And He said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:9
We looked at creating fences last week, but there are other ways we substitute our own ideas for God’s.
That passage above continues:
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.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)[d]—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. vs. 10-13
The Pharisees had a tradition called Corban – where they dedicated everything they had to God. It sounds pious, even righteous. But though they were called to be generous, God never asked that they give up all material goods. God did command that they honor their parents – and if everything has been set aside then they have no resources to care for them. Their idea of godliness ignores what God has clearly said.
Have I substituted my own idea of righteousness over what God has said? Maybe I veil my disobedience by trying to modernize His rules or I justify a new practice calling it culturally relevant. Am I holding on to any traditions that seem good but actually subvert God’s plan?
On an interesting note – Jesus fulfilled both Corban and the Law. He voluntarily gave everything, including His very life. As first-born son, it was His duty to care for Mary. By handing over His life, was He nullifying the commandment towards honoring His mother? On the cross, Jesus puts Mary into the care of His disciple John. As a rabbi, John’s life belonged to Jesus. Each of the other disciples were martyred for the gospel, but Jesus spared John to care for His mom and in so doing fulfilled the Law and the tradition.
I want to follow Jesus. Where traditions and fences keep me on His path, may they be used abundantly and with grace towards others who don’t need them. But I pray they never block the path He leads me on or stumble my brothers and sisters.
