““The Traditions Of Men Vs. The Word Of Yahweh.

””

The Pharisees were constantly at odds with Yahoshua (Jesus Greek name of our Jewish Messiah) and His
disciples. No occasion makes it more defined than Mark 7:1-16. There, the Pharisees confronted Yahoshua and
His disciples for not keeping “the tradition of the elders” (v. 3, 5). Mark explains that these people held their
traditions in high regard. One such tradition had to do with the washing of their hands. They had been taught
that unless one washes his hands to his elbows before eating, then the food he eats is considered unclean by
Yahweh (Jehovah). By extension, eating this unclean food made the person unclean as well. Similarly, there
was a demand for washing the pots, cups, and other vessels holding the food. Yahoshua would later say that
He was more concerned about what came out of the mouth rather than what was put into the mouth (Mk.
7:15; Matt. 15:17-20). This doesn’t mean that it’s permissible to eat anything that the Holy Scripture
categorizes as unclean. (Leviticus 11)

Yahoshua then pointed out that they had another tradition that if someone gave a gift to the Temple,
this exempted him from providing needed money and care to his parents (“Corban” - Mk. 7:11-13). This person
could say essentially, “I gave at the Temple” rather than giving needed funds to his parents. Yahoshua said this
and several other traditions had “made Yahweh’s word of none effect” (Mk. 7:13). Yahweh never intended for
His commands to be placed at odds against each other. The Law given to Moses granted people the ability to
give a gift to the Temple and care for their parents. The Pharisees, in contrast, encouraged them to do one
thing and exclude the other.

What does “tradition” mean? A tradition is simply something we’ve done for a long time. We can
certainly think of many things we do as individuals, as a community, as a congregation, and as a nation that fit
in the category of “traditional.” Traditions are not equal with inspired Scripture, though (II Tim. 3:16-17)! After
reading Mark 7, we might all agree that it is a good idea to wash one’s hands and eat off clean plates. Yet,
Yahoshua showed how the people’s traditions had become sinful because they “set aside” Yahweh’s
commands and made Yahweh’s word “of none effect” (Mk. 7:8, 13). Traditions in and of themselves aren’t
necessarily sinful, but when we make of them manmade commandments and place them above Yahweh’s
written word (Holy Scriptures) then that becomes what we call in Hebrew “Takanotes”, then it starts to be a
problem!

This is why the title of this essay is called “The Traditions Of Men Vs. The Word Of Yahweh.” If we are not
careful, we will end up treating a tradition as truth or as an unbreakable command when, in reality, it is not in
that category at all! In some bibles the word “Teachings” was translated as “Doctrines, Traditions, or
“Ordinances”. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and reminded to “stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we
passed on to you” (II Thess. 2:15 NIV). Placing traditions above Yahweh’s commands is adding to His
undisputed word. (Mark 7 & Matthew 15) reveal, though, that men placing traditions above Yahweh’s
commands is a real possibility. After years of practicing these, the Pharisees preferred their traditions to
Yahweh’s word. In so doing, Yahoshua said they were sinning.
 How can I know whether or not a tradition I am practicing will place me at odds with Yahweh’s word? A
simple test is: Ask whether or not my tradition came from Yahweh (II Thess. 2:15, 3:6; I Pet. 4:11)? Am I doing
something simply because “Dad and Mom” liked it, or a self-proclaimed Torah Teacher, Pastor, or any Hebraic
Root Organization said to do it, or because we as a nation have “always done it”? Am I doing something
because I have found it authorized in the Bible (II Tim. 3:16-17; Col. 3:17)? Traditions can lead me into sin if I
give them as much respect as I do the word of Yahweh.

When we look at traditions from this perspective, I hope we see that there are many things we do that can be
called “traditional.” Are any of these traditions’ obstacles to our spiritual growth? If so, then those need to
end! Practicing man’s traditions is not worth losing our souls (Matt. 16:26)!

