Mark 7:8-9 Holding On To Human Traditions

 

Mark 7:8-9

"You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"

What human traditions was Jesus criticizing?

Does His criticism apply to celebrating Christmas?

Resources:

Let's talk Christmas with Chaplain Kevin Betton

https://www.youtube.com/live/r7ET5L0V6oI?si=rj73BaZRWF-z4AHf

Christmas isn't pagan and here's why

https://youtu.be/5zcaQlBbk6s?si=1v5A1btFOEjB8UnG

Nullify the Word of God

The word tradition has many definitions. The accepted definition is "the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice." Christian theology defines tradition as "a body of teachings, or any one of them held to have been delivered by Christ and His apostles but not originally committed to writing." It is this end of the theological definition that strikes me the most. It says, "but not originally committed to writing." Christians have a habit of creating traditions that have little to no basis in the Bible. When a person challenges these traditions, they can be met with a dismissive attitude rather than one of love, which results in reasoning from the scriptures like Bereans. A couple of these subjects are the sovereignty of God and Mary, the "mother of God."

God's Sovereignty

Everyone agrees that God has ultimate power and authority over His creation. However, to what degree does God extend His authority and power? A widely held belief is that "everything that happens is, at the very least, the result of God's permissive will." Once people accept this definition of God's sovereignty, the problems begin. If everything that happens is the result of God's will, then we end up making God responsible for all that occurs in the world. Can we blame God for every natural disaster, all acts of violence, each problem, and crisis suffered by all 7.8 Billion people on earth? Where do God's "permissive will" end and our individual responsibility begin? God not only loses His claim to be a righteous, kind, and loving God, but He now becomes responsible for evil and the author of confusion. When everything is God's fault, nothing is humanities doing. In my opinion, God can know and control everything but chooses not to exercise that ability all the time for reasons that are His own. One of those reasons, I believe, is so He can enjoy having a relationship with His people, which I think are seen in scriptures like Genesis 2:19 and Genesis 18:20-21, to name a couple. 

Pastor Aaron Budjen was asked about his perspective on the topic of the sovereignty of God. "There isn't really that much to say," Budjen began. "And I know that is going to sound really disappointing. Especially because the subject of the sovereignty of God, for a lot of people, is a huge subject ... The belief that people have concerning the sovereignty of God, and I have a belief that God is sovereign, [centers around] what does that mean? ... We need to have a total definition of that. Most people are saying that according to the sovereignty of God, God is in control of absolutely everything to the extent that there is no maverick molecule in the universe. I say that the sovereignty of God is such that God has control over what He wants to have control over. And there is a lot that I can tell that He is not asserting control over." We do not know how God decides what He controls and what He does not. We do not know the criteria He uses to determine when to intervene in our lives. God has not revealed enough about His sovereignty for us to come to the conclusions about it that we would like to have. If His "permissive will" is to control everything, then we have problems explaining His love, free will, personal responsibility, and so much more. 

The Mother of God

In a Christian forum, a series of questions were asked. Those questions were, "Is there salvation without Mary?" "Is she the mother of our salvation?" Is she "our hope?" The answers are yes, no, and no, respectively. However, to give a more thoughtful response, I replied with, "And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Luke 1:46)." If Mary is the "mother of our salvation," she would not have admitted her need for a Savior." Without delay, this triggered the response of someone who believes that the answer to all those questions is no, yes, and yes. When they responded to me, they added one more statement, which was that Mary is the "mother of God." The reasoning is that since Jesus Christ is God and Mary is His mother, she is the Mother of God. The Bible does not support this logic. But, it is supported by religious dogma. Religious dogma often overrides biblical truth. There is no problem with having a disagreement about scripture, but how much of the Bible is undermined in defending dogmatic beliefs. 

