BIBLE STUDY: EXALTING GOD’S ETERNAL WORD ABOVE MAN’S EMPTY TRADITION

      EXALTING GOD’S ETERNAL WORD ABOVE                          MAN’S EMPTY TRADITION

Text – Mark 7:1-13

Today, we come to an important subject that we need to understand because Jesus Christ confronted the religion of the Jews. They were zealous, passionate and very active in their religion, but the pity of it is that they were not saved and not willing to listen to the word that will get them saved. They thought that their traditions and religion were enough to get them saved. So, when Christ brought the word of salvation to them, they were not willing to listen because they were wedded and attached inseparably to their tradition. In our passage, the Pharisees came to Christ and challenged why His disciples were not keeping to the religious system of washing their hands to the elbow in a sanctimonious way before eating. This was a system that had spread to all the Jews, but Jesus did not teach His disciples to follow this traditional way of washing of their hands. He challenged them that they had abandoned the word of God to keep to their tradition that cannot save.

The tradition was empty, powerless and worthless. It couldn’t cleanse their hearts, change their character, give them relationship with God, save them nor prepare them for heaven. It was empty concerning righteousness and opening their eyes to the word of God and yet they kept at it. How many today go through traditions and never think or examine their benefit, effect, purpose and influence in their lives and relationship with God. But to have the blessings of God and His righteousness, we must go back to the Word of God that enlightens us about salvation and declares to us Christ the Living Word that came to bring redemption, salvation, and righteousness.  So, it befits all that call upon the Name of the Lord to exalt God’s living, infallible and eternal Word above any tradition of any man, elder, denomination or religion.