The Traditions of Men

Matt. 15:1-9

&

Mark 7:1-13

Matt. 15:1-9 1Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees,

which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the

tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their

lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching

for doctrines the commandments of men

???

What if a first-century Christian happened to come into our assembly?

What would seem strange to him?

He would be surprised to see that the church owns a building. They didn’t have buildings in the first century.• He would never have seen a pulpit or a communion table. These things seem so normal to us. We see this furniture and we say, "Oh, it’s a church building."

• Our Bibles would seem strange, since he would never have seen God’s scriptures in a single volume. They had scrolls for individual books, but they didn’t have them all together.

• And songbooks! He would never have seen music written out before. Nor would he have heard anything that sounded like our songs. They sure didn’t have four-part harmony.

What does the word“Tradition” mean?

. Vine says it means "a handing down or on"

Thayer says "a giving over, giving

up . . . which is done by word of mouth or in writing" (481).

2 Usages of the word “Tradition” In order to properly understand what Jesus

said in the above passage, it is needful to comprehend that the word "tradition" in Scripture has two usages,

1. one a good usage and 2. one a bad usage.

What then, is ‘tradition’?

A tradition is simply a ‘handing down’..that which is handed down or on to others, whether "by word of mouth or in writing."

Let us notice a ‘GOOD’ use of the word! The KJV uses the word "ordinances" where

the ASV uses the word "tradition" in 1 Corinthians 11:2. "Now I praise you,

brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances (traditions, ASV), as I delivered them to you."

Paul had the things that he delivered unto the Corinthians from God ! Paul said that which "I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:37).

Is it a mistake to assume that ‘any’tradition is wrong??? 1. Paul tells the Corinthians to hold firmly to

the traditions just as Paul taught them - I Cor 11:2

2. Stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught - II Thess 2:15

3. Stay away from those who do not live according to the traditions - II Thess 3:6

How is the word used in a bad sense!

He said, he "profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers."

These traditions were not the "commandments of the Lord" but were "of my fathers."

Col. 2:8 Paul warned the Colossians, "Beware

lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2:8).

Observe carefully that these traditions were "of man" and "not after Christ."

When we turn to Mark 7:1-3, we learn

Jesus uses the word "tradition" in its bad sense.

Jesus draws a close contrast …

(1) the word of God, and (2) the traditions of men.

The Jewish doctors had a tradition, that it was unlawful to eat without first washing their hands.

That was what the Jewish teachers said…but where did God say that?’

This had been ‘handed down’..by the Tradition of the Elders…. why do thy disciples

transgress the tradition of the Elders?"

In Mark 7:1-3, 6 times he refers to their tradition

(1) "the tradition of the elders" (v. 3), (2) "the tradition of the elders" (v. 5), (3) "the commandments of men" (v. 7), (4) "the tradition of men" (v. 8), (5) "your own tradition" (v. 8), and (6) "your tradition" (v. 13).

Jesus said: Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."

The commandment (from God was ) to honour thy father and mother, included the duty of providing for them, in case they were in a needy circumstance;

but the tradition of the elders set aside this requirement by teaching that if the child would give his property to God, or dedicate it to religious purposes, and made no provision for his aged parents he was blameless. Thus, by this means, nullifying the requirement, and absolutely setting aside the commandment of God.

Jesus affirmed that these Jews 1..laid "aside the commandment of God" (v. 8) 2.rejected "the commandment of God" (v. 9) 3. and were "making the word of God of none

effect" (v. 13) 4.by not keeping what "Moses said" (v. 10). Jesus said: “For Moses said,Honour thy father

and thy mother,and,Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.”Mark 7:10

..v.11 BUT YE SAY…

Paul taught: I Tim. 5:8 “But if any provide not for

his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

What every preacher and Christian needs to do is:

Kick out and kick hard all of the doctrines and commandments of men.

What some claim we shoulddo….

..if they mean by tradition, having a song first in our service, or two songs first and then a prayer, then a sermon and then the Lord's Supper?

You see, if this is what they mean the minute you change the order of the worship, you will start another tradition in a week or two.

What some within churches of Christ want:

a) they want to introduce the use of the instrument, (Eph.5:19;Col.3:16)

b) eliminate the Lord's Supper every Sunday, having it as often during the week as they want and on any day or days that they want, (Acts 20:7)

c) have women deacons, preachers, and elders, (I Tim 3)

d) eliminate so much Bible in classes and have some reviews of good books instead of a Bible class, (2 Tim.4:2-4)

e) having interdenominational services with the denominations in town, (2 John

9,10)

f) reject elders in the church, (Titus 1) g) reject the church itself,(Eph.4:4-6) h) reject the idea that there is one

scriptural reason for divorce and remarriage. (Matt. 19:9)

"The religious world has never learned that all of the traditions of men pumped into their services only make their worship before God vain.

We should be concerned about what God Wants …not what we want to give Him! Remember Cain and Abel..Gen. 4:1-8

Such things as counting beads, lighting candles, sprinkling water, having plays of a religious nature, having special music, using instruments of music in worship and any number of other such things only

make worship vain in the sight of God."

Traditions of the Lordor Traditions of Men?

We need to always follow the traditions (that which has been) handed down from the Lord and his apostles and reject the traditions of men. Human tradition will make our worship vain! (Mtt. 15:9)

cf. John 4:23,24

God’s Word is Final…on all thingsreligious!

Jerm. 10:23 Isa. 55:8,9 Prov. 14:12 Prov. 16:25