David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 7:1-13

And [Jesus] said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,¹³ thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

It was a tradition: every Saturday we would have pancakes at our house. I was the master of the griddle and pancake flipper. Our sons enjoyed that Saturday morning ritual: “Cornmeal Griddle Cakes” was the recipe’s name. Saturday morning family time was the game. It was a great family tradition – one I remember fondly.

Now imagine if our neighbor’s house was on fire on a Saturday morning and I would say, “Can’t help you; we’re having our traditional Saturday morning pancake breakfast.” Or what if my mom or dad would call and need help at their house next Saturday and I’d say, “Sorry. Can’t do it: Saturday morning pancakes are a tradition at our house; I can’t make the trip.”

While that may be obvious, what about the more subtle ways we nullify God’s laws in our lives because we have traditions that get in the way? What if our tradition of spending large amounts of money for Christmas gifts gets in the way of helping the poor and needy at Christmas or other times of the year?

More to the point, what if our traditions don’t prevent us from doing good, but simply lead us to overlook opportunities to do good? Doing good, loving your neighbor, taking care of your family members, acts of kindness and mercy flow from lives that are free from mindless traditions and busy-ness that only appears to be alive. Too often we miss the opportunities before us to do the good things that honor God and obey his word simply because we’re so busy.

This might be a call to slow down more than to abandon our traditions. But that’s the worst tradition of all – the tradition of having our lives so busy and schedules so filled that we hardly have room left for life.

Mark 7:1-13

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, ² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders,but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,¹³ thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”