“Jesus and the Pharisees” – Part 5 – Tradition Trumps Scripture – Mark 7:1-13

Many years ago, I read about a young woman, newlywed, who decided to bake a ham for Sunday dinner.

Her husband was watching her as she carefully carved the end of the ham off and set it aside. Her husband was curious and asked her why she cut off the end of the ham before putting it in the roasting pan. The young wife said that she had learned to cook from her mom, and her mother had always lopped off the end of the ham. She didn’t know why, but her mother had always done it that way, and she did, too.

The couple were puzzled and called her mother. Mom was more than happy to share with her daughter the secret to cutting off the end of the ham. Mom’s reply was that she had learned to cook from her mother, and her mother had always cut the end of the ham off before placing it in the pot to cook.

A phone call to grandmother was next in order. When Grandma got on the phone, she was asked, “Why do you always cut the end of the ham off before you put it in the pot?” Grandma’s reply: “I had to cut the end off because I didn’t have a pot big enough to hold an entire ham.”

Sometimes, traditions are handed down throughout the generations even after the meaning had been forgotten. When traditions are carried on to convey a message, and when that message is told throughout history, then traditions can have a place of importance.

There are times, though, when traditions become so sacred that common sense falls to the wayside. An Aggie cadet threatening the Rice owl with his dress sword because the band tried to enter sacred Kyle Field is one example. Sometimes, it is not a bad thing for a tradition to die.

In today’s passage, Jesus and the Pharisees clash, not over the law, but over traditions.

Background

As the Pharisees had been watching Jesus, they became more and more convinced that Jesus could not be the Messiah. He did things and said things that contradicted their understanding of what the Messiah should be. Since they were convinced their understand-ing was correct, they could not see the Messiah in any other way, and so they refused to see Jesus as anything other than a heretic. They had plotted with the Herodians to kill Jesus. While they were waiting for the right time, the Pharisees began a program of testing Him. They suggested that Jesus’ legitimacy was questionable at best, both theologically and by birth, and they insinuated that Jesus was in league with Satan.

As people committed to obeying God’s laws, the Pharisees were scrupulous in making sure the laws were never broken. They developed traditions around the law, designed to protect against breaking any of the laws. As the traditions became more established, they began to take on a life of their own and became elevated to the same status as the law itself.

One of these traditions was the ceremonial cleaning of hands. The Pharisees knew that uncleanness in God’s eyes would prevent them from participating in the synagogue and areas of worship and service to God. When a Pharisee returned from the market, he or she would wash their hands. When they sat down for meal, they washed their hands, both before and after.

This washing was not from the standpoint of hygiene, but of theology. I’ve been told the ceremonial washing was to scoop one’s hands into a bowl and then lifting the hands and letting the water fall down their arms to their elbows then drip onto the floor. Think of a physician washing today in preparation for surgery. It was something like that. And it was all designed to make them “clean” in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the community.

To date, the Pharisees have seen Jesus tolerating His disciples ignoring the Sabbath traditions. They have seen Him fellowshipping with sinners and others who were unclean, and they heard Him blaspheme. He violated the Sabbath Himself. Now they see Him letting His disciples (and Him, too, probably) eating with unclean hands.

This was an opportunity to confront Jesus. What the intent was for the confrontation may have been to get Him to acknowledge He was wrong. Maybe it was designed to create a wedge between Jesus and the people. Whatever the reason, the Pharisees felt justified to question and, indirectly, condemn Jesus and His disciples.

As we consider this passage, we need to think about the following:

Central Truth: We hinder our walk with Christ when we let traditions supersede His will.

1. Why doesn’t Jesus follow tradition? (1-5)

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of His disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as washing of cups, pitchers and kettles). So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the traditions of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

If you saw the movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” there is a scene where a young boy is invited to eat with Atticus Finch and his family. The meal consisted of a typical southern lunch, including lima beans. As the boy was served, he noticed a pitcher of maple syrup on the table. Without asking anyone, he reached out, took the syrup, and proceeded to pour it all over his lima beans.

Atticus’ daughter, Scout, watched in shock as the syrup was being poured. Immediately, she asked the boy in a loud, scolding voice, “What in the Sam Hill are you doing?”

Sometimes, we see people doing things that are so out of whack from what we do that we may at least think to ourselves, “What in the Sam Hill are you doing?” That’s sort of what the Pharisees are doing in this passage.

Mark is writing to a Gentile audience, a group of people who were unfamiliar with Jewish customs and teachings. He felt the need to educate the readers when it came to tradition of hand cleaning. The group of Pharisees are described as “Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come up from Jerusalem.” This tells us the event described happened in Capernaum, away from Jerusalem. It is possible that the delegation originally sent to investigate Jesus were now reinforced with more knowledgeable and respected teachers. It may be that the local Pharisees are now joining in with the original delegation to confront Jesus.

