"The Fallacy of Tradition pt.1" Mark 7:1-8

“Merriam Webster” defines a fallacy as a false or mistaken idea.

Some resources summarize a fallacy as being a flaw in reasoning that makes an argument seem well reasoned but in the end it is actually misleading or deceptive.

Traditions can be this way, they can sound logical but in the end really are nothing more than something that is created by the imaginations of men. Other traditions can be based on the Bible but in such case it is important to know where we get those traditions.

When Jesus walked the earth in the first century there were many traditions attached to the practice of Judaism. We see one such tradition causing some conflict between the Pharisees, along with some scribes, and the disciples of the Lord Jesus.

You see it was a tradition that a person wash their hands before they ate. And it was practised by the Pharisees and all the Jews because it was a part of the handed down oral tradition of the Elders.

Now in our text in verse 4 we see that when someone comes in from the marketplace they are to wash their hands before they ate. And most of us think what could be the problem with that when it come to personal hygiene?

The answer is nothing but this was not how the tradition originated. This washing was a washing that made hands and utensils and furniture ritualistically clean and to wash off Gentile defilement because of the presence of Gentiles in their midst.

Such ritualistic washings made the distinction between the clean and the unclean and between the sanctified and the defiled. It was a spiritual issue not a germ issue.

And the Pharisees had a problem with Jesus and His disciples over the issue of this tradition. Look back at your text to verse 5 as the religious leaders question Jesus:

I. The Apparent Problem (5).

The apparent problem was that the disciples of Jesus were not practising the tradition of the elders. This tradition would have been derived from the Rabbinical teachings from the Mishnah. This was like a commentary on the law of Moses which gave instruction that was supposed to build a fence around the law to keep someone from violating it.

The hands of the disciple were thought to be defiled and needed to be ritually and ceremonially cleaned before eating. That term defiled in the original language denotes the idea of being “common” which denotes the need for their hands needing to be sanctified before they ate.

For the religious leaders hands could get defiled by interacting with things or people who were considered unclean. Like sick people or Gentiles in general and the things they touched or came in contact with.

The Rabbinical tradition thought the external aspects of life made one unclean.

This is the trend of a fallen world because man lacks the ability to truly discern the spiritual nature of a person. So in the practice of religion it is much easier to create performance based models of rules and laws by which to measure someone’s piety.

This is the model embraced by all the false religions of the world. False religions are always built on the traditions on men by default because without God revealing the objective spiritual truth man is left to himself as the source of his belief system. And this happens for him as an individual or as a collective group.

And because there is no such relationship with God to be had in such context man imagines that piety is an end to itself in his spiritual quest. You can even be Jewish and pursue works by the law and add more law to help keep you from breaking the original law and imagine yourself secure due to your own performance in keeping with man made traditions.

This was the problem with the Pharisees and the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, the citadel of Judaism. They missed the absolute priority of what constitutes true relationship with God. Look back at your text to verses 6-8:

II. The Absolute Priority (6-8).

A. There are two priorities that they miss and fail to understand because they were blinded by their tradition. We will look at them one at a time. First, they miss the Priority of the Heart over External Actions. Look at verses 6-7 of your text:

The Priority of the Heart over External Actions (6-7).

We see the Lord Jesus expose the fallacy of their tradition as He appeals to the OT Scriptures in Isaiah 29:13.

In Isaiah 29 God speaks through Isaiah this as a spiritual diagnosis upon the people but he also declares that He will work wonder of wonders in the presence of such people. Jesus calls them out as hypocrites and says what Isaiah spoke was true of them.

They are hypocrites because they say one thing with their mouths but their hearts are far from God. They were not authentic believers, they had no heart relationship with God. They were all external form with no internal heart substance.

This is why Jesus referred to them as “white washed tombs” in the gospel accounts.

They worship the Lord in vain. There is no real reverence for Him, it is all for show for their own end and purpose.

Christian it may surprise you to know that God wants your heart to be in love with Him and to treasure Him above all things. Your sanctification is not through empty rituals birthed out of the imaginations of sinful man.

Your sanctification is the work of God in you to pry your heart away from the love of the world and release your heart to be deeper in love with God. He is cultivating a love relationship in your heart with Him. He does this in order that our hearts would not be far from Him.

Without relationship with God, religious actions are vain expressions of spiritual deadness no matter how pious they may appear there is no life in them. The second absolute priority they missed is seen in verse 8. Look back at your text:

The Priority of the Word of God over Traditions of Men (8).

The word in the original language that is translated “tradition” here in the immediate context is referring to that instruction which has been handed down in the rabbinical teachings of Jewish tradition.

The idea behind the ESV word leave is denoting that they dismiss the commandment of God and instead they make the traditions of men the binding principle of their obedience.

The fallacy of this is obvious. It makes man the binding authority instead of God. This is a dangerous fallacy because the precedent that it sets is idolatrous. And this has happened many times in church history. The church prior to the reformation put tradition on par with Scripture in deriving principles of Christian piety and practice that had no basis in Scripture.

This is why one of the hallmarks of the reformation was Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone as the only basis for all matters of faith and practice. Even human experience can be subjective but Scripture is the objective truth of God’s revelation to His people.

From a general perspective, reformation took on two basic approaches when it came to Scripture Alone. For Luther, the traditions of Roman Catholicism that Scripture refuted or contradicted were seen as a basis for rejection. For Calvin, only traditions that Scripture affirmed were kept in place in matters of faith and practice.

Some traditions are not traditions of men but they are traditions that are based on the word of God. Certainly there are legitimate interpretations of men, which are fallible, but in all cases it is critical that the undergirding basis of Christian belief is the word of God.

Man can create principles built out of thin air that are in direct contradiction to God’s word. And it is imperative that when you are deriving principles from the Bible that you understand the over-arching historical and grammatical context taking into account the whole teaching of the word of God.

But from a cultural perspective, there are many professing Christians who are more concerned with what men think of them than what God thinks of them. And they derive traditional beliefs on their assumptions based on secular culture and worldview. This is a fallacy that may appear pious but in the end it disregards the most important principle of them all when it comes to piety.

And that principle is simply that the supreme authority is God and Scripture is His revelation that He exercises His judgments by. When man believes he is his own basis for what constitutes truth He attempts to bind the God of the Universe to render His judgments subject to the authority and word of man.

And it doesn’t matter how pious someones religious practice appears if it is nothing more than an expression of the traditions and commandments of men.

Conclusion:

There are many fallacies when it comes to religious practice. This is why we have to stick close to the word Christian because our subjective imaginations can run wild. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to direct our lives and to confront our subjective tendencies that we all battle with. Jesus said many times, do not be deceived.

He knew the fickle tendency of the human condition to pride itself on personal subjectivism. Simply because we all like being right in our beliefs. Christian you know who is always right? God is and let Him be true and every man a liar. God is not going to put His final judgment to a vote when He judges the Nations of the world.

No one will enter heaven and inherit eternal life on the basis of a subjective standard. God doesn’t operate on subjective standards. He requires absolute righteousness in order to maintain the absolute nature of His holiness and perfection.

Unbeliever, subjectivism will burn up like straw in a blast furnace on the final day. You need a saviour who has perfect righteousness that can be imputed to you, applied to your bankrupt account. Believe the gospel!

Believer our appeal is not the fallacy subjective traditions of men but to the absolute reality of new life in Christ according to the Scriptures. By grace through faith we have been saved. Confess your sin and know that He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all our unrighteousness.

Let’s Pray!