Light on the Hill

Guest (Female): Today on Light on the Hill, we'll hear about the traditions of the Pharisees that may sound familiar.

James Kaddis: Your traditions were designed to throw away that which God said. Isn't that a pretty great modern-day description of what politics is on many levels? Isn't that a great description of what exists right now within our political infrastructure, the kind of nonsense things that have to happen in order to be able to find the exceptions that they want to find to justify the evil and wicked things that they do?

Guys, I want you to understand something. The way that you avoid all of this is that you hold fast to the letter and the spirit of God's law. You obey God's word and then you bring God's word into every aspect of your life. If you do that, you will literally buck the traditions of man, and man will not like you for doing it.

Guest (Female): We hope you're having a great day and welcome to Light on the Hill. The danger of hypocrisy is very real, and we need to be on guard. It was a problem in Jesus' day as well. In Mark chapter seven, Jesus confronts hypocrisy head-on. He teaches that it's the heart and obedience to him that really matters. With today's teaching from Mark chapter seven, here's Pastor James Kaddis.

James Kaddis: Look at what happens here because we are now in the thick of them using the political infrastructure, using the glory of the temple, the authority of the temple to come against the true and living God. Watch what happens here. And by the way, I keep saying this to everybody: the more familiar you become with the Old Testament, the more aware you will be of everything that follows in the New.

I cannot stand the movement that exists within some parts of the church, and yes, even dare I say, Calvary Chapels that say the Old Testament is old stuff. It's not grace, it's none of that, we're all about the New Testament. Actually, the New Testament has no validity unless it is built upon the foundation of the Old. And if you don't know the foundation of the Old, the New Testament becomes completely useless and valuable because it's not built on anything.

How in the world does Jesus have the authority to forgive you of your sins? If the Old Testament were not valid, then he has no authority to forgive you of your sins. He can't just forgive you of your sins by him saying, "Yeah, yeah, go ahead, I'll let you off." It doesn't work that way. God honors his word above his name.

If you don't have the Old Testament, which gives the authority to Jesus to forgive us of our sins, you have no redemption. Why? Because the Old Testament says that there cannot be any forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. So the whole idea here is that you cannot throw away one without the other. This is why you have to know the Old Testament and you have to know the history of the Jews and the Old Testament in order to understand the validity of what's being represented here in the New.

Look what happens as we dig in. They came from Jerusalem. By the way, all of that came from the fact that they came from Jerusalem, but you needed to understand what that meant. So it's from this old school religious structure. Verse two: "And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, unwashed hands, they found fault."

I thought only moms were supposed to find fault with people who eat with unwashed hands. But you understand what they're doing here. They're realizing that these men are eating without ceremonially cleansing themselves because the outward appearance makes a demand for ceremonial cleansing. But the whole purpose behind the idea of ceremonial cleansing as prescribed by the law was to communicate a point that was much more significant, and that is what's going on in the heart and not necessarily what's happening with your hands.

Don't get me wrong, the ceremonial practices prescribed by God to the people were obviously very sanitary practices that also kept them safe. This is really interesting because early on in history when people around the world were dying by plagues and the Jews weren't, everybody blamed the Jews for killing everyone else who died by the plagues.

In reality, if they knew the Bible and they actually pretended to be smart or pretended to have any kind of awareness of anything, they would recognize that the reason why Jews did not die of the many plagues that the rest of the world died of was because Jews to this current day still practice many of the ceremonial cleansing processes which, ironically enough, are the things that keep you away from disease. They actually washed their hands.

So it's kind of an interesting practice here, but they look at this and they're now condemning these guys for not walking according to the ceremonial law. That's basically what they're doing. "For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders." This is very interesting. Look what ends up happening here.

"And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and of tables." The idea here is that if you're walking through the market and you make contact with something, that thing that you make contact with may not necessarily be ceremonially clean.

So when you walk away from a public place like the market, you better cleanse yourself the way that you're supposed to so that you're not in violation of any Levitical law and so on and so forth. That's the mindset. By the way, they made all kinds of new laws out of Moses's law that weren't necessarily God's laws. That's something I should probably point out as well.

It's interesting how they're basically trying to say that these people are guilty because they're doing something that the society always does because they're required to do it as a sign or a show. They're sort of going with the general think-tank of the religious philosophy and the religious world at the time. I just want to say this, guys, because I think it's really important.

You're going to see this even into the modern day, that there is a group of people, more commonly than not, that stand in the name of religion who expect you to act a certain way, walk a certain way, talk a certain way, do certain things, and when you choose to do exactly the opposite of what they expect you to do, then all of a sudden you're not a spiritual person. To that, I would refer them to passages like this. You absolutely have no idea the depth by which God is communicating here. It's very powerful.

Look what it goes on to say in verse five. "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?'" Look at Jesus's powerful response. I think this response is remarkable because the question is obscene. I mean, you guys get it, right? The question is completely absurd.

