2.5. The Words of God – Traditions, Good or Bad? – 5 of 9

francoisvdmerwe

"Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil without truly knowing." - Paul Young

Read Time:4 Minute, 12 Second

“Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.

Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”” – Mat 15:1-9‬ ‭NIV‬

Don’t we just love Christmas! You eat untill you lie down; and you lie down untill you eat. It is presents, family, father christmas, the brandy filled cake, the tree, lights and snow if you are lucky to seal the deal.

I can still remember one christmas my dads work had and the clubhouse. There was a chopper that delivered father christmas. We got a skylectric as our gift. That christmas was cemented in my brain forever as one of the greatest ones.

I would say some traditions are good unless they do not conform to God’s word.

What did the pharisees do wrong in this instance that Jesus rebuked them?

They used the money they were supposed to look after their parents and gave it to the church.

It might look like a very noble gesture, even if the preacher told you that. The end result though meant that their parents was neglected and did not feel loved.

So in essence they did not do what God wanted; being righteous, instead they were very religious. They put what they believed above what God commanded, making them their own God.

What is the end result then:

They nullify Gods words, meaning they make them meaningless. Really in essence their words and traditions is more important than God’s.
Jesus called them hypocrites – A person who pretends to be what he is not. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives. In essence a big people pleaser, not a God pleaser. Gal 1:10 says that you you are not a follower of Christ if you still try to please people, according to Paul.
They honor God with their lips, but their hearts is far from Him. It is like and arranged marriage; where people live together but are not really in love.
They are not Christians or disciples, because they worship God in vain. They worship only pleases themselves, they are a God unto themselves.

Let’ make this practical, what traditions do we encouter nowadays:

Praying through mother Mary – Nowhere are we commanded in the Bible to do that. Jn 14:6 Jesus claims to be the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the father except through Him.
Original sin – We are born and received in sin. That means that we inherit our parents sin. We are not responsible for our parents or anybody elses sin. We do sometimes experience the consequences thereof. Ez 18:19-20
Infant Baptism – Nowhere in the bible was a child baptised. Mat 28:18-20 says go make disciples and baptise them. How can a child make a discision to follow Jesus. Col 2:12 says you must have faith at your baptism. Acts 2:38 says you must repent before you get baptized. A child cannot fulfill any of those requirements. Mat 19:14 Jesus said let the little children come to Him because the kingdom of God belongs to those like them. The reason the guys started infant baptism is that they did believe that you get saved at baptism 1 Pet 3:21, but children was dieing so much that they wanted to make sure they get to heaven.
Praying Jesus into your heart – You say the sinners prayer and you get saved. This is based on Rev 3:20, but people do not read the passage in context because it was talking to a church that has gone lukewarm and Jesus calls them to repent. People in a church surely are saved already, who he is addressing.

Prayer for today:

God thank for for a new day. I can really see You feel strong about me not following traditions because they lead to hell. Help to seek and find the truth in your word. Amen