For the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing the preaching of Jesus following His Feeding of the Five Thousand, in which He declares Himself to be the Bread of Life. The consequence of that Sermon was that many of His disciples went away, because it was simply too hard for them to believe what Jesus said about eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood. The Twelve Apostles were a notable exception to this mass exodus; for by the grace of God they were able to confess, in the words of St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal Life?”
Still, the vast majority did not believe as Peter and the other Apostles did. In fact, rumors about Jesus were evidently spreading far and wide; and in the Holy Gospel this morning from St. Mark, Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem have come to investigate this “religious trouble-maker.”
Sure enough, after watching Jesus awhile, they observe His Disciples breaking one of their many traditions; and so they accuse and criticize. It is a mark of those who place their own traditions on par with the Word of God, that they must attack anyone else who does not follow the same path.
It is still the case that confessing and abiding by the Word of the Lord over against popular opinion and trendy behavior angers those who rely upon their own wisdom, reason, and strength.
In the case at hand, the “traditions” of the Pharisees were a special collection of teachings and opinions, rules and regulations, passed on by the rabbis in addition to the Law of Moses. Over the course of six-hundred years, these traditions were gathered together into the “Talmud.” And by and large, they were pious attempts to apply the Law of God to specific situations of everyday life.
At other times, sadly, the traditions were really man-made loopholes, whereby people attempted to circumvent the Will of God. And to be sure, people are still prone to do the same thing today.
Even so, tradition in itself is certainly not a bad thing. Indeed, traditions are generally quite good and practical — customs that have developed over the course of time via trial and error, embodying the collective wisdom of many generations — practices that most people would do well to follow. But whenever human customs and traditions are made equal to the Word of the Lord — or, what is worse, when they are maintained in opposition to His Word — that is a serious problem. And the fact is, the traditions mentioned in this case were held to be on par with the Holy Scriptures.
Most important of all, it would seem, were traditions that dealt with keeping things clean, such as the one about washing your hands before eating. So seriously was this taken, by way of example, that one rabbi, after he was thrown into prison and given only enough water to drink, is said to have chosen to die of thirst rather than eating with unwashed hands. Another rabbi taught that eating without washing was just as sinful as committing adultery.
And so it is that the Pharisees and Scribes try to condemn Jesus and His Disciples in this Holy Gospel, because the Disciples were eating without washing their hands as expected.
Now, especially after this past year or two, I imagine you would all agree that washing your hands before you eat is a good and sensible thing to do, and there’s no reason to suppose that our Lord would take exception to that. But I dare say the Pharisees and Scribes were not really concerned about the Disciples’ health or personal hygiene. Rather, they were themselves attempting to earn God’s favor by following this custom — and they condemned as sinful anyone else who did not.
It is this self-righteous attitude that contradicts and violates the Word of the Lord. For the Lord requires that you be clean on the inside — that you must be spiritually clean in all your thoughts, words, and actions. But all the soap and hot water in the world won’t wash the dirt of your sin from your heart, mind, and soul. No, you are clean and pleasing to God only by the suffering and death of His Son. As St. John writes, “the Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from sin.”
To be clear, the sins for which Christ Jesus died are not the neglecting of human traditions, but rather the breaking of God’s own holy Law — which you and all people are guilty of doing, whether you wash your hands or not. But, because Christ Jesus was crucified for all of your sins and iniquities, the Law of God no longer condemns you. And as the Lord your God no longer condemns you, no one else has any right to condemn you for the sake of their human traditions.
Again, it is not wrong to follow the traditions inherited from your fathers, especially in the case of those pious traditions that have been handed down from your spiritual fathers in Christ Jesus. Many of those traditions are actually good and helpful, meet, right, and salutary, no less so than washing your hands before eating is a good and healthy habit to maintain. And it is often the case that letting go of one tradition simply means adopting another, which may well be less beneficial.
But the way the Pharisees and Scribes were following and insisting on their traditions was not a healthy respect for the wisdom of the past. Their traditions had actually become a rigid set of laws and by-laws, which were regarded and treated as equal to, or even superior to, the Law of God. The Lord Jesus points this out, and He sternly condemns it. For the fact remains that where you stand before the Lord your God is determined solely by His Word — by faith in His Word alone.
There are those who have claimed that we Lutherans follow human traditions in much the same way as the Pharisees and Scribes were doing. And it is true that the Lutheran Church has made an effort to retain the ancient customs of the Christian faith. We’re not a sect or a cult, huddled off in a corner by ourselves somewhere; we stand together with worshiping Christians from the time of Jesus onward. And so we confess the Creeds of the Church, now many hundreds of years old; and we follow an order of Service similar in many respects to that which even the Lord and His Apostles used. Granted, the particular details that we use are not commanded by God, and so should never be regarded as the basis of our faith. But it is hardly fair to describe our Lutheran heritage as the “vain babbling of the heathen,” as I have heard from time to time over the years.
