Traditions or Faith

Mark 7:1-23
Length: 20:17

This is a message given on August 30, 2009 at the Bowdertown United Methodist Church.

As we saw last week, the crowds have abandoned Jesus. The Pharisees are picking up their attacks on Jesus and His followers. Here we see the Pharisees complaining that the disciples did not wash their hands according to the ceremonial traditions before eating.

The Jewish tradition had an elaborate system of washing your hands to sanctify them or make them clean. This was not for hygienic reasons as we wash our hands today, rather it was purely a ritual washing.

For this ritual, the water was poured over the person’s hands. The hands are then raised up so the water will run down to the wrist. This insures that the entire hand was cleansed and the dirty runoff water doesn’t run back over the fingers defiling them again.

It sounds like quite a process doesn’t it. Now there is nothing wrong with this process. In fact, before performing surgery, Doctors and Nurse’s have a similar hand scrubbing procedure. Although, theirs is for hygienic purposes.

The problem arises because the traditions the Jewish people followed became more important than the actual Word of God. It sounds appalling doesn’t it? But believe it or not the same thing still happens today, not only among Jews, but among Christians as well.

Even today our religious institutions move away from the Word of God and move toward the interpretation of it by man. This isn’t necessarily motivated by any form of disrespect toward or motivation against God. It is simply the appeal of believing that this scholarly person or group of people is right and by obeying them we will be obeying God. That, unfortunately, is not always the case.

So the Pharisees approach Jesus and ask him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders?” As usual, the Pharisees really have a hidden agenda. They were really accusing Jesus of teaching His disciples to disobey the traditions of the elders.

But, as usual, Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly. Jesus doesn’t even try to defend Himself or His disciples.

Instead He gets to the heart of the issue as we have seen him do so many times before. First, He calls the Pharisees hypocrites or two-faced. They pretend to honor God, but their true nature is self-serving. Second, He quotes Scripture from Isaiah. The Pharisees follow the traditions of men because it is a mechanical system rather than a heart system

The Pharisees say all the right things, but they say them for the wrong reason. Their hearts are not focused on God, rather they are focused on themselves. This makes their worship worthless and their teachings corrupt.


Jesus then proves His point with an example. The honoring of your father and mother was an important command to uphold. In fact, it was so important, if you did not honor your father and mother the punishment could be death!

The Jews had this tradition of Corban. If you classified something as Corban, then you were designating it as a gift to God, but you could still use.

This sounds like a wonderful idea and it is. You are dedicating the things that God has given to you back to God. You are essentially putting your belongings into a trust for you to use and take care of for a while, but then you return to God for His continued work.

So, lets say a young Jewish man was well off, but his elderly parents were sick and struggling. The Jewish man could label all of his assets as a gift to God. This meant that he could not sell them and use the proceeds to help his parents.

“Gee, Dad. I wish I could help and honor you. But everything I have has been dedicated to God. Sorry.” You can see how this, well intentioned, idea of Corban was then abused.

Jesus then returns to the original question about being defiled by not following the ritual washing. Jesus knows that you do not become defiled by not washing your hands before a meal. Sure, you might get sick from a health related stand point, but you won’t be defiled spiritually.

What makes a man unclean is what enters his mind and comes out of his mouth from his heart. After saying this, the Pharisees leave, obviously very upset, and Jesus and the disciples enter a house.

The disciples ask Jesus to explain what he meant by saying the things that come out of our mouth is what defiles us. Our words express the goodness or evilness of our heart. To make the point clear, Jesus even gives a list of some things that come from the heart filled with desires of this world:

evil thoughts, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness

That is what defiles us. Not ignoring traditions. A person’s defiled heart is expressed in both what he says and what he does.

The Pharisees were hypocrites. They worshiped God for the wrong reason. They wanted money and status. Today, we too can be hypocrites. We can pay more attention to our reputation than our character. We can appear to be somebody in public, but inside we know it is just an act.

We can also appear to follow all the rules of our Church, denomination, even the Bible, but inside still be distant from God. We can also brag about our virtues while pointing out others sin.

Many people are cautious these days about what they eat and drink. It seems like there is always a new diet out there. But do you pay attention to the things that you are putting into your mind and heart?

An evil action begins with an evil thought. Allowing our minds to dwell on lust, envy, hatred, or revenge will lead to sin. Don’t defile yourself by focusing on evil.

In Philippians 4:8, Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are true, noble, right, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.

Look to Christ for guidance about your own behavior. We become pure when Christ renews our minds and transforms us into His image.

Above all else, read God’s word and pray. Ask God to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure and holy. It takes practice and dedication, but it can be done.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good, pure, noble, and just things of this world. Help us to focus our attention on them, rather than the evil, lustful, and deceitful things of the world. Help us to not be like the Pharisees and other traditionalists that believe their good deeds will get them into Heaven. We know that Jesus Christ is the only way. Strengthen our faith and our faithfulness. In Jesus Name we pray, AMEN.