Mark 7

SCRIPTURE
   " 'These people honor me by what they say. 
      But their hearts are far away from me. 
 ⁷ Their worship doesn't mean anything to me. 
      They teach nothing but human rules.' —(Isaiah 29:13) ⁸ You have let go of God's commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up." 

OBSERVATION
The Pharisees are still alive and well today.

UNDERSTANDING
We must be careful not to gloss over the Pharisees and teachers of the law as nitpicky legalists. 

There was no doubt a lot of religious leaders in Jesus' time who wanted to keep their place in the "power structure" at any cost, so they opposed Jesus when He came challenging their motives.  But there were many who had simply followed the interpretations of the law that had been passed down as "the way of God" while the truth was that it was interpreted in such a way as to give the religious authority power.  Those Pharisees still exist.  Today many Christians fight to keep tradition rather than looking at the new wineskins that God is using.  We believe that a certain way of doing things that has been passed down for a couple of generations is the only way of God.  I know people who believe that the only proper Bible to read is the King James Version.

 LIFE APPLICATION
I wonder how many add-on rules and rituals do you impose people who want to know God? How many formulas have you added to the Bible and made them law?  What human-made rules, policies and doctrines have we given the same authority as God's Word?   Pharisees exist today. Ask God for insight so as not to be one of them.  We need to be careful that we are not making traditions the same as God's Word.

 

Comments

[Russ]

S – “The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.” (Mark 7:1-2)

O – The religious leaders were aghast that Jesus and His companions ate without washing their hands first. They confronted the Lord of Lords on this supposed infraction of their rules.

U – This was obviously legalism, but not the only form of legalism still prevalent today. We ourselves are prone to legalism in various forms, some of which are quite sneaky.

L – For some thoughts on this topic, click below “Understanding” at top, right.

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