Jesus, Tradition, and Scripture
Here’s the scenario: the Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem had noticed something, and so they approached Jesus to discuss it with him. They noticed that some of his disciples ate without washing their hands. To the Pharisees, the disciples were eating with hands that were defiled! Mark the Evangelist provides some insight from his commentary saying, “For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, 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” (Mk. 7:3-4).
The Pharisees and the scribes were thinking that they finally had something that they could charge Jesus and his disciples with: violating the holy tradition of the Fathers. Where have we heard this before? I’ll answer that later. So they hit Jesus up and asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” Right away we can see that the Pharisees and scribes already assumed the guilt of the disciples’ clear violation of the fully authoritative, sacred, and holy, Tradition of the Fathers. They assumed that it was in-line with God’s will that they “walk according to Tradition,” thus they ratted-out the defiled-handed violators!
Jesus, playing it cool like always, was probably interrupted by these Pharisees and scribes, they probably tapped him on the shoulder or something; maybe he was eating too, but I can see him turning around to address them, answering: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written…” [INSERT SOUND OF RECORD PLAYER NEEDLE SCRATCH] Did you catch that? They hit him up with a question that they were sure they would box him in with, and he breaks out with calling them hypocrites, appealing to the Prophet Isaiah, attributing his words about some random hypocrites - to them! This is a first hand source of apologetics training - straight from the school of Jesus the Christ! Let’s see what he said to them. For context (and kicks), I’ll include the great line about the hypocrites/Isaiah prophecy:
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.“
This is one of the more stern rebukes in Scripture. Think about it; say you’re Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or any other people group representative of these Pharisees and scribes that Jesus rebuked for exchanging the authority of Scripture for the Traditions of man. You see these Protestants that don’t perform mass, don’t worship icons, don’t celebrate the Eucharist, don’t venerate the saints, etc., and you complain to Jesus about it: Our dear Jesus, why do your Protestant disciples not follow the Tradition of the venerated saints (Martyr, Irenaeus, Hyppolytus, Hilary, Basil, Gregory, et al), but make an idol of the Bible thinking they can interpret it themselves? From this passage in Mark 7, I can see Jesus answering by saying the exact same thing, maybe even giving them another “it is written!” After all, it has been written, hasn’t it?
From the biblical perspective, the Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and such apostates, have their mouths shut by Scripture time and time again, thus their vehement hatred for the principle of Sola Scripture; the Protestant rule of faith and practice. According to the Lord Jesus himself, although they claim to honor Jesus, it is mere lip service and he ain’t buying it for a second (he sees hearts, remember?). Their hearts are devoted somewhere else, or like he said, “far from” him. And although they claim to venerate his picture painted on a canvas that they kiss and cry to, he considers it meaningless, humanistic, and idolatrous activity by saying, “in vain do they worship me.” But they cry, no, it’s not in vain! It is heartfelt and sincere! We do what the Fathers have been doing since the early church. We read their books and pray their prayers. We’re the true church!
Jesus continues quoting Scripture saying, “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Let this sink in right now. Examine yourself to see if you are forsaking the Savior for man’s doctrine. Is your worship true, or is it merely according to the procession of tradition? Be not mistaken, the early church fathers are not something you really want to follow. You should follow Scripture. In the establishment of New Testament churches Paul experienced apostasy and heresy, Peter talked about it, Jude sounded the alert because of them, John had to give special instructions on how to deal with them. The point is, where do you think these wolves ended up? How do you think they got there? And most importantly, why is Scripture always the authoritative means of their refutation? Like Dr. Morey says, “use the little gray cells!”
In closing, notice that the last portion of the quote from Mark 7 is not from Isaiah. The four lines prior to the last are, but the last one isn’t; it’s from Jesus himself. He adds: “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” This explains why some of their practices have biblical themes alongside the pagan corruption. They left God’s commands and subjected themselves to the commands of men. The fact that there is a contrast between God and men implies that the men whose commands were followed were not in accord with God. So when dealing with Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and like I said, any people group (not limited just to these) that is representative of these Pharisees and scribes, be like Jesus and hold fast to and quote Scripture - lest you become part of the apostasy and on the receiving end of such rebukes from the Lord!