Regarding Mary being the mother of God, here is part of my answer. "She is not the mother of God. Jesus was God before Mary gave birth (i.e., John 8:58). If she is the mother of God, then she is greater than God. If she is the mother of God, who was it that impregnated her? Did she make herself pregnant? Why did God have to send an angel to tell her she was pregnant? She should have already known. If she is the mother of God, why did Jesus say, "The Father and I are One (John 10:30)?" Why didn't Jesus include Mary? Why isn't Mary mentioned when the scriptures talk about God as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? How come Jesus said, "I only speak what the Father tells me to speak (John 12:50)?" He didn't mention Mary. I could go on. Jesus also said, "Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters (Mark 7:13)." Obviously, traditions are more important than the word of God."

When it comes to traditions, whether it be the traditional belief about the sovereignty of God or the religious tradition that Mary is the mother of God, the word of God is nullified by the handing down of these traditions. We have to address these conflicts as more than just differences of opinion or the variance in the interpretation of the Bible. When traditional beliefs undermine the clear teaching of scripture, they become enemies of the Gospel and biblical truth. We must nullify the traditions if they hinder us from handing down the Word of God. 

Blessed Art Thou Amongst Women

A novena is an act of religious pious devotion originating in ancient Christianity, often consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days in belief of obtaining special intercessory graces. I was recently made aware of a religious tradition called, "The Novena of the Virgin Mary of Fatima." Apparently, one is to pray a "Hail Mary" and upon completion of this make a request. Now, I am well aware of making our requests to God, but have never heard of making requests to Mary. But, when one understands the words of the "Hail Mary," you can see why this is done. Within the words of the "Hail Mary" you will find these words; "Holy Mary, Mother of God." Yes, Mary is considered to be the Mother of God! Therefore, why wouldn't somebody who believes this make requests to her? However, anybody who understands the Bible knows that this idea that Mary is the mother of God is pure blasphemy. Of course, the argument would go, "Well, Jesus is God and Mary is His mother, hence she is the Mother of God." However, there are more than a few things wrong with this. First of all Mary was a regular human being just like the rest of us. In fact, it was Mary, herself, that recognized her need for a savior. "And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant (Luke 1:46-48)."" Mary says her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior! If she is the mother of God, then why does she need a savior? Next, she refers to herself as God's servant. If she is the "mother of God" wouldn't the roles be reversed; wouldn't God be her servant? In fact, she would be a god if she could give birth to one! However, scripture is clear; God has no beginning and no end. "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2)." Also, "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see (1 Timothy 6:15-16)." Everlasting means that which endures forever; either that which has no beginning and will have no end. Furthermore, to say something is immortal means that something is literally incorruptible. Therefore, something that has no beginning, no end, endures forever and is incorruptible can only be attributed to God and definitely does not need saving. Mary is neither God nor His mother.

The second Person of the Trinity, Jesus, did have a beginning to His earthly ministry when he was conceived in Mary’s womb and was born, but from eternity past He had always been the Son of God. So what happened when Jesus decided to leave heaven and become a man? "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being (Philippians 2:6-7)." Some translations say that Jesus "became nothing" when he became a human being. This gives us more insight as to why Mary was humbled by the task God had blessed her with. We are nothing compared to God, yet He chose to become like one of us and used Mary as His earthly vessel. Mary was the mother of Jesus, not the mother of God. As one author puts it, "A mother by definition precedes her child and at some point is more powerful than her child. So to call Mary the “mother of God” gives the misleading implication that Mary preceded and at one time was more powerful than the Lord God Almighty." It is well within reason to believe that an almighty God could become a human and go through the process necessary to be born from a woman, enter this world as a baby and grow up in this world. His ability to do that does not make the woman He chooses to be His vessel for that process His mother much less someone to pray to in order to get our requests granted. It is interesting that God seems to have already answered the question about who we make our requests to; we make our requests known to Him and Him alone, not Mary or any other created being. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6)." It is not biblical to say that Mary was the Mother of God or to make requests to her. The sad and scary part about all of this is the thought of what else does someone believe about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation and the Christian life who thinks Mary is God's mother and someone to pray to? Are they even Christian? After all, this novena is a tradition and it was Jesus who said to the Pharisees, "Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that (Mark 7:13)." I believe it is safe to say that many of the Pharisees missed out on an eternity with God because they chose their traditions over their Messiah. Do not be guilty of the same eternal mistake just to hold on to your traditions.