Day 23 - Mark 7:1-13

One day, those known as the Pharisees and certain religious scholars came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. 2 They were shocked to find that some of Jesus’ disciples ate bread without first observing the prescribed Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating their meal. 3 (For the Pharisees, like all other Jews, will not eat without first performing a ritual of pouring water over their cupped hands to keep the tradition of the elders. 4 Similarly, when returning from the marketplace, they ceremonially wash themselves before eating. They also observed many other traditions, such as ceremonially washing cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and religious scholars asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the age-old traditions passed down by our elders? They should first ceremonially wash their hands before eating.”

6 Jesus replied, “You are frauds and hypocrites! How accurately did Isaiah prophesy about you phonies when he said:

‘These people honor me with their words
    while their hearts run far away from me!
7 Their worship is nothing more than a charade!
    For they continue to insist
    that their man-made traditions
    are equal to the instructions of God.’
8 “You abandon God’s commandments just to keep men’s rituals, such as ceremonially washing utensils, cups, and other things.”

9 Then he added, “How skillful you’ve become in rejecting God’s law in order to maintain your man-made set of rules. 10 For example, Moses taught us:

‘Honor your father and your mother,’
    and,
‘Whoever insults or mistreats his father or
    mother must be put to death.’
11 “But your made-up rules allow a person to say to his parents, ‘I’ve decided to take the support you were counting on from me and make it my holy offering to God, and that will be your blessing instead.’ 12 How convenient! The rules you teach exempt him from providing for his aged parents. 13 Do you really think God will honor your traditions passed down to others, making up these rules that nullify God’s Word? And you’re doing many other things like that.”


Tori's Comments:
I think Christians are quick to create their own personal rules about religion, and we're so quick to judge others for not following the rules we've created in our heads! So many issues are not nearly as important as the unity of the church, and in the end, we are all one body under Christ.



Terrie's Comments:
It is all too easy to create a "rule" out of tradition in our churches.  How often to we have disagreements in the body of Christ over rituals or ways we have always done things without checking them with the word of God?  How can we be unified in the body of Christ when we are holding tradition above the word of God itself?






We have a praise music list that we add to on a regular basis. You can find the link to it in the right hand column of this blog or by scrolling to the bottom of this page. We also have a Christmas list which you will find in the right hand column as well :-) Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!