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THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Chris Jervis and are based on Mark 7 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
Mark 7
1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled
hands?”
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre
and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Sunday June 29 - Living according to traditions
“Why don’t your disciples live according to the traditions of the elders?”
Mark 7:5
It is good hygienic practice to wash your hands before eating; parents regularly nag their kids to do that. However, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had turned this matter into some sort of law which they elevated to a required tradition. It almost had a moral status. Furthermore, the guardians of this moral code were the religious elders themselves and their traditions became like legal necessities. They picked fault with Jesus’ disciples for eating with ‘defiled hands’ (v 5), which implied that, in failing to clean up ready for a meal, the disciples had somehow become impure and wicked!
There’s a saying: ‘Don’t turn minors into majors’; in other words, don’t turn something good into a thing with god-like status. When I first became a Christian, many well- meaning church leaders had turned certain traditional ideas about Christian living into a list of ‘dos and don’ts’. Often these traditions were understood without being stated, and it led to a legalism which served to obscure relational Christian faith. There are certain ways of behaving which are clearly inconsistent with being a Christian, but we need to learn to distinguish between such lifestyle failings and mere traditions.
Lord Jesus, may my relationship with you be governed by love and not by mere rules and regulations. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY