There are time honored traditions within the church, and then there are the direct commands of God. I think we have more traditions that there are actual commands…and it’s important that the priority never be reversed. And that brings us to the first topic in today reading…..
Having been raised in the church, I received teaching from the Bible and teaching based on tradition at the same time, and the teachers didn’t always preface the teachings based on traditions by saying “now, this is the way we behave, but that’s just us….the Bible doesn’t specifically say this”.
In fact, the reason we have traditions at all is because we are attempting to create a lifestyle based on how we interpret what the Bible says. (that’s the best case scenario). Worst case: we are creating rules that have a feeling of being biblical that allow us to exercise our carnal nature. Maybe the religious leaders agreed to the rule mentioned here because it brought money into the church. In any case, the rule allowed a person to “dishonor” their parents by not caring for them…and the command is to “honor”. I’m sure that many other similar rules have crept into our system and doctrine…Jesus himself said “this is only one example among many others” and that was 2,000 years ago! We should be humble, open minded and pray for wisdom, so that when God reveals one of these examples to us, we are quick to respond.
It’s hard for me to read about Jesus refusing to help a woman because she was not of His nationality. Such thoughts are out of synch with political correctness these days. We have learned that it’s racist or bigoted to exclude someone based on nationality. In fact, there are laws preventing it, to protect those from other nations. Going by those laws, this woman could have filed a complaint and had Jesus brought up on charges…..
What’s the point of sharing this account with us, anyway? We know that Jesus came to save everyone, not just the Jews. Why even mention this?
Maybe it’s to illustrate that Jesus had been given a specific mission by His heavenly Father “minister among the Jews”. Several times Jesus remarks that He was “sent” to the “lost sheep of Israel”. Jesus doesn’t lack compassion, and He isn’t being bigoted or racist when he says what He does. He’s staying focused on the real reason He is here. He knows that there will be a time in the near future when the Gentiles will be brought into the faith, but for now His mission is to the Jews. After all, God said salvation for all would come from Abraham and his descendents right from the beginning. Abraham is the father of