Do Traditions Get in the Way of You Following Jesus?

Mark 7 brings Jesus face to face with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and the issue starts with dirty hands. The disciples eat without the ceremonial washing, and the religious leaders ask why they do not live according to “the tradition of the elders.” The handwashing tradition is not treated like a bad thing in itself. Cleaning is good. Ceremony can be good. But Jesus presses deeper than the action itself.

Jesus quotes Isaiah and calls the religious leaders hypocrites. The word carries the picture of an actor wearing a mask, pretending on the outside to be something different from what is going on inside. Jesus says, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” The problem is not that the words are wrong. The problem is that the heart is far away while the mouth is saying the right thing.

Jesus looks past the Christian words, the biblical words, and even the big theological words that sound smart. Jesus looks past right actions too. The right apology can be said with the wrong heart. The right service, the right giving, the right Bible reading, the right prayer, the right worship can all become empty if the heart is somewhere else. Paul’s word to Timothy fits here: the goal is “love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.”

Jesus is not looking for people who merely claim his name. Matthew 7 makes that plain, because some will say, “Lord, Lord,” and even point to impressive spiritual works, but Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” The checklist cannot save anybody. Church attendance, Bible reading, tithing, praying, and serving can be good, but Jesus is not looking for box checking. Jesus is looking for disciples who follow him with words, actions, and hearts that are actually turned toward him.

Jesus also exposes how human tradition can replace God’s command. The Corban tradition gave people a spiritual sounding way to avoid honoring father and mother. A person could call something devoted to God and then refuse to use it to help family in need. Jesus says that kind of tradition nullifies the word of God.

Jesus finally turns the whole issue inward. Food does not defile a person by entering the stomach. Evil comes from within, out of the heart: greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander, arrogance, and more. The heart can lie about its own condition, so the right response is not self-confidence. The right response is to ask Jesus for a heart check, to let him reveal what is really there, and to ask him to replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Right words can hide distant hearts Jesus takes Isaiah’s words and shows that religious language can become a mask. A mouth can honor God while the heart stays far away from him, and that gap is not a small technical problem. Empty worship is not fixed by better performance, but by an honest return of the heart to God. [25:17]
• 2. Good actions need honest motives Serving, giving, praying, singing, and reading Scripture can all be genuinely good. Those same actions can also become ways to be seen, admired, or spiritually impressive. Jesus does not despise the action, but he refuses to let the action cover up a heart that is aiming at the wrong thing. [30:01]
• 3. Claiming Jesus is not discipleship A person can claim the name of Jesus and still not truly follow him. Jesus is not trying to gather people who only say the right religious words or add a few spiritual habits to life. Jesus calls for real disciples, people whose hearts, words, and actions are being brought under his lordship. [32:44]
• 4. Tradition must bow to Scripture A tradition can begin as something useful and still become dangerous when it starts outranking God’s word. The Corban example shows how spiritual language can be used to avoid plain obedience. The heart that loves God must be willing to let go of even familiar church habits when they conflict with what Jesus actually commands. [41:24]
• 5. Only Jesus can check the heart The heart is not a reliable judge of itself, because it can lie about its own condition. Wise people can help, but only Jesus sees the full picture. A real heart check begins by asking him to expose what is offensive, hidden, or hardened, and then trusting him to make the heart soft before God.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [20:20] - Words Without the Heart
• [22:17] - Pharisees Question Unwashed Hands
• [23:52] - Jesus Names Religious Hypocrisy
• [25:17] - Lips Near, Hearts Far
• [26:17] - Basketball Apology Object Lesson
• [30:01] - Good Church Things, Wrong Motives
• [32:44] - Claiming Jesus Is Not Discipleship
• [38:39] - Traditions Can Replace Scripture
• [40:12] - Corban and Spiritual Excuses
• [44:17] - Defilement Comes from Within
• [47:35] - Hearing the Word and Doing It
• [48:10] - Asking Jesus for a Heart Check

Bible Reading

Mark 7:1-23
“The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’ He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’ And he continued, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, “Honor your father and mother,” and, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ‘Are you so dull?’ he asked. ‘Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.’ (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’” [22:13]

Isaiah 29:13
“The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.’” [25:17]

Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” [36:53]

1 Timothy 1:5
“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” [31:24]

Observation questions

1. In Mark 7, what specific issue do the Pharisees raise with Jesus, and what tradition are they defending? [23:52]
2. According to Isaiah 29:13 and Jesus’ use of it in Mark 7, what is the gap between the people’s lips and their hearts?
3. In the Corban example, what command of God was being avoided, and how was spiritual language used to avoid it? [41:24]
4. In Mark 7:21-23, what kinds of sins does Jesus say come from within a person rather than from outside them? [44:17]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus does not say ceremonial washing was the main problem; he goes after the heart behind it. What does that show about the difference between doing a religious action and truly worshiping God? [25:17]
2. Matthew 7:21-23 shows that people can say “Lord, Lord” and even point to impressive spiritual activity. Why is that still not enough, and what does that reveal about what Jesus actually wants from a person? [36:53]
3. The Corban tradition sounded spiritual, but it kept people from obeying a clear command. Why can spiritual-sounding traditions become especially dangerous in a church setting? [40:12]
4. Jesus says defilement comes from within, out of the heart. How does that challenge the common habit of blaming most spiritual problems on outside influences alone? [45:02]

Application questions

1. Where is it easiest right now to say the right words while the heart is far away—apologies, worship singing, prayer, serving, Bible reading, or something else? What tends to pull the heart away in those moments? [29:58]
2. Good church actions can be done with mixed motives. Which of these is the biggest temptation right now: wanting to be seen, wanting to look spiritual, wanting approval, or simply checking the box? How could that motive start to change? [30:01]
3. Claiming Jesus is not the same thing as following him. If someone looked at this past week of life, where would they see real discipleship and where might they only see religious habit? [32:44]
4. Traditions can be helpful, but they must never outrank Scripture. Are there any church habits, family expectations, or cultural assumptions that have started to feel as authoritative as God’s word? How would that become noticeable in everyday decisions? [43:33]
5. Jesus says what comes out of a person reveals the heart. When anger, envy, deceit, pride, or harsh words come out, what do those moments usually reveal about what is going on inside? [44:44]
6. The heart can hide behind activity for a long time. What are the main “religious masks” a person might wear to look close to God while staying distant from him? Which one feels most familiar personally? [24:20]
7. A real heart check begins by asking Jesus to show what is true. What would it look like this week to honestly ask Jesus, “Show me the condition of my heart”? Would it help to also ask a wise believer what they see? [48:26]