related to one's salvation!
Jesus spoke of this issue often. The issue is tradition nullifying the word of God!
In Mark 7:1-13 we have the problem in Jesus' time.
The text doesn't tell us where this event happened. The content of the event seems to be more important than the location. Jesus is going to come into conflict with the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.
The Pharisees took the Old Testament Law literally and were legalistic about it. The teachers of the Law didn't necessarily teach the Old Testament Law, but a huge list of rules and regulations that were oral traditions passed on from generation to generations.
In about 200 AD, these rules and regulations were written down and called the Mishnah. In the times of Jesus, they were Oral traditions. The Pharisees and teachers of the law took these traditions seriously.
In fact, if someone didn't keep these traditions, they were considered ceremonially unclean! They were treated as though they broke the law of God.
The rule was you washed your hands, cups, pitchers and kettles before you ate! This had nothing to do with hygiene but was all about keeping these man-made laws made up by Jewish religious guys.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law got confrontational with Jesus about why His disciples didn't keep these man-made rules they had cooked up!
They accused Jesus and His people of eating with unclean hands because they didn't keep their ceremonial laws! In verses 6B through 7 Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 to rebuke these religious bigshots, “(6B) These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (7) They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (NIV)
They taught rules made up by men, not word from God! Listen to what Jesus told them in Mark 7:8 in our text, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (NIV)
Jesus gives them a pertinent example of what He's talking about. In Exodus chapter 20 verse 12 Moses commanded in the law you honor your father and mother. That included taking care of them in their old age.
The Biblical idea was family was the social security network for all of us. Children took care of old parents, like those parents took care of the children when they were young. That was codified and made legal in the law of God. But the teachers of the law made a rule if an adult child declared his assets a gift devoted to God, that was called “corban,” then he didn't have to use those assets to care for his parents.
Jesus told the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law they had nullified the word of God by their manmade tradition!
When we take traditions that seem important to us and apply them as though they were word from God, we elevate manmade traditions above the word of God.
In the 70s while in youth ministry, we would have “youth Sunday” once a year. The youth would do the worship service. Anyone involved had to wear a shirt and tie if he was male and a nice dress if they were female.
No girl could pass our communion and no boy could serve communion without a tie and suit jacket. Having communion is in the Bible, all the other rules aren't!
The minute you exclude someone because they didn't wear the right clothing, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
There are all kinds of things people impose on each other today thinking, “That must be in the Bible somewhere.” Often, it's not in the Bible and is a tradition of men.
How do we solve that problem? It's essential people who say they go by the Bible to understand what it says and apply it to their situation and not make a bunch of manmade rules.
Today, we often elevate church tradition above faith in Christ. Back to the question we started with, “Are you going to heaven when you die?” The answer is often, “Yes, I recently joined the church.”
Churches are made up of people who are headed for Heaven, at least they should be. Joining a church is an American tradition! Some people associate that with being headed for Heaven. That, again is an American tradition that has no basis in fact when we look at God's word in the Bible.
I can almost guarantee generations of families exist in communities across America who have joined the church their parents joined and think this guarantees them Heaven. That's a tradition of men that has the capacity to cost people their eternity!
What does the word of God say about the basis of salvation and what guarantees Heaven?
Look at Romans 5:12, (1) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) Through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (NIV)
Notice we're justified by faith. Justified means we're declared legally not guilty of sin. That happens when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith is trusting Christ completely! On what basis do we trust Him completely and receive the not guilty of sin verdict?
Romans 5:1 is preceded by Romans 4:25 in the Greek text. Remember in the original there's no division between the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5. Verse and chapter separations are manmade and aren't in the original.
Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (NIV)
Justification through faith in chapter 5 verse 1 begins with Christ being delivered over to death for our sin in chapter 4 verse 25 and with Christ being raised from the dead for our justification in chapter 4:25.
We trust Christ on the basis of Him being delivered over to death for our sins. That means when I should have died at my execution for my sin, Christ stood in for me! He died at my execution paying for my sin!
I trust Him on the basis of Him standing in for me at my execution for my sin and paying the price to free me from sins penalty completely!
It is easy to trust a guy who would die in your place, and that is what Jesus did for you and me. That substitute for me at my execution is the beginning of Him giving me the capacity to trust Him for legal right standing with God guaranteeing my ticket to Heaven.
This is the beginning, not the end! Chapter 4:25B says, “and was raised to life for our justification.” (NIV) I can put my faith in Jesus, trusting Him completely because He was raised from the dead… for what reason? For my justification, or to establish my legal right standing with God.
The death pays for my sin, the resurrection guarantees my justification, that's I'm legally in right standing with the Living God forever and my ticket to Heaven is punched by Jesus' resurrection.
Here's the news flash, no dead guy can punch anyone's ticket for any destination, much less Heaven. But Jesus isn't a dead guy! Having paid our price for sin and being raised from the dead only He, only Jesus has the authority to punch our heaven ticket.
The basis of our trust in Jesus, guaranteeing our ticket to Heaven is His death to pay for sin and His resurrection from the dead to assure our right standing with God by his authority as the sin bearer and the only one raised from the dead.
We trust Jesus or put our faith in Him based on His death for us and His resurrection. Romans 5:1B makes it clear we have established peace with our Lord Jesus Christ.
He offers the peace treaty by dying in our place and being raised from the dead establishing legal right standing with God. Our faith puts us in a relationship of peace with our Lord Jesus Christ! By faith, we sign the peace treaty and smoke the peace pipe of a relationship of peace with God.
According to Romans 5:2 we gained access by faith into His grace, and it's in His grace we stand. Grace is a gift no one deserves. No one deserves for Jesus to die for them and be raised from the dead for them to restore them to God.
But we come to Jesus in faith and stand in His grace!
When we come to Jesus in faith and stand in His grace we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! Hope is assurance! The assurance of the glory of God is the assurance of Heaven with Him in His glory! That assurance comes by faith in Jesus and what He paid at the cross and in His resurrection from the dead.
Chose one of these: Are you going to Heaven? Yes, I joined the church recently. No way Jose'! Are you going to Heaven? Yes, I came to Jesus in faith responding to His death paying for my sin and His resurrection guaranteeing life for eternity.
Faith in Christ trumps all manmade traditions!