Mark, chapter 7 recounts the story of some men who decided that they would judge Jesus. Pharisees and teachers of religious law must have heard of the miracles and crowds surrounding Jesus. They decided that would come out of Jerusalem and find fault with him somehow. I remember when inspection teams would come aboard our ship in the Navy. We knew that they would find some discrepancies...that was their whole mission. Well the best the Pharisees could do was to say that Jesus' disciples weren't washing their hands properly before they ate their food. Here was Jesus, who was restoring sight to the blind, driving demons from the possessed and bringing back the dead to life and the Pharisees decide to charge him with a trivial fault. And then Jesus dismissed even that charge, explaining that their hand washing rituals were manmade traditions. In verse 9 we hear Jesus, "You skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your own tradition." Perhaps there is a lesson for us too. Are we more interested in guarding our own ways or submitting to those of Jesus? Have we become so centered on ourselves that we cannot even see the wonders of God lying all about and within?
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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