21 Comments, Comment or Ping
Jean Cauvin
In the words of Terry Johnson Thompson:
“Jesus is my Homeboy.”
Next time make sure your shirt is clean when you join Dr. Bob at a conference for set up equipment.
Jean Cauvin
May 4th, 2008
The BOC
What is the “commandment of God” Jesus speaks of??
May 4th, 2008
Steve Blackwell
Very well said, thank you. This teaching is “meat in due season” as it addresses the essence of what I have to deal with from Orthodox friends and in the “Organized” Protestant Church. I have to admit that at first I celebrated inside myself that I now had the leverage I was looking for to overthrow their arguments. But, I have paused long enough to allow a little self examination and know that this is where the refutation has to start.
Keep up the good work.
Steve Blackwell
May 4th, 2008
Johnny B
I would say the command, Jesus is talking about, would be, Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
The Boc, what do you say it is? You could probably add the end of Leviticus 19:18 to it as well. “but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
May 4th, 2008
Johnny B
“Jesus is my homeboy” That bothers me, just because of what that means to me or what it meant to me. For my that’s blasphemous. It seems to me, that one is making the Lord a common thing. Not Honoring Him as Lord. What do you guys think, am I being legalistic here?
May 4th, 2008
Reformed Mama
Here’s a mini scenario to go with yours Stephen:
Excerpted from Spurgeon’s Sermons (10 vol. set 1883)…
“But the second thought is , the means of salvation. It is ‘Look unto me and be ye saved’. You have often observed , I am sure, that many people are fond of intricate worship, an involved religion, one they can hardly understand. They cannot endure worship so simple as ours.
Then they must have a man dressed in white, and a man dressed in black; then they must have what they call an altar and a chancel. After a little while that will not suffice, and they must have flower-pots and candles. The clergyman then becomes a priest, and he must have a variegated dress, with a cross on it. So it goes on; what is simply a plate becomes a paten, and what was once a cup becomes a chalice; and the more complicated the ceremonies are, the better they like them.
They like their minister to stand like a superior being. The world likes a religion they cannot comprehend. But have you ever noticed how gloriously simple the Bible is? It will not have any of your nonsense; it speaks plain, and nothing but plain things. ‘Look!’ There is not an unconverted man who likes this, ‘Look unto Christ, and be ye saved’…”
He goes on to give examples of complications people crave…
“And if this morning, I could preach that any one who walked from here to Bath without his shoes and stockings, or did some impossible thing, should be saved, you would start off to-morrow morning before breakfast. If it would take me seven years to describe the way of salvation, I am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned doctor could tell the way to heaven, how would he be run after!
And if it were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it would be all the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to preach. It is only ‘Look’! …’Ah’ you say ‘Is that the gospel? I shall not pay any attention to that.’
Just to take down your pride, and to show you that He is God, and that beside Him there is none else! O, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is ‘Look! Look! Look!’ Four letters and two of them alike! Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”
In the words of John…”Dear children, keep yourself from idols.”-1 John 5:21
May 4th, 2008
Stephen Macasil
Jean, I’ve had a very busy week with little sleep. My brain may not be working too well at the moment. Would you care to explain what this seemingly whimsical and cryptic sentence means?
You said: “Next time make sure your shirt is clean when you join Dr. Bob at a conference for set up equipment.”
May 4th, 2008
agogley
I’m confused about Jean’s comments as well, both the clean shirt bit as well as the homeboy phrase.
May 5th, 2008
Fusion
I’m guessing the clean shirt quote had to do with the event Dr. Bob preached at (to good results) this last weekend. The “homeboy” comment has to do with the popular t-shirt design that has been going around for a while. You can now get a “Mary is My Homegirl” shirt, a “Luther, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin is my homeboy” shirt. The question is: do those shirts that have Jesus on the cover make him a common thing? I have seen many celebrities on magazines with those shirts, and I’m pretty sure from their lifestyles that they don’t know Jesus AT ALL. I have also seen well meaning Christians wear those shirts, for whom the phrase works. I’ll mention Mark Driscoll here by name. But even if a Christian who knows Jesus wears the shirt, is it a violation of the 1st commandment of making a graven image of THE LORD? Much like the Orthodox person who worships an image of Christ.
