Post by Woody Williams on Sept 2, 2012 7:40:13 GMT -5
Text for the Day -- Mark 7:1-8
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Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his
disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing
them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they
thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the
elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash
it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the
washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the
scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to
them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is
written, “This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
Devotional
----------
The issue is not just to control human behavior by laws, but
transformation of the human heart. We may know what is right or
wrong, but that does not necessarily mean that we will automatically
do it. There is more to the issue. Jesus spoke against the
multiplicity of laws by which the Pharisees tried to define the
relationship with God and the faith community. These rules were part
of a human tradition and not a part of the Mosaic law. They served as
a hedge built around the Law to protect. The Law in itself became
more important than the relationship with God.
Prayer
------
Keep me focused on our relationship, Lord. Amen
----------
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his
disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing
them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they
thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the
elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash
it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the
washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the
scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to
them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is
written, “This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
Devotional
----------
The issue is not just to control human behavior by laws, but
transformation of the human heart. We may know what is right or
wrong, but that does not necessarily mean that we will automatically
do it. There is more to the issue. Jesus spoke against the
multiplicity of laws by which the Pharisees tried to define the
relationship with God and the faith community. These rules were part
of a human tradition and not a part of the Mosaic law. They served as
a hedge built around the Law to protect. The Law in itself became
more important than the relationship with God.
Prayer
------
Keep me focused on our relationship, Lord. Amen