TEXT: MARK 7:1-13
Key verse: “...Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition… Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition...” (Mark 7:9,13).
The traditions of the Jews as well as those of most nations of the world evolved through custom and practices handed down from generation to generation. Over time, these practices have progressively become regarded as standards for good conducts and behaviour. Years of unquestioned customary practice have therefore brought it into conflict with the far older and divinely revealed commandment of the Holy Scriptures.
The Pharisees added a good number of their petty rules and regulations to God’s laws and tried to compel people to obey them. Yet they claimed to know God. And because the Pharisees worshipped God for the wrong reasons, pretending to be what they were not, Jesus labeled them hypocrites. Hypocrisy is pretending to be something one is not. They were bothered more by their reputation than by their character.
It is sinful to use God as an excuse for not helping our families; neither is it more important to put money into the church offering bag than to help our needy parents. We are to honour our fathers and mothers (Exodus 20:12). Tradition obviously blinded the Pharisees to this commandment.
We must, at all times, be sensitive to our duty and obligations to God while ensuring that we do not neglect our responsibilities to the family. None should be a replacement for the other. Emphasising our virtues and highlighting the sins of others was the hypocritical character of the Pharisees. We must avoid it.
Thought for today: Any practice in conflict with God’s word is sin