Section 65, Fourfold Gospel

P A R T S I X T H
FROM THE THIRD PASSOVER UNTIL OUR LORD'S ARRIVAL AT BETHANY.
Time: One Year Less One Week
Section 65
JESUS FAILS TO ATTEND THE THIRD PASSOVER. SCRIBES REPROACH HIM FOR DISREGARDING TRADITION.
(Galilee, probably Capernaum, spring A. D. 29)
MATT. 15:1-20
MARK 7:1-23 
JOHN 7:1

Here, the Pharisees and scribes attack Jesus for not washing his hands when he eats.  Jesus flips the questions so that transgressing "the tradition of the elders" is juxtaposed against transgressing "the commandment of God."

Jesus observes,"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8-9

It is important to keep the plumb line accurate--not what we have added onto our interpretations, but God's commandments as set forth in the scriptures are enough.  Christ goes on to clarify that it's not what we eat, what we put into our mouths, that defiles us, but it's what comes out of our hearts.  The purity of our heart is the issue in its entirety.

"Remember that no gift to God’s service is acceptable if you neglect the claims of those who are related to you by natural ties. Morality in God’s eyes stands far above ritual." F.B. Meyers

Tradition is not good or bad in itself. It is merely what is handed on from one to another. Custom tended to make these traditions binding like law. The Talmud is a monument of their struggle with tradition. There could be no compromise on this subject and Jesus accepts the issue. He stands for real righteousness and spiritual freedom, not for bondage to mere ceremonialism and tradition. The rabbis placed tradition (the oral law) above the law of God. -BKC?

"Thus tradition undid the law. God's law leads to pure and acceptable worship, while human additions and amendments make worship vain, if not abominable. There is probably not one such addition or amendment which does not to a greater or less degree make some commandment void." -Fourfold Gospel

The tradition of the elders stated specifically that if you had something in your house which was of great value, you could say it was "corban," or "dedicated," which then made that object a gift to God. You could still keep it in your house and use it for your purposes, but it was technically dedicated to God. It was a convenient way to refuse help to people in need—even to those in your own family.
-Jon Courson

Fourfold Gospel:  "It is hard for us to learn and apply the distinction between serving God as God wishes to be served, and serving him according to our own wishes and notions."