"Why don't they wash their hands?" Where in the Bible does it say to do that, at least in this context? What's the spirit of the law when the washing of hands is spoken about in the Bible versus what the letter of the law is? What was the intent of the Levitical law when the Levitical law was communicated as such to be able to understand and know and discern those things? It’s very important to understand this.

Look at Jesus's brilliant answer in verse six. He answered and said unto them, "Well hath Esaias the prophet," which, by the way, just to know, when he starts quoting the prophets, I think it's remarkable because he is going to be so on the money. By the way, it is interesting. Why does it seem as though it's a lot more authoritative when Jesus quotes the prophets than anybody else?

Have you ever thought about this? I took time to think about this. It's so much more authoritative coming out of Jesus's mouth when he quotes what the prophets quote because Jesus was the one that told the prophets what to say. Just really think about that. He's the teacher of the prophets! He's the one that told the prophets what to say.

I think that is so cool. So when he's quoting Isaiah, he's not really quoting Isaiah; he's quoting himself. He spoke to Isaiah for Isaiah to say these things. "Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'" What a heavy, heavy thing to say. By the way, he's quoting Isaiah 29. I'm almost certain it's Isaiah 29.

It's very interesting, the power of that very direction that's being given. It's like you're doing on the outside to show everybody that you're going along with the program, but your heart is so completely corrupt that it just doesn't even matter. I got a call from a guy recently. He was trying to sell me something. But he's a good guy, a really sweet-hearted, good-natured person and a very credible guy.

He's made a real name for himself doing what he does. In this process of him trying to sell me something, he thinks that he's adding credibility to himself by telling me that he's associated with some pretty ungodly preachers. The type of preachers that are very much in line with the world of this Pharisaic world that we're reading about.

So I stop him in the middle of his sales pitch and I basically say, "Look, I just want you to know something. I really can't do much of anything with you or buy into whatever you're doing because I think I'm just going to hurt your name by doing it." He says, "What do you mean?" I said, "Well, you keep talking about this association you have with these preachers, but I just want you to understand: I stand against those guys on a regular basis."

"I call them out by name and I actually tell the world examples of their corruption that continues to drive people into a very dark place because I don't even think half the preachers you mentioned are even walking with the Lord." My point behind it is this is not something that is common only to the time period that we're reading about.

This is something that is so typical and indicative of the day in which we're living. So many people are willing to draw this remarkably beautiful picture that's full of expression that gives people some type of an indication that they're godly and spiritual and everything is good, and they sound so convincing and so good when their heart is completely corrupt. The representations that they make on the outside have no reflection of the very thing that's going on on the inside of them.

They would have known immediately the reference that Jesus was talking about. They would have known it right away because if you go back and you read Isaiah 29—matter of fact, let's do it. We have a minute. We can do that really quickly. Let's go back and read Isaiah 29 for just a second. The context of that passage is so powerful. If they were students of the word, which they were, they would have known exactly what this would have meant.

Let's not read the exact verse first. Let's actually read verse one and start. I'm going to give this away just for a second for those of you that don't know. Actually, I'll read and then I'll explain to you in a second because this is exciting stuff. You'll understand why this is so hard-hitting by Jesus. And again, this is where knowing the Old Testament comes in. If you know the Old Testament, you'll understand what this is a reference concerning.

"Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David dwelt." Ariel, by the way, means "the lion of God". "The lion of God" is in reference to what city? Yerushalayim, Jerusalem. That's what he's saying. The curse is upon Jerusalem. The context of the verse that Jesus quoted is a curse on Jerusalem. So look what he says.

"Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David dwelt. Add you year to year, let them kill sacrifices, yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and I will lay siege against thee with a mound, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust."

Folks, what is he saying? He's beginning to proclaim massive curse upon Jerusalem for the evil life that they're giving themselves to. Skip down to verse 13. It helps to understand the context. He says, "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of man."

What that means is traditions. What does he mean when he says traditions? He's talking about Mark chapter seven. Jesus just answers the Pharisees by saying you are, in essence, a fulfillment, one of the many fulfillments of the prophecy of Isaiah 29. These were men that represented Jerusalem. They came from Jerusalem, and Jesus is cursing them based on a proclamation he had already made to Isaiah, who represented him years ago.

Isn't this crazy? Just think about this. I just want you to understand the dynamic of this, how amazing this is. Jesus is the one responsible for speaking to the prophets of old. He said it: "Before Abraham was, I AM." He tells Isaiah, he inspires Isaiah to say what Isaiah says at that time. You're talking almost 800 years prior to this time.

Then Jesus comes into this world and personally delivers the message to the people in which the message was intended to speak of. Could it get any heavier than that? Could it get any more intense or more crazy than that? What a powerful moment here. Verse seven: "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other like things you do."

He is basically restating exactly everything that Isaiah had said. He's restating the whole thing. He's showing it right there. It's right out in front. Look at the value that Jesus is going to bring to this. He's going to teach us something about these men and the double standard in which they hold, and how dark they are, and how messed up they are, and how broken they are.

