God’s Word or Our Traditions?

David W Palmer

(Matthew 15:10–11 NKJV) When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: {11} Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

Jesus called the multitude together—along with his twelve apprentices—to make this important statement. It was a bit like a press-release with the headline: Religious expert claims: “men defiled by what comes out of their mouths.”

Why did Jesus say this? Had something just come out of someone’s mouth that defiled them?

The context was that our Lord had just concluded a sharp encounter with the Pharisees (See: Mat. 15:1–9). They were rebuking him because he permitted his disciples to not wash their hands in the way prescribed by their traditional writings. In fervent response, Jesus unloaded heaven’s frustration on them: “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?” (Mat. 15:3 NLT).

In God’s eyes, this was a monumental issue; religious traditions had won priority over God’s word. Jesus had earlier said that we cannot serve two masters; when they come into conflict, the one we truly love and worship is the one we will serve:

(Matthew 6:24 NKJV) “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The Pharisees, although claiming to serve God as their only master, obviously were not. When he stood before them in the flesh, love for him came into conflict with their other master; the other one must have been the one they were truly serving, because they were loyal to him and despised Jesus.

Sadly, the Pharisees not only chose their traditions over God’s word, they increased the gravity of their hypocrisy by teaching this to others. What’s even worse, they then tried to enforce it onto Jesus’s own followers. Consequently, Jesus unloaded some more of heaven’s immense displeasure about this:

(Matthew 15:7–9 NLT) “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, {8} ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. {9} Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”

Later, he reinforced and even amplified this in Matthew 23. For example, he said:

(Matthew 23:15–33 NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” ... {24} “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” ... {27} “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. {28} Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” ... {33} “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

It is clear in what Jesus said here that these people—in their current state—were well and truly destined for hell. This is disturbing for us today, because these people looked outwardly to be very godly and pious. They were the fundamental, bible-believing, “full-on” church-attenders of their day. To many observers, they seemed like the genuine followers of God—very difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

For example, if we had a Pharisee like them come into our modern church, we may think that they were the most “full-on” believer we had ever seen: fasting twice a week, believing the Bible is the inspired word of God, attending all services, honoring those in authority, and believing in: prayer, the spirit realm, resurrection, and in strictly adhering to all the laws and religious culture. But they were hell-bound sinners. Why? Jesus said that it was because they put their traditions as a higher authority than God’s word.

We must be on our guard; not allowing this spirit to deceive us into thinking it is the real “full-on” believer of today. But before we begin to point the finger at anyone else, let us first allow heaven’s searchlight to shine on our own lives.

I’m sure that as we each explore our heart, we will find we have our own personal Pharisee lurking in our old nature. He lies there in wait like a crouching lion, awaiting every available opportunity to spring into action; he wants to live through us, bring in traditions that he puts above God’s word, and then to teach them to others—even enforcing them on God’s genuine children. This is an extremely deadly trap; if we yield to it, it will turn into a “hell-bound” course of action. I believe Jesus wants us to watch out for this with wide-eyed, alert vigilance and to avoid it at all costs.

What are some of the traditions today’s Pharisees would like to put above God’s word? Probably many exist, and each one of them is trying to exert its authority above God’s word. Here are some possible examples:

Jesus said: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Mat. 10:34 NKJV).

Traditional Christmas card: “Peace on earth; good will towards men.”

Jesus: “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Mat. 23:9 NKJV).

Some church traditions still call their leaders, “Father.”

Jesus: “And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.”

Church Tradition: Give leaders a title that implies that they may be your teacher, etc.

The Holy Spirit says: “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble” (Rom. 14:21 NLT).

Legalistic tradition says: “It’s ok to drink as long as you don’t get drunk.” “Jesus said we could eat anything.” (A legalism is one rule that is supposed to cover all and every situation or scenario in which you find yourself. In other words, “legalism” is when we try to control our actions by law, instead of by love. Love is controlled by what is best for those who may know about your actions; it asks: “What is best for them, not me?”)

The Holy Spirit said: “Run from sexual sin” (1 Cor. 6:18 NLT).

Legalistic tradition says: “As long as you keep your clothes on, you will be ok.” In other words, you can go as close to the “line” as you like, as long as you don’t cross it. But the Holy Spirit is saying to “run” as far from the line as you can.

Tradition: “I know I have sinned, but I still really love God; he knows where I’m at, and he loves me anyway.”

Jesus: “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21 NLT).

Do you have any church, family, or personal traditions that you put above God’s word? If so, it may be challenging, but you have to put it right. Let’s change our patterns of behavior, our values, our words, and our actions to line up with God’s word. We may have to go against the current of our generation; we may even have to go against what is accepted in our religious systems and our cultural norms; but our destiny depends on lining up with what God says, not what tradition and culture demand.

I encourage you today; ask the Holy Spirit to show you any and every vestige of that pharisaical spirit and attitude. Repent of it quickly; receive God’s forgiveness and the cleansing of Jesus’s blood. Finally, receive grace to live free of it and to walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit and God’s word.

Today, let’s ensure we have our hearts, our actions, our teaching, and our expectations of others truly in line with God’s word. “Teach the word!” “Preach the word!” “Live the word!”