Yahweh’s word must come first in our life’s (Matt. 6:33)! After that, everything else must fall into place. When
we get this in the wrong order, we will have problems, but when we do it right, we will be blessed! The
Pharisees’ problem was they placed their manmade traditions (Takanotes) above Yahweh’s will and were
condemned for it. It got so bad they refused to recognize Yahoshua as Messiah (Mashiach) because He didn’t
fit what they wanted. Let us learn the lesson and put Mashiach and the Good News (gospel) first and lay our
traditions aside when they conflict with what Mashiach has said! Let us get this right because our traditions
will die one day, but the word of Yahweh will never pass away (Matt. 24:35; I Pet. 1:25; Ps. 119:89; etc.)!

Anytime we teach from the Bible, we take great care to distinguish between the traditions of men and the
doctrines of God as revealed in His word. Jesus Himself condemned those who would teach the traditions of
men as Biblical truth. Jesus said:

Matt. 15:7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

Matt. 15:8 ‘ THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Matt. 15:9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

Any time a teacher presents the traditions of men in place of the doctrines of God, they are in teaching error
and mishandling the word of God. These teachers are far from God, as Isaiah said. Our ministry works hard to
teach the doctrines of God as presented in God's word, and we reject any teaching that is tradition only and
not according to Scripture.
On the other hand, truth never changes, so we should expect sound Biblical teaching to repeat the same truths
consistently. Such consistency does not mean the teaching is based on "tradition," but merely reflects the
reality that truth never changes. Consequently, if after centuries of consistent teaching concerning a given
point in Scripture a new and different interpretation emerges, we should evaluate this "new" interpretation
skeptically, testing it against Scripture before accepting it in place of the time-honored interpretation.

Sometimes a new interpretation will be correct, reflecting the Spirit's work to open eyes and correct men's
understanding (e.g., as the Spirit accomplished with Martin Luther during the Reformation), but other times
these novel interpretations are deceptive schemes of the enemy to mislead the church into false views of
Scripture, and therefore they should be rejected.

In our Bible lessons we support our interpretations with careful analysis and exegesis, cross referencing other
Scripture and explaining how our view is consistent with the overall teaching of Scripture. We follow well-
accepted rules for interpreting the text of Scripture, and we correct or amend our teaching frequently as we
discover error or come to a better understanding. We hope our approach gives you confidence that our
teaching is consistent with the truth of God's word.

Making Void the Word of God by Traditions | Mark 6:53-7:13

ON OCTOBER 11, 2021 BY COLE NEWTONIN SERMONS, THE GOSPEL OF MARK: THE KING HAS COME
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got
out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring
the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or
countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of
his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw
that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the
Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they
come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they
observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and
the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with
defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your
tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must
surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is
Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus
making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Mark 6:53-7:13 ESV

The Assyrian Empire was brutal and seemingly unstoppable in its conquest of the world. Being what many call
the world’s first true superpower, the Assyrians relied heavily upon might and terror to establish their
dominion. The Northern Kingdom of Israel would learn that reality firsthand, as the Assyrians decimated
Samaria and then either slaughtered or deported the people to be slaves scattered throughout the empire.

It is reasonable then that the rulers in Jerusalem were terrified of this looming threat. However, in their fear,
they should have turned to the LORD as King Hezekiah would do once the armies of Assyria came to lay siege
to Jerusalem. Instead of trusting in God’s deliverance, the rulers made an alliance with the other great
kingdom of the ancient world, Egypt.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God denounced this alliance. Did not God deliver their fathers from the land of
Egypt, and were they now retreating to Egypt for security? The LORD further denounced their supposed piety.
Of course, they continued to pray to Him, pleading with Him for security, yet under the cover of night, they
thought to further insulate themselves through the aid of Egypt. The profession of their lips was faith in God,
but the evidence of their heart only revealed unbelief.

