Jesus is Cornered about Traditions 

The Pharisees loved their traditions and sought to attack Jesus for not following them; they even accused Him of being a fake for not doing so. Yet, He cleverly thwarted the attempt of the religious leaders to prove He was a fake by turning it into a testimony of His deity. Yet, they continued to harass Him, not giving up. They followed Jesus, trying to snag Him again and again. And finally, the opportunity came. Jesus once again disobeyed one of their traditions. In their eyes, He did the unthinkable: He ate some food on the Sabbath and then helped a man in distress! They had their Jewish faith all mixed up and backwards, seeking to protect the Sabbath by adding more regulations to it, as well as showing more concern about traditions than about their fellow man. 

Because of this prevailing attitude, they refused to minister to or care for a brother in need. A handicapped man was in need, and the love and care he needed was not given. Instead, the bitter medicine of chastisement and condemnation was dispensed. Jesus made it clear that mercy and love are important, and that they would honor God rather than pretentious sacrifice or false, pious attitudes that clouded the Truth. In spite of all that Jesus did to prove who He was, and why He was there, the religious leaders hardened their hearts and refused to listen or even look up to see the wonders at their doorstep! They even accused our Lord of the very evil they were doing (Mark 3:1-6)!  

The question that this passage asks in the form of the example from our Lord is, “Do you use people, or do you serve them?” Remember, Jesus was God, who came to this earth to serve! If your church has a program that upholds its leaders and not Him, there is a problem! 

Jesus went into their Synagogue, and performed a “terrible crime” by showing them their true position concerning the Sabbath—of which they were in denial. In the Old Testament, there was no prohibition to healing on the Sabbath, and it was always lawful to do good deeds. Yet, the religious leaders felt otherwise. This was the “going-ons” of the Church of their day. A synagogue was the central religious institution for the Jews. These houses of worship came out of the period of the exile by the Babylonians. They provided a place where Jews could study the Scriptures and worship God. Prior to the exile, they would take pilgrimages to the Tent Meeting/Temple in Jerusalem, and the Levites would be in their towns, homes, and clans, teaching and ministering. Most of Levites dispersed into the general population and their priestly sect no longer served a function, so elderly men took up that role and started schools of apprenticeship to train younger men to serve. This is where the Rabbis, Pharisees, and Sadducees came from. These synagogues were built in any town where there were at least ten, married Jewish men to form a congregation. This was their church and besides the names and cultural issues, not much has changed (Acts 13:15; 14:1; 17:2; 18:4).

Filed under: Church Traditions | Tagged: bad leadership, Church, Church Leaders, church today, church traditions, confronted, confronting, Dealing with Bad Traditions, delusions, encouragement, good traditions, Handling Traditions, Healthy church, legalism, loopholes, offended, personality conflicts, Pride, program, purpose, Robbing, Synagogue, tradition, Traditions |