Outline Are Traditions More Important to You Than God’s Word? based on Mark 7:1-13

I. Washing of hands today.

II. Read Mark 7:1-2, 5 and comment. The Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem did not think about germs spreading, but they became upset about the disciples of Jesus failing to wash their hands. Mark 7:1-2, 5 states, “Now when the Pharisees gathered to (Jesus), with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

III. Customs and traditions in public and at church today.

IV. Traditions and customs and Jesus’ teaching moment in Mark 7:6-8.

According to Mark 7:6-8, Jesus said to them: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘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.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

V. Human traditions or God’s Word?

VI. Washing our unwashed hands and God’s mercy in Baptism.

VII. Conclusion. Are human traditions more important to you than God’s Word? Do you have “unwashed hands” full of sin and wrongs? Ask God for mercy and He will forgive you anew. We cannot perfectly obey and keep God’s commandments, but Jesus did in our place. Jesus was killed on the cross and raised from the grave, so that by His wounds we are healed and pardoned for all of our sins and wrongs. The Bible includes many verses about the washing and forgiveness of God’s mercy. Here are a few: Psalm 51:7 points us to King David’s plea for God to forgive him with the words, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Revelation 7:14 gives us an interesting image of forgiveness: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Acts 22:16 encourages people to do this, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 reminds about our baptism, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” In referring to the kind of love a husband is to have for his wife, Ephesians 5:25-26 in our second Bible lesson for today states, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.”

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.