Following God, Not Man

When Tradition Becomes a Trap - Mark 7:1-13

Dear Friends, the Pharisees and some scribes have come from Jerusalem, and straight away they spot Jesus’ disciples eating with “defiled” (unwashed) hands (v1–5). They don’t ask about the food; they ask about the ritual. “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?”

Jesus doesn’t dodge. He goes straight for the heart: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites… This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (vv6–7). Then He hits them harder: “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 tradition!” (vv8–9).

He gives the killer example: the practice of “Corban” (v11). A son could declare his money or goods as “Corban” (a gift devoted to God), and then claim he no longer had to support his ageing parents—even though the fifth commandment says “Honour your father and mother.” They turned a supposed act of piety into an excuse to disobey God’s direct word.

Jesus calls it out plainly: “You make void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down” (v13).

This is not Jesus being anti-tradition for the sake of it. He is exposing the moment tradition stops serving God’s word and starts overriding it. When we love our customs, our “the way we’ve always done it,” our particular style of worship or church life more than we love obedience to what God actually said, we have crossed a line—and Jesus calls it hypocrisy.

Today, pause and look honestly at our own hearts. Are there places where we cling to a “tradition” (even a good-looking one) so tightly that it excuses us from doing what God clearly commands? Maybe it’s how we do church, how we judge others, how we spend our money or time, or even how we define “spiritual success.” If it ever lets us sidestep loving God with all our heart or loving our neighbour as ourselves, it has become a trap.

Point to Ponder: Tradition is a good servant but a cruel master. When it starts rewriting God’s commands instead of reflecting them, it stops being helpful and starts being dangerous.

Verse to Remember: “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8 ESV)

Question to Consider: Is there any “tradition” (church habit, family pattern, personal rule) in your life that quietly lets you disobey something God has clearly said? What would it look like this week to lay that tradition down and simply obey Him instead?

Article written by Shaun Fereday, Leader @SFGH Church