This is him dealing with the political infrastructure of the time. Look what he says: "Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' and 'Whoso curseth father and mother, let him die the death.'" When he said Moses said this, he's referring to the Ten Commandments. We're going to get into it next week in the book of Exodus. When he said Moses said these things, he's referring to the commandments that were given that he gave to Moses. Think about that.

He's going to give an example of how they take the commandment of honoring your mother and your father and making it completely null in the name of walking according to a tradition. Look what he's going to do. By the way, I will tell you that I've always been puzzled with how few people understand this passage because how little it's oftentimes taught. I do not understand it. It's such an easy passage.

Again, if you don't know the Old Testament, this is going to be confusing to you. But look what he says. Moses said, "Honor your mother and your father." Look at verse 11: "But you say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, 'It is Corban,' that is to say a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, you shall be free. And you suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which you have delivered, and many such like things do you."

Understand what he just meant? Anybody understand what he just said when he said this? Let me help you understand that. I'm going to ask you that question again and hopefully you'll raise your hands, meaning you are listening. He says you say with your own lips to follow a tradition and that you follow traditions that you have based on what you say is the word of God, but you've actually used the word of God and your traditions to negate the very thing that you said you honored.

In other words, you say, "We believe the word of God, we honor the word of God," but you must honor our traditions because our traditions honor the word of God, when in reality, your traditions teach people how to actually disobey the word of God and disregard it. The example that he gives here when he talks about that word Corban that some people don't understand, this is what he says. I'll explain some context for you because you have to know the Old Testament to be able to understand this.

When a person would use the term Corban—it's debatable how it's actually pronounced—it was a term that was used to denote the fact that whatever it was they laid that label on was dedicated for a very specific sacrifice or gift or purpose for God. For example, if I were to have $100,000 in my hand, I would say this $100,000 cannot be touched because I declare it to be Corban.

That meant it was set aside for the treasury of the temple, set aside for the treasury of God. As a matter of fact, it's interesting because in the old school Biblical Hebrew language, you would refer to the treasury in the temple as actually Corban. That's what you would actually say. The picture here is this: the Bible says, "Honor your mother and your father." Let me tell you what that means. Kids, pay attention to this.

Remember what God tells you. When your mother and father get older and they can no longer take care of themselves, you're required by God to take care of them. I have met many people who have told me that they're not obligated to take care of their parents. My response to them is to say you don't even behave like pagans because even pagans take care of their parents.

So for you to say that your recently widowed mother can take care of herself is you, in essence, saying that you do not regard or value the word of God. Why? Because it's not easy to take care of parents who are not doing well, is it? It's a lot easier to take care of a child who's helpless than it is to take care of an elderly parent who's helpless.

It's a lot easier. The emotional issues, all the other things that go on. But the Pharisees in their culture basically say as your parents get older and things become more expensive to take care of them, take the money that they're asking for and declare it as Corban. If you declare it as Corban, then you would not be condemned by God for not taking care of your parents because the money that you would have used to take care of your parents, you've set aside for the treasury of God, even though you really don't give it to God.

But you've used the tradition that you honor to disrespect God in his face and not hold with regard the things that God says, and thus you throw away all that the word of God represents because you use your traditions that you are condemning me for not holding to disregard the word. What Jesus basically told the Pharisees right here in probably one of the most powerful ways possible so that everybody could hear is this.

You are condemning my men for not following the traditions, but they're good for not following your traditions because your traditions were designed to curse the authority of God's word. Your traditions were designed to throw away that which God said. Isn't that a pretty great modern-day description of what politics is on many levels?

Isn't that a great description of what exists right now within our political infrastructure, the kind of nonsense things that have to happen in order to be able to find the exceptions that they want to find to justify the evil and wicked things that they do? Guys, I want you to understand something. The way that you avoid all of this is that you hold fast to the letter and the spirit of God's law.

You obey God's word and then you bring God's word into every aspect of your life. If you do that, you will literally buck the traditions of man, and man will not like you for doing it. But you will hold fast to honoring the word of God which takes far more precedence over any tradition that man can hold. And your decision to honor the word of God will always bring greater benefit than anything you could have created with yourself through the tradition that you carry on. I think it's a very important thing.

Guest (Female): Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. What you just heard is one part of a study in Mark's Gospel from Pastor James Kaddis. You can hear it again at lightonthehillradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Not long ago, Pastor James released his new book on the first half of Revelation. It's entitled *The Last Book*.

He points out that Revelation isn't a book of fear but rather a book of hope. Pastor James will help you understand the world we live in and current events through a biblical lens, preparing your heart for what lies ahead. Get a copy by going to lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. We're so grateful for your support. Each donation that's sent in is an investment in what God is doing over the radio and internet.

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James Kaddis: Now, one I think important piece of advice as we wrap this up, and that's this: learn to start making traditions in your family of obedience to God's word. Nothing wrong with a tradition in your family so long as it holds to and follows after the pattern of obedience to God. When that happens, everything changes. Everything. It's that simple. Keep your eyes where they need to be, walk according to the word of God, and stand according to the precedent that that provides. Amen?

Guest (Female): Remember, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.