I’ve heard arguments on both sides. That is, people who have no problem with a story book that depicts Christ, and those who say that that would be a violation of the 1st commandment. I’m not entirely sure on where to come down on this one. Because if it is a violation, so would The Jesus Film, The Passion, kids bibles, Salvador Dali’s painting etc… also be violations and it would be wrong. Much to think about.
For something to think about, here’s Paul Washer’s take on the subject:
May 5th, 2008
Johnny B
Fusion, if it is compared to an image, it would violate the 2nd commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;” I would hope, kids Bible, reading, isn’t being compared to Bible worship, or worshiping the pictures, or watching a movie about Jesus, as idolatry.
I see it (Jesus is my homeboy) as a violation of the 3rd commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” http://www.answers.com/vain&r=67 has a good definition of, “in vain”, # 2. I have a hard time with it, but that’s my conviction on the matter.
What is Paul Washer’s take on the subject? you mentioned him, but didn’t post his view.
May 5th, 2008
agogley
Come on guys…we should know Scripture better than this!!!
The first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
The second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
The third commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
This issue isn’t all that complicated if you read the commandments in full context.
May 6th, 2008
Jean Cauvin
Hello,
The third commandment I think is misunderstood. It does not mean that you shouldn’t use Jesus as a curse word, that’s not what the commandment is talking about.
I believe the meaning of the 3rd commandment is very Jewish, and thus deals with oaths. One should not use the Lord’s name in vain for example in an oath (cf Matthew 5:34). For it was wrong in Israel to take oaths via the swearing of God.
The church has Anglicised a very Jewish imperative.
Jean Cauvin
May 6th, 2008
Jean Cauvin
My first remark was via one of Morey’s set up staff. I found the name via Faith Defender Website. The shirt was absurd and lacked the cleaning agent required by most businesses. I saw him set up equipment a while back.
Jean Cauvin
May 6th, 2008
Johnny B
The sad part about the Ten Commandments, is the Church raises up in protest, when they are taken down in a court house. Yet they don’t have them up in the Church or use them lawfully. We should be using them to drive the sinner to his knee, in search of God’s mercy, in repentance. They teach sinner, that by keeping them as best as you can, that that will appease God. Instead of them being used to convert sinner, they being used to conform sinner.
We defiantly need a reformation in the Church today.
May 6th, 2008
OverCommiTad2theWord
Right on, Stephen! Well said, brother.
Jesus then goes on to body slam “You have a such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition!” (v9)
And scores a take-down via example of their twisting commandment #5 (v10-12) and the shoulders get pinned with v13 “You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.”
Why isn’t it clear that God isn’t interested in Scripture + man’s ideas?!
May 6th, 2008
Travis
How do you use agnostic in your understanding of eschatology?
I figure this more or less fits in here, because it is more scripture and tradition since we dont really know what is going to happen?
May 7th, 2008
Travis
I invited Doug Beaumont, who has an apologetics ministry on the east coast, to chime in on this topic, For lack of a better way of discribing him I think he is somewhere between 5 point and 3 point ‘calvinist, hs web site gives both positions on most the topics so Im not to sure on his personal beliefs, his “hero” is Matt Graham. It should be a good discussion if he excepts, he is very intelligent.
May 7th, 2008
Laura
ReformedMama,
thank you for your post. That was great.
May 8th, 2008
Reformed Mama
Aw…you are welcome Laura…Spurgeon is my homeboy!!
May 8th, 2008
Jean Cauvin
Hi Reformed MaMa,
Spurgeon is dead!. Wear a cleaner shirt.You must be the mama of the dirty shirt guy?
Jean Cauvin
May 8th, 2008
Stephen Macasil
Jean, you have just about worn out your welcome here. You have one final chance to explain yourself and your comments, and it must be done in one post on this thread. Failure to put forth a gracious effort with gracious speech will result in your indefinite banishment from the BT forum. Your post must:
1. Reveal your identity.
2. Convince the moderators that you are not a divisive person.
3. Convince the moderators why you should be allowed to continue to participate in the BT forum.
[THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED OFFLINE AND USER HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO CONTINUE POSTING - MODERATOR]
May 8th, 2008
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