Bible Studies
Tradition or Truth?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines tradition as (1) Opinion or belief or custom handed down, handing down of these, from ancestors to posterity; (2) theol. Doctrine, etc. supposed to have divine authority but not committed to writing esp. (1) laws held by Pharisees to have been delivered by God to Moses (2) teaching of Christ not recorded in writing by immediate disciples. Truth is defined as Quality, state, of being true or accurate or honest or sincere or loyal or accurately shaped or adjusted.
Jesus asked the Pharisees “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? Jesus says ‘your tradition’; it is not the tradition with divine authority but what they have devised to suit their conceit. The commandment of God is the Word of truth and the Pharisees made the word of God of no effect in order to exalt their self-righteousness. These Pharisees had built up a tradition of rules that they imposed on the people making their lives hard and overburdened. Jesus castigated them for their hypocrisy and lawlessness as they tried to appear righteous to men on the outside but inside they were like “whited sepulchers”,
Jesus gave the example of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector who went up to the Temple to pray. The Pharisee exalted himself, boasting of all his virtues to portray himself to God that he was not like other men. The tax collector, on the other hand, humbly beat his breast, not even looking up to heaven, asked God to be merciful to him. JJesus said, “this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
There are many who dislike the truth, some are fearful of hearing the truth for fear of having their faults discovered, some hide the truth to protect themselves or someone they love and others just manipulate their stories with lies to impress and to seem important. Some manipulate the truth to shelter themselves from detection, to belittle others and depict them in a poor light.
Recently, the whole world watched in shock and with horror as one of the greatest nations which prided itself in solving the problems of other nations by invading and quelling riots and unrests could not stem the riots in its own Capitol, bastion of democracy. The one who incited the insurrection came out, brandishing a bible in front of a church while a peaceful protest was taking place. The evangelicals lauded him for this hypocritical act and one of the republicans even said if it were a “black lives matter” protest he would have been alarmed, but this vicious and violent attack where police officers were bludgeoned, one being killed, gave him no unease at all. The Bible says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked” Obscuring the truth, does not make it go away. Thankfully, there are video images showing the horrific scenes that took place on that day, 6th January, 2021 that would be remembered as a horrible one in American history. To pretend this was of little consequence as some republicans are claiming when the whole world saw what transpired is to balk at the truth.
The scribes and the Pharisees detested Jesus for He spoke the truth, even though they knew and heard of all the miracles He performed and should have known that His works were of God. There are so many evidences in the Old Testament that point to the Messiah, one wonders how they could have missed them all. As He gained many followers their envy grew and as He pointed out their faults, they plotted His death, even more so when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
In one of His discourses, Jesus told His audience: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Without the truth we cannot be free from the wiles of the devil who is out to enslave us as he “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. The Pharisees challenged Jesus that they were Abraham’s descendants and were not slaves to anyone John 8:31-46. They forgot that their forefathers were slaves in Egypt and God had prophesied to Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. Jesus countered their protestations by telling them if they were Abraham’s children they would believe Him, but their father was the devil and it is his desires they wished to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. John 14:6 Jesus tells Thomas.: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the Truth that came down from heaven to save us from our sins and to show us the character of God: Exodus 34:6 explains God’s character: “And the Lord passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty.” John, disciple and revelator tells us “God is love.”
Many feel God is an ogre and want nothing to do with Him, not realizing that the Omniscient God who sees the end from the beginning knows exactly the propensities of man. Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” In Genesis 6:5 “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Had God not sent the flood the evil in man would have been corrupted exponentially and so He was moved to act.
We cannot help but notice, those of us who were around 40 years ago and longer, the decline in standards of behavior have changed and vocabulary has become more obscene in movies, on television and now on the internet. What would have appalled us then and made us cringe has crept insidiously into our homes with no longer an outcry. The Pharisees thought they were sinless and that all those who were not of their stock were beneath them. They instituted laws that became a burden to the ordinary citizen. They spurned the teachings of Jesus as they sought means of entrapping Him. In their minds His lowly birth and status (a carpenter’s son) shut out the thought that He could be the long-awaited Messiah. Hebrews 4: (1) Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. (2) For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Paul in his letter to the Romans preached: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. ….because, although they knew God they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools.” One Bible Commentary says, “Those who obstinately resist the truth of God are capable of everything that is base, perfidious and cruel.” Jesus promised His disciples before He went to heaven that He would send the Holy Spirit, the comforter, to guide them into all truth. (John 16:13)
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