Mark 7:7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
This mindset plagues many Christian circles, and it was something Jesus spoke about openly and boldly. In this particular case, it was the issue of washing hands before a meal. To the Pharisees, this practice was a means of being holy. Now, Jesus did not have a problem with washing hands or with holiness, but in our verse, He reveals the real issue: the problem arises when traditions—no matter how good they may seem—replace God’s Word.
The Pharisees were masters of their own traditions, yet they overlooked the weightier matters of the law: love, mercy, justice, humility, and the like. This mindset led them, in the name of righteousness, to repeatedly try to entrap Jesus, rail against Him, defame Him, and ultimately have Him killed. So it is in this hour. Today, there are still Pharisees who hold to good traditions—traditions that God would otherwise not oppose—except that these traditions have taken the place of His law. Instead of having hearts shaped and molded by God’s love, mercy, and holiness, they have another law written on their hearts: their own.
If you don’t toe their line or meet their traditions, you’re cast aside. Later in the passage, Jesus explains that it is not what enters into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his heart. These Pharisees sat in judgment over men who were following the Messiah they claimed to be waiting for. Yet, when He stood before them, they refused to follow Him because He didn’t fit their traditions. Naturally, the men following Him didn’t fit their mold either.
Their hearts exalted their own traditions above God’s Word. They judged true followers of Jesus and, for the sake of their clean hands and pots and pans, assumed themselves holier than His disciples. In their attempt to expose the disciples’ unclean hands, they revealed their own unclean hearts—and that is almost always the case. Rest assured, if a man constantly points out another’s unclean hands, he is simultaneously exposing his unclean heart. Love covers a multitude of sins, but a Pharisaical heart seeks to expose sin.
Perhaps the most jarring statement in this verse is that their worship was in vain. Their clean hands were tied to their worship; they believed this separated them unto God, making them holy. They thought their holiness made them mindful of God and glorified Him in everything they did. But in reality, it proved to be wood, hay, and stubble.
This type of worship may pass the judgment of others and be deemed genuine among peers, but it will never pass the fiery eyes of God’s judgment. Many people will spend their entire lives working, only to stand on Judgment Day and hear those dreadful words: “Depart from me.” Even Christians may live and worship in ways that result in their rewards being lost, though they themselves will be saved.
All of this depends on our hearts. Who is truly number one in your life? Without love, everything we do profits us nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3). Without love, our works, labor, and patience are meaningless (Revelation 2:1–5). If our hearts are not right—if we are not in love with the Lord—then all our ceremonies, religious exercises, traditions, and separations, even when done in the name of worship, are vain.
Where are our hearts this morning? Has your religion replaced God’s Word? Has a love of self, traditions, or anything else led you to look down on others who may, in reality, be following the God you claim to love? I am not saying you must join their church or become their best friend, but God forbid we stand in judgment of others over our traditions—especially when those we judge follow the weightier matters of God’s law more closely than we do.
It is not wrong to have clean hands, but what matters most is having a clean heart.
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