Consider this: The basic order and form of the Divine Service and many of the other traditions of the Lutheran Church, though not commanded per se in the Word of the Lord, are almost entirely derived from and based upon His Word. And they have been knit together over the centuries in such a way that they focus your attention — not upon these various traditions for their own sake — but rather upon Christ Jesus and His gracious Gifts. “Human traditions” they may be, but they direct you to the “doctrines of God,” to the Lord Jesus, and to His forgiveness, Life, and Salvation.
Although the Church on earth is free in respect to many of the forms of worship that she uses — so long as all things are done with integrity and in good order, with due reverence for the holy things of Christ Jesus, in love for all His people, and in harmony with the Holy Scriptures — the question should certainly be considered, “With what would this or that practice be replaced?”
Should the Lutheran Church, like so many others, let go of its clear focus on Christ and His Word in exchange for human feelings, flashy gimmicks, and current fads? Or should we rather follow the steady example of our Lutheran fathers and mothers in Christ Jesus, who rejected only those traditions which detracted from the Word of God and His Gospel, and gladly kept those traditions which served and supported the Word and Sacraments of Christ in the unity of His holy Church?
Ironically, the Lutheran Church has also been criticized for its historic insistence on “orthodoxy” and “right doctrine.” The word doctrine simply means official teaching; and here, of course, we mean specifically the teaching of the Lord God Himself, as He has revealed to us in His Word. Significantly, genuine orthodoxy properly involves, not only this right teaching of God’s Word, but also the right worship or glorification of God — not only right doctrine, but right doxology.
It has always been true to some extent, and no less so now, that many ostensibly Christian churches have downplayed the Word of God in favor of social programming and humanistic philosophies. Such churches have thereby minimized the Word of God to the point of obscurity, while treating the theories of man as doctrine. Increasingly, there are those who would brazenly acknowledge that approach and boast of it as being more advanced, more up-to-date, and more sophisticated. God forbid that we should go down that path, whether together or alone. It will not end well.
But what exactly is the doctrine of God? Certainly it includes His righteous Law — summarized in the Ten Commandments, which show you how to live and thereby also bring your sins to light. But even more glorious is the Gospel, that most precious doctrine of God, by which He forgives your sins, justifies you in His sight, sanctifies you in Christ Jesus, and gives you His own Life.
The Lord your God speaks that marvelous Gospel to you, not only in His written Word, but also by the preaching of that Word, and by those Means of Grace which He Himself has established. Thus, in Holy Baptism, you are united with Christ Jesus in His Cross and Resurrection, adopted as a beloved and well-pleasing child of God in Him, and anointed by His Holy Spirit. In His Word of forgiveness your faith is strengthened and sustained. And in the Holy Communion, you are fed with the Lord’s own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins and for Life and Salvation in Him.
These precious Means of Grace and the entire Ministry of the Gospel in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ are not the “traditions of man” but are truly the “doctrines of God,” whereby He does exactly what He says and gives to you all that He has promised. These gifts and graces of God in Christ Jesus are divine traditions, which He has handed over to His Church on earth for the sake of Salvation, and which He has preserved within His Church from generation to generation, from His pastors to His people in each place where He causes His Name and His Glory to dwell in love.
While we dare not allow human rules and traditions to contradict or undermine God’s holy Law, it is far worse to let them contradict His holy Gospel. Beware of would-be “Christian traditions” which dictate a particular manner of life apart from the Word of the Lord. Moralistic crusades against drinking and smoking and dancing and rock music, for example, may (or may not) be grounded in wisdom, reason, and healthy self-discipline; but such things are not the measure of Christian faith and life — else the Pharisees and Scribes were the very best “Christians” around!
Your faith and Life and Salvation do not depend or rest upon an avoidance of human vices in your life, but upon Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved!” Thus says the Lord. Any human tradition that adds or subtracts from this doctrine of God should be condemned for what it is: damnable works righteousness. Avoid vices because they are bad, and practice good habits because they are good and right — but not as though to save yourself.
There is nothing in or of yourself that can obtain the righteousness of God. Even your own best works are no better than filthy rags in His sight, utterly unworthy of His holiness. Yet, for the sake of His own holy Love, the Holy Triune God has freely and graciously given You Himself and His own divine Life in Christ Jesus, by and with His forgiveness of your sins. Thus are you holy and righteous in His sight by faith in Him, by His Ministry of the Gospel and the Gifts of His Spirit.
In place of your own works (good or bad), you are credited with the works and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, your Savior and Redeemer. And all the punishment that you have deserved — for placing your own traditions ahead of God’s Word, and for trusting and worshiping yourself instead of Him — all the punishment which you have thereby deserved, the Lord your God has taken away from you, taken upon Himself, and taken care of permanently.
By His Cross and Resurrection Christ Jesus has obtained eternal Life and Salvation for you and for all people. That is what He so freely and graciously bestows upon you by the Divine Doctrine of His Word and the Holy Ministry of His Gospel. Nothing else in heaven or on earth is sure and certain. Nothing else is righteous. Nothing else can save you. And nothing else will ever do.
So it is that your strength and comfort are ever and always in the Word and Spirit of God and in the Holy Sacraments of Christ Jesus, which He here gives to you by His grace and in His mercy. Thus do you receive what only He can give — the forgiveness of sins and Life with God in Him.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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