As they gathered around Jesus, they saw the disciples eating with “unwashed” hands. As Mark describes, cleanliness was so important to the Pharisees that they would ceremoniously clean various dishes—cups, kettles and pitchers. They are aghast at what they are seeing. Their question was not to be informed, but to confront.

When we ask a question to be informed, we ask with an open mind and a willingness to listen and learn. When we ask to confront, we already have our minds made up that we are right and they are wrong. We ask in order to put them in their place. The latter is what’s happening here.

“Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating with “unclean hands’?” The question acknowledges that this handwashing is traditional and not part of God’s commands, but because it was tradition from the elders, it should be treated as almost as holy. Clearly, Jesus didn’t agree, which causes them to question both Jesus’ authority and His character.

2. Jesus’ response (6-8)

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

When Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness, He countered Satan’s temptations by quoting Scripture. Using the Bible to refute half-truths and lies was Jesus’ most effective way to deal with His greatest enemy.

Jesus wasn’t in the Wilderness now, and Satan wasn’t speaking directly to Him. Instead, Jesus was near His home, among crowds of people wanting all sorts of things from Him. As is his practice, Satan used the people around Jesus to tempt Him. In this case, it was the Pharisees that Satan found so convenient for his games.

Jesus no doubt recognized the lies of Satan falling from the lips of the Pharisees. No, the Pharisees were not evil incarnate. They were “good people,” “religious” men and women who professed to love God zealously. Their complaint about a lack of washing would be the equivalent of us asking, “Why don’t Your disciples believe in baptism?” or, “Why don’t they come to Sunday School?”

Regardless of the Pharisees’ intent, they were being used by Satan. Much as Peter was told, “Get behind Me, Satan” when Peter assured Jesus they would never allow Him to be taken by the religious leaders in Jerusalem, so Jesus recognized the true source of the Pharisees’ objection in their question. And, as Jesus had refuted Satan with Scripture, so Jesus chose to use Scripture to refute the Pharisees.

Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, Jesus got to the heart of the matter. The Pharisees’ objection wasn’t really a question about religious practices. It was about a right relationship with God. The Pharisees based their relationship with the Father on their obedience to laws. As long as they knew the law, they didn’t really need to know God. To them, God was a taskmaster. As a result, Jesus rightly points out that their religiosity was no better than an actor pretending to be doctor. The actor may look convincing and say the medical jargon with ease and authority, but he or she could no more heal a person than fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James or John.

Jesus summarizes Isaiah by telling the Pharisees, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding onto the traditions of men.” When traditions become so important that they must be preserved at all cost, then the traditions no longer enrich us or raise us up; they become our masters and our gods.

It was a lesson the Pharisees, and many religious people today, fail to understand, to their ultimate sorrow.

3. Jesus’ example of tradition trumping God’s will (9-13)

And He said to them, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

As an attorney, my job was to tell my clients what the law could and couldn’t do. It would be easy for me to quote the law to them, like, “You’ll have a 341 meeting about a month or six weeks after you file your case. There will be 910 issues raised at that time. You’ll need to give correct and honest answers at that time.” Instead, it was easier to tell them, “After a month after filing your case, we’ll meet with the trustee. Creditors may be present, but usually it’s just us and the trustee. He’ll ask you some questions, including how long you’ve been paying for your car. If you’ve been paying for it over 2½ years, you’ll be able to pay the value only on the car in your Chapter 13 plan.”

In other words, sometimes an example can explain what was just said. Jesus uses an example the Pharisees were familiar with. It was the issue of Corban, or the dedication of one’s worldly goods to God’s service.

Jesus reminds the Pharisees that God told Moses we were to honor our parents and not to curse our parents. What the Pharisees were stressing, though, was the tradition of Corban.

In Corban, a person would pledge a future interest in all their worldly goods to the synagogue or temple. They were to be careful with their spending. It would not be unusual for a person to get into a dispute with their parents and, in a fit of anger, declare Corban. Perhaps the anger would dissipate and the parents and child would be reconciled, but the Pharisees held the child to the promise made to God. Even if mom and dad needed financial assistance in their old age, and even if Junior had the means to easily provide for Mom and Dad, the Pharisees insisted no money could be diverted from God, even if the need was valid and worthy.

In this way, Jesus points out that their tradition has become more important than God’s law. In this case, tradition trumps Scripture. And Jesus tells them this is just one of many ways this happens.

Conclusion

When we moved to Lorena, I was approached by the minister of education and was told they were getting ready to have Vacation Bible School. I asked him why. He looked at me with a puzzled look. I told him that sometimes we do things at church simply because we are expected to do it that way. I then agreed to help out in VBS and we went on from there.

Sometimes, we do things because that’s the way it’s always been done. Jesus doesn’t need robots or trained monkeys. He needs men and women who are listening to Him and doing what He calls us to do. He wants relationship over tradition.