Mark 7:5 And the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with common [unwashed] hands? 6 And He said to them, Well has Isaiah prophesied concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart stays far away from Me; 7 But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commandments of men." 8 While leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. 9 And He said to them, You nicely set aside the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition.
[Part 1 of 2] Here the Lord seemed to be saying, "You hypocrites only take care of the outward situation. You do not take care of man's inward condition. Whether you wash your hands or not before eating does not mean anything. What matters is your inward condition. Let me open your heart and expose its condition." In this chapter the Lord goes on to expose the evil condition of the heart of fallen man. The Pharisees and scribes came for the purpose of finding fault with the Lord Jesus. But the outcome was that they were rebuked by Him. The Lord is genuine; He never pretends. On the one hand, He is kind and has compassion on the seeking ones. But on the other hand, as indicated by the record in chapter seven, He was frank with the professional opposers, calling them hypocrites. In verses 8 and 9 the Lord went on to say to them, "Leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men....You nicely set aside the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition." Furthermore, in verse 13 He said that they were "invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have delivered; and many such similar things you do." Here the Lord seemed to be saying, "You hypocrites come to find fault with Me. But I take this opportunity to expose you. You ask why My disciples do not keep the traditions. I ask why you invalidate the word of God by your traditions. You serve God with your mouth, but I shall expose what is in your heart." [Continued tomorrow] (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 182-183. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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