Mark 7:9 KJV
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
As I understand this verse and the ones following it is like this; the Jews had determined that if a man had dedicated a "gift" to the temple, if he was using what he had for the betterment of the temple, then he could not be expected to take care of his parents. The one use of the resources (for the temple) outweighed the other use of a man's resources (caring for his parents) and therefore he would be free from the responsibility to care of his parents because he had devoted what he had to the temple. In another scenario, a child may have made a vow not to take care of his parents. Either this vow was done in the carelessness of youth or because of some disagreement with the parents, but the Pharisees had determined that it was more important to keep the vow than to obey the Bible command to honor parents.
I wonder how often we hold our own traditions so strictly that we reject God's Word to keep them?
It could be a young person who is so anxious to be with friends, that he will disobey God's Word to be with them
It might be a congregation that is so set on reaching multitudes that it ignores (or at least justifies) the Word of God in order to do their outreach
I may be a believer who holds a family tradition (say for a yearly gathering or whatever) so strongly that they see no wrong in missing God's worship for the family.
It might be a parent who holds the raising of their children as so sacred that they would deny giving that child exposure to the house of God (holding home worship instead)
I can think of a myriad of other ways we might commit an infraction right here. But the ones that concern me the most are the ones that we (I should say “I”) have become blinded to and justify without realizing I did it.
God's Word is the standard. Obeying God's Word is the only acceptable course of action. Nothing we do to attempt to justify rejecting His commandment really holds up in the courts of glory.
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
As I understand this verse and the ones following it is like this; the Jews had determined that if a man had dedicated a "gift" to the temple, if he was using what he had for the betterment of the temple, then he could not be expected to take care of his parents. The one use of the resources (for the temple) outweighed the other use of a man's resources (caring for his parents) and therefore he would be free from the responsibility to care of his parents because he had devoted what he had to the temple. In another scenario, a child may have made a vow not to take care of his parents. Either this vow was done in the carelessness of youth or because of some disagreement with the parents, but the Pharisees had determined that it was more important to keep the vow than to obey the Bible command to honor parents.
I wonder how often we hold our own traditions so strictly that we reject God's Word to keep them?
It could be a young person who is so anxious to be with friends, that he will disobey God's Word to be with them
It might be a congregation that is so set on reaching multitudes that it ignores (or at least justifies) the Word of God in order to do their outreach
I may be a believer who holds a family tradition (say for a yearly gathering or whatever) so strongly that they see no wrong in missing God's worship for the family.
It might be a parent who holds the raising of their children as so sacred that they would deny giving that child exposure to the house of God (holding home worship instead)
I can think of a myriad of other ways we might commit an infraction right here. But the ones that concern me the most are the ones that we (I should say “I”) have become blinded to and justify without realizing I did it.
God's Word is the standard. Obeying God's Word is the only acceptable course of action. Nothing we do to attempt to justify rejecting His commandment really holds up in the courts of glory.
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