FAITH IN GENNESARET // VERSES 53-56

After describing to us the account of Jesus treading upon the surface of the water, Mark continues on:

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got
out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring
the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or
countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of
his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Here again we have the popularity of Mashiach established. The rumors of Him had spread, especially through
the work of His apostles and now with the miraculous feeding of the multitude. Even Herod wondered at this
Jesus of Nazareth. Although they intended to go to Bethsaida (6:45), the wind had evidently drifted them off
course so that they came to Gennesaret. This was, of course, according to the providence of God, for at
Gennesaret they were met with an eager and believing crowd.

In fact, I say believing crowd because Mark makes an important distinction between this passage and the other
passages of Jesus healing many. People coming from all over the land, as we see in verses 55-56, is nothing
new. Jesus seems to be perpetually followed by a great crowd that longs to be healed. And in every place,
except with the Gerasenes and the Nazarenes, Jesus did heal many people. Yet here we are told that the
people beg to touch the fringe of His garment and are made well by that touch. Back in 3:9-10, we were told
that Jesus needed to have a boat ready because the crowd that had gathered was pressing in to touch Him and
threatened to crush Him. Mark notably does not tell us that their touch made them well.

Indeed, in Mark 5, we read of a great crowd that thronged about Jesus, yet only the woman with a discharge of
blood was made well by touching His garment. Again, there is a great difference between those who press in
upon Jesus almost as if demanding their miracle and those who by faith trust that even the slightest touch of
His clothing can make them well. The fact that Mark tells us that the crowd at Gennesaret was filled with those
who did not press in upon Jesus but implored Him to permit a mere touch, shows us that Gennesaret was filled
with many who had faith like the woman in chapter 5.

Great indeed is the providence of God, for Matthew 10:21 tells us that Jesus had already pronounced woe
upon Bethsaida for their unbelief, yet Gennesaret was evidently filled with belief.

TRADITIONS OF THE PHARISEES // VERSES 1-5

Entering chapter 7, another gathering occurs, yet this one is markedly less encouraging. Now when the
Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem. The last appearance of the
scribes and Pharisees as back in chapters 2-3 when we witnessed a series of encounters with Mashiach that
led the Pharisees to conspire with the Herodians about putting Jesus to death (3:6) and the scribes of
Jerusalem to conclude that Jesus was demon-possessed (3:22). Therefore, as these two groups enter the scene
and together gather about Jesus, we should see a pack of wolves coming in close to see whether or not the
shepherd will drop His guard. We continue to read:

they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and
all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when
they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that
they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees
and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat
with defiled hands?”

We should first note, and take warning of, the character of the Pharisees and the scribes. Notice their critical
and fault-finding nature. Such cynicism is the symptom of a heart that has been deadened by sin. Of course,
we must be ready to take a stand against false doctrine and licentiousness, as we are called to contend for the
faith (Jude 3), yet we must take great care not to devolve into such petty judgments that stem from a heart of
legalism. We should also make note that just as the Pharisees were plotting with the Herodians against Jesus,
while licentiousness and legalism appear to be opposite extremes, they often are more closely bound than one
might otherwise assume. Look no further than the sexual revolution, which claims to give license to all
behavior (if it makes you happy, right?) yet has now become just as Pharisaical in dogmatically guarding its
traditions as the actual Pharisees were. But let us watch carefully our own steps, lest we too stumble down
that road of destruction.

Let us next consider the subject of their criticism. They accused some of Jesus’ disciples of sin because they did
not wash their hands before eating. Sproul notes that “hygiene had nothing to do with their complaint… The
washing in question here was merely symbolic. In fact, the amount of water that the Pharisees and the scribes
used to wash their hands before eating was so slight that it would not have done much to promote good
hygiene.”[1]

But why then did they wash their hands? Does Scripture command such a practice? No, it does not. The
practice was done out of tradition, a tradition handed down by rabbis throughout the centuries. During the
time of Mashiach, these traditions were passed down orally, but later they were written down as the Mishnah.
These traditions were not commandments as found God’s Word; they were simply the teachings of men from
the past. The fact that Mark felt the need to give a lengthy description of what all Jews do before they eat is a
strong indication that his original readers were Gentiles. Otherwise, such editorial comments would not be
necessary.

