What is the meaning of Mark 7:9? He went on to say, • Jesus has already quoted Isaiah 29:13, confronting the Pharisees for honoring God with lips while hearts are far away (Mark 7:6–8). Now He presses the point further. • The shift from “He replied” (v. 6) to “He went on to say” shows that the Lord is not finished; He is deliberately driving His warning home, much like His extended rebuke in Matthew 23:13-33. • By continuing the conversation, Jesus models the patience of God, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). You neatly set aside • “Neatly” highlights the Pharisees’ calculated approach. They do not stumble into error; they arrange it. • “Set aside” means they push God’s word out of the way—much like the builders who “rejected the cornerstone” (Mark 12:10). • Paul warns of the same danger: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to human tradition” (Colossians 2:8). • The deliberate nature of this rejection recalls Saul’s disobedience: “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you” (1 Samuel 15:23). the command of God • Jesus immediately grounds His charge in Scripture. In verses 10-11 He cites Exodus 20:12 and 21:17 to show how clear God’s command is. • God’s commands are never optional add-ons; they reveal His character (Psalm 19:7-9) and our path to blessing (Deuteronomy 30:15-16). • The Lord Jesus upholds the permanence of every “jot or tittle” of the Law (Matthew 5:18), underscoring that God’s commands outrank every human rule. • Obedience is love in action: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). to maintain your own tradition. • The Pharisees’ “tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:3-4) had grown into a fence that crowded out the very word it claimed to protect. • Jesus says their tradition “nullifies the word of God you have handed down” (Mark 7:13). Any practice that cancels Scripture, no matter how venerable, must be abandoned. • Paul faced the same clash in Galatians 1:14, where his former zeal for “the traditions of my fathers” opposed the gospel. • Genuine faith “stands firm and holds to the traditions” only when those traditions are “taught by us” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)—that is, rooted in apostolic, Spirit-inspired Scripture. • Ultimately, keeping man-made customs while ignoring God’s commands is self-worship: “They worship Me in vain” (Mark 7:7). summary Mark 7:9 exposes the heart of legalism: a deliberate, organized replacement of God’s clear commands with comfortable human traditions. Jesus insists that Scripture must rule over every custom, habit, or preference. True obedience refuses to push God’s word aside; it hears, loves, and does what He says. |
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