Mark 7:5-8 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat food with unclean hands?” 6And he said to them, “Correctly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8Having left the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
The delegates from Jerusalem confront Jesus with a question about dealing with dirty hands. The question of the Pharisees and scribes is filled with an assumption. They associated having clean hands with piety and spiritual maturity. Their religion was linked with the traditions of the elders. They had replaced the being with the doing. They thought their holy actions, as they defined them, would make their hearts holy. A little hygiene does not make a person holy.
Jesus had a different concept of religion than the Pharisees and scribes. He quotes from Isaiah 29:13 to correct and rebuke their wrong thinking. This quote focuses on the problem of hypocrisy. Israel spoke religious terms and sounded spiritual, but their hearts were not right with God. They listened to human legalism rather than the Spirit of God. Human creativity replaced spiritual commitment. They substituted religion for relationship. They allowed their theological interpretations to become their guide and source of truth.
Jesus’ warning has timeless application. Many decisions are made today based on human interpretations and traditions. Much of what the modern church has become has been formed by human thinking and traditions developed over the ages. Tradition, reason, and experience have replaced Scripture in importance and authority. The result is a spiritual emptiness that lacks the power of the Holy Spirit and keeps us from fulfilling God’s purposes for us in Christ.
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