We will refrain from discussing the nature and danger of tradition for the moment; rather, let us consider a
word that has been used only twice in Mark’s Gospel, once in verse 4 and the other time in 6:56: marketplace.
In Gennesaret, Jesus evidently went the marketplaces in order to heal all who had faith to be healed.
Marketplaces were the most trafficked portions of a town or city, and it was the place where Jew and Gentile
were most likely to come into contact with one another. The Pharisees and scribes, therefore, washed
themselves fully after visiting the marketplace in order to remove the filth of all those sinful people off of
them. How different is Jesus, who gladly stood in the grime and had the diseased and afflicted brought to Him!

We should each be eternally thankful for this aspect of Jesus’ character. His readiness to enter into the chaotic
marketplaces to heal is a micro-portrait of Jesus’ entirely earthly life. Although co-equal with the Father,
Mashiach entered into our world, the Author of life wrote Himself into the narrative, to save us. Unlike the
Pharisees, Jesus was terrifyingly holy and radiantly pure. The Pharisees and scribes only imagined themselves
holy and pure and believed it necessary to wash off the filthiness of their contact with the sinners around
them. Jesus, however, came purposely to take on the filthiness of our sin. He came not to be polluted Himself
but to erase our pollution in the blaze of His purity.[2] Let us praise our Lord that He was not ashamed to take
our sin upon Himself and even now is not ashamed to call us His brothers.

LIP-SERVICE & VAIN WORSHIP // VERSES 6-13

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes is direct and pointed:

Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching
as doctrines the commandments of men.”

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.

You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your traditions! For Moses
said, “Honor your father and mother”; and, “Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.” But you say,
“If a man tells his father or his mother, ‘Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to
God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of
God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.

Notice that Mashiach first calls them hypocrites, meaning, of course, that their outward appearance and
conduct differed from their heart. The Isaiah passage makes this quite clear. Hypocrisy in worship is giving God
lip-service, while one’s heart remains detached. Isaiah originally spoke these words to the people of Jerusalem
who continued to pray and sacrifice to God, even as they made an alliance with Egypt for their security. They
outwardly spoke as though they trusted God to deliver them, but their actions displayed what they truly
believed. They did not believe in the deliverance of God but in the security of negotiations. Their worship,
therefore, was nothing more than a vanity. They traded away true security for a pale imitation.

So, it was with the Pharisees and scribes as they abandoned the commandments of God in favor of their
traditions. They were forsaking the greater in favor of the lesser. Thus, their worship could be nothing other
than vain and empty. They made it so.

Jesus then gives a specific example of how they forsook God’s commandments in favor of tradition. Corban
was another of the rabbinical traditions “whereby a person could promise that at his death he would give all of
his worldly goods to the work of God. That meant during his lifetime he would not be able to use his personal
wealth for any other purpose, because it had been committed to God. So, in the name of piety, a person could
escape the obligation of caring for his parents in times of illness or in their old age, when they might be too
frail to support themselves.”[3] Of course, the person still needed to take care of himself while living, so he
could use his wealth on himself. Thus, a ‘godly’ loophole was created for not having to provide for one’s father
and mother.

Notice that the problem is not necessarily the tradition itself. There is nothing wrong with washing one’s hands
before a meal, especially for good hygiene. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with devoting one’s wealth to
God. The problem was the forsaking of God’s actual commandments in order to follow man-made traditions.
Of course, the Pharisees would have never claimed that their traditions were more important than Scripture,
but that was the effect. We see this today still within Roman Catholicism. They hold that both Scripture and
church tradition are equally authoritative. The great problem is that whenever anything is said to be of equal
authority with Scripture, the end result is always that Scripture becomes interpreted through the lens of the
other authority. (Mormons have this same problem with the Book of Mormon.) In Catholicism, for example,
the traditional view of Mary is that she remained a virgin perpetually; therefore, they wiggle away from the
plain reading of Scripture that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were His half-siblings through Mary. Notice that is
always Scripture that yields to tradition rather than the other way around, even though they say that both are
equal.

The Pharisees would have thought something similar, but tradition can never be truly equal with God’s Word.
To claim equality always means that tradition usurps the Bible.

Let us, however, be warned that we are just as capable of such hypocrisy. We may even be in a slightly worse
position, for rather than making a theological argument for our traditions we often just blatantly acknowledge
them as our preferences and use them to excuse ourselves from the commands of God. Perhaps one of the
most prominent examples is how the COVID shutdowns have revealed how many are ready to forsake the
Lord’s Day gathering with Mashiach’s body out of pure preference. Indeed, how many Believers this very day
have elected to disobey the command of Scripture because they just can’t find the right church! There is no
perfect church, until the day when we as the Church are made perfect.

The sorrowful reality is that people still leave the commandment of God to hold their own traditions. Of
course, time would fail us if we tried to list all of our modern-day traditions, so let us work in reverse, focusing
on the Lord’s Day gathering. What does Scripture command us to do as we gather for worship? Broadly
speaking, we are to pray, preach, sing, and observe the ordinances. Beyond those commands, we enter into
tradition. How long should the sermon be? How should the sermon end? How many times should we pray?
How many songs should we sing? Are we allowed to use instruments or not? What does our meeting together
the rest of the week look like? How often should we observe the Lord’s Supper?
Those are all questions that are typically answered by tradition or a breaking thereof. To elevate the answer to
any of those questions into the place of a commandment is to make a tradition equal to God’s Word.

Of course, because Scripture is not specific on methods of worship, tradition is impossible to flee entirely, nor
should we want to. Traditions themselves are not the problem, making them equal to and greater than God’s
Word is. Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of Mashiach, Seventh Day Adventists, and others all started
out of the Restoration Movement, where church leaders were abandoning all church tradition in favor of pure
biblicism (a “nothing but the Bible” approach). The problem is that jettisoning 1800 years of church history left
them quickly susceptible to ancient heresies long defeated. Thus, Arianism was reborn in Mormonism and
Jehovah’s Witness, and Pelagianism rose anew in the Church of Mashiach.[4] The reality is that many traditions
of the faith are very helpful, so long as we do not give them more authority than they are meant to bear.

How should we then respond? First, since we cannot escape tradition (and it would be foolish to try), let us
strive to hold our traditions in their proper place. Let us not give them more weight than they are intended to
bear, and let us be charitable especially with fellow brothers and sisters in Mashiach that practice different
traditions yet still hold to the truths of God’s Word.

Second and most importantly, we must hold fast to the trustworthy Word in true faith and obedience. All our
traditions and preferences must either bend or break when they come into conflict with what God has spoken.
And let our submission to Scripture not be in word alone but also in heart and in deed. Let us not be like the
rulers of Jerusalem who worship God with our lips alone, while withholding our hearts from Him. Instead,
Scripture displays to us the wondrous gospel of Mashiach as our proper motivation for obedience. As Calvin
writes,

God has manifested Himself as Father to us. If we do not manifest ourselves as sons to Him in turn, we prove
ourselves to be extremely ungrateful. Mashiach has cleansed us by washing us with His blood, and has
communicated this cleansing to us through baptism. It would be inappropriate, therefore, for us to defile
ourselves with fresh filthiness. Mashiach has engrafted us into His body. We, therefore, who are His members
must be especially careful not to fling mud or filthiness on the body of Mashiach. Mashiach our Head has
ascended to heaven. We, therefore, must set aside earthly affections and wholeheartedly long for that place.
The Holy Spirit has consecrated us as temples of God. We, therefore, must let the glory of God shine through
us, and we must not pollute ourselves with sin. Our bodies and souls have been destined to heavenly
incorruption and an unfading crown. We, therefore, must strive upward—keeping ourselves pure and
incorruptible until the Day of the Lord.[5]

May we be like the people Gennesaret rather than the Pharisees, knowing the slightest touch of Mashiach is
worth more than all the rules and regulations that man can offer.