THE CHRISTIAN AND TRADITIONS

Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, "Why don't your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony."

Every society has its culture, customs, and traditions. The Jewish community had several of them, but interestingly, the disciples of Jesus Christ, being Jews themselves, stopped observing some of these traditions.  Today in we will look at how believers relate to issues of tradition.

The first tradition that the Jewish disciples broke was the Sabbath. How can a Jew break a Sabbath law? But in Mark 2:24- 23, The disciples of Jesus Christ pluck grains to eat while it was Sabbath, and Pharisees questioned Him about the action of his followers. The master gives a beautiful response in  Mark 2:27-28. Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!" Jesus also, in Luke 13:15-16, broke the Sabbath rule and this is what He had to say to His critics.  But the Lord replied, " You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? Wasn't it necessary for me, even on the Sabbath day, to free this dear woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?" In a nutshell, Jesus says that any tradition that does not help the people is not worth observing.
Some traditions are life-threatening and barbaric, yet some believers will observe and ignorantly quote, "give that which is Ceaser to Ceaser." Read Mark 12: 14-17 in context.

In Mark 7: 5, the disciples of Jesus Christ had gone against an old-age tradition called the hand-washing ceremony. It must be performed before one eats. But this particular one struck Jesus Christ and gave them a deserving response.
Mark 7:7-8 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.' For you ignore God's specific laws and substitute your own traditions." What we must observe are the laws of God, not the rules of men. The believer has no tradition except the principles of Christ Jesus. The Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ threw away their practices when they saw the light. You cannot mix your traditional practices with the principles of Christ Jesus. Is either you are a Christian following Jesus Christ or an unbeliever following the beliefs and the systems of the world, there is no middle line here. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for not taking a firm stand for you; from today, I throw away any tradition that is not in line with your principles. Help me, Holy Spirit, to walk in the rules of God in Jesus' name. Amen.

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