THE TRADITIONS OF MEN

Matt. 15:1-9, “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?   For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.  

But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 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.  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” 

Mark 7:1-5, “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.   And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.   For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.  

And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not 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.   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?” 

What if a saint from the first century was to walk into our worship assembly. What things would he see? He would enter a building. He would see a pulpit, song books in the pew, and hear an invitation song. None of these things are talked about or viewed in the scriptures. None of these things are wrong, but they have come about by the traditions of men. Not all traditions are bad.

I. THE FIRST CENTURY CRITICS

When looking at this story of Jesus, two words define the Pharisees.

1. TRANSGRESS “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” While they pointed fingers at Jesus accusing Him of transgressing the traditions of the elders; they were the one’s transgressing!

Col. 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” 1 Pet. 1:18, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.”

“And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault” (Mark 7:2). 2. Finding Fault

Mark 3:1, 2, “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.” 

All of us have faults! Jas. 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

FIVE TYPES OF CRITICS IN THE CHURCH

(1) The constructive critic

(2) The negligent critic (not thinking about another’s feelings)

(3) The hurtful critic (Saying things that hurt)

(4) The sinful critic (Their criticism is only trying to deflect away from their own guilt)

(5) The self-serving critic (the temper-tantrum person).

II. THE FIRST CENTURY CHIRST

“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” Jesus did not allow them say, “This is how we have always done it!” 1. The Question

THE ACCUSATION “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?   For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 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.” 

Jesus alludes to Exodus 20:12, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Also Exodus 21:17, “And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.” 

The Transgression To press his point he reminds them of their tradition of getting around the law of God. They could pronounce a vow on their things with the word, “Korban,” meaning it is a gift (see tractate Nedarim in the Mishnah, chapters 1, 9, 11). The word “Korban” is based on the word in Leviticus for bringing something near to God. If because of greed, for example, a man did not want to help support his aging parents, he would announce “Korban.”

That would mean the money was frozen, and could not be used for taking care of the parents. Thus, they could use their traditions to get out of taking care of their father and mother (which the Law required). Then, they might find a way of nullifying the vow so they ended up keeping the money. A clever tradition of swearing or taking oaths had grown up as a way around a clear cut teaching of the word of God. (Bible.org).