God of wisdom, by your Spirit, open our minds to your truth, our hearts to your gospel, and our hands so that we can do your will, in the name of Jesus, your Living Word. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 7:1-13
We live in a world that values customs, rituals, and long-held practices. Traditions can be meaningful and even beautiful when they point us toward truth. But in our passage from the Book of Mark this morning, Jesus issues a strong warning: tradition can become dangerous when it replaces obedience to God’s Word.
The religious leaders at the time, being the Pharisees, were offended that Jesus’ disciples broke the traditions of the elders. But Jesus was offended that they broke the commandments of God. He challenges not just their rituals but the heart behind them.
This moment with the Pharisees isn’t just about some religious leaders from the past—it’s a reminder that still speaks to us today. We always need to be asking ourselves: Are we really honouring God from the heart, or are we just going through the motions with habits that seem spiritual but actually miss the point?
Let’s take a look at what Jesus said and see how it can shape and strengthen the way we worship today.
The Apostle Mark introduces the passage in the way, “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.” The Pharisees were a group within the Jewish religion whose passion was to help the ordinary people in Israel learn to live their devotion to God. They were a reform movement, trying to call the people of Israel to a life of godliness. They were all lay people, there weren’t any priests among them.
And while today we have a poor impression of the Pharisees, they weren’t all bad. One of them was Nicodemus, who we learn about in the Gospel of John. This is how John describes him, “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’” (John 3:1-2)
Later on, as Jesus was gaining more and more followers and the religious leaders were looking at a way to get rid of him, Nicodemus would defend Jesus in front of his fellow Pharisees. Here’s what happened, “Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’” (John 7:45-51)
And after the crucifixion and death of Jesus, Nicodemus was one of the two men who boldly came to Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus. John writes: “After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so, he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. (John 19:38-39) Joseph of Arimathea, was also a Pharisee, but as John says, he was a follower of Jesus. The Apostle Luke, in his Gospel, tells us that when the council of elders condemned Jesus to death, he had disagreed with them.
But, but for the most part, the Pharisees, in their zeal for the faith, had gotten it wrong about Jesus. They had been keeping their eye on him, and at many times following him, hoping to trip him up. And now they thought they had found their way, and so they confronted Jesus with this accusation, “‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’”
This charge was based on the Old Testament law found in the book of Exodus where God required the temple priest to go through a special washing ritual before eating a meal that came from the temple offering. Now the temple priest only had to go through this washing ritual when in the temple and eating a temple sacrifice as a meal. But the Pharisees expanded that requirement to apply to all Jewish people during all meals. They believed that all Jewish people ought to follow the example of the temple priests by washing before each and every meal. They believed that every detail of the Old Testament law was to be applied to everyday life.
The Pharisees were concerned that Jesus’ disciples were not observing the tradition of the elders by eating with defiled hands. But Jesus uses this moment to expose something deeper—how easily religion can become an external show rather than an internal transformation. The Pharisees weren’t merely concerned about hygiene; they were judging the disciples spiritual standing based on a man-made rituals. This is the peril of hollow tradition—when external rituals overshadow genuine inner faith. God never commanded handwashing before meals as a spiritual requirement. But the religious leaders had elevated human traditions to the same level as divine law.
This was Jesus’s reply to their misguided accusations, “‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honour 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.’”
In these words, Jesus challenges the assumption that external actions make us righteous. He isn’t looking for hands that follow rituals—he’s looking for hearts that follow him. He’s wanting worship that is rooted in truth, not tradition; in surrender, not show.
The problem with the Pharisees, according to Jesus, was that they had become so focused on the externals of faithfulness that they neglected to examine their own hearts. Their efforts to live faithfully were putting up walls of alienation instead of drawing them closer to God and to their neighbors. Instead of expressing the holiness of God, ritual purity became a means of excluding people they considered dirty or contaminated.
Jesus then gave and example of how they chose human traditions over the word of God, he said, “‘…You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother”; and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban” (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.’”
The problem is not with human traditions, but with human traditions that have come to replace the word of God. Jesus gives a specific example of a contradiction between the traditions of the Pharisees and the commands of God. According to their tradition, once a person’s property is vowed as a gift to the temple, that property cannot be used to support one’s parents. Jesus says that this practice contradicts the command to honour your father and mother. Ironically, the very traditions that were meant to purify people become a means of contamination, because they keep people from obeying the commands of God.
Traditions can be helpful, but when they become the measure of spirituality, they become dangerous. Jesus isn’t against tradition—he’s against traditions that replace obedience to God. Jesus isn’t impressed by clean hands if our hearts remain far from him. Jesus saw how some religious leaders outwardly honour God but inwardly are disconnected from him. Instead of following God’s commandments from the heart, they elevate human traditions to the level of divine law.
So, we have to ask ourselves, are there places in our spiritual lives where tradition has taken priority over truth? Have we become more concerned with appearances than authenticity? Let us turn from any ways we’ve praised God with our words while denying him through our actions. May we come back to God’s Word—not to defend ourselves with it, but to allow it to examine us, convict us, and transform us. Jesus did not come to uphold outward rituals of purity; he came to cleanse us from within.
God doesn’t erase the past; he builds on it. The early church didn’t abandon everything, but they made room for the Spirit’s direction. We are called to do the same. Tradition becomes dangerous when it stops serving the Gospel and starts serving itself. We must ask: Does this tradition help people meet Jesus today? If not, maybe it needs to be reshaped—or maybe a new one needs to be born.
Jesus said to his disciples, “‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’” Jesus spoke these words to challenge religious leaders who clung to the old without recognizing the fresh movement of God through Christ. The old wineskins weren’t bad—they simply couldn’t contain the vitality of what God was doing next.
What are the traditions in our worship services that might lead us away from genuine obedience? Do we cling to cultural Christianity, Sunday rituals, or denominational preferences more than we seek God’s truth? We must regularly examine whether our spiritual practices are grounded in Scripture or merely in habit.
Change is not always easy, especially in spaces like the church where tradition gives us a sense of identity, continuity, and spiritual grounding. But our God is not static—he is a living, creating, and renewing God. And if we follow his Spirit, we must be open to how he might lead us forward—even into unfamiliar territory.
Let’s not follow the example of the Pharisees, deeply immersed in religious rituals, yet far from the presence of God. Instead, may we strive to be truly pure, not through tradition alone, but through the cleansing power of Christ’s sacrifice.
May our church be a place where tradition and innovation come together in harmony—a space where the wisdom of the past informs the present, and fresh expressions of faith breathe new life into time-honored practices.
Let us Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before you with hearts full of gratitude for the rich traditions that have shaped our faith. Thank you for the wisdom passed down through generations, for the practices that have helped us grow closer to you and understand your truth. We recognize the beauty in these traditions, and we honour the foundation they provide for our worship and our lives.
At the same time, Lord, we acknowledge that you are always at work, breathing new life into our hearts and minds. Help us to remain open to the fresh ways You are leading us, to embrace change and innovation in our worship and our service to you. May we not hold on to old practices for their own sake but seek your guidance as we navigate what is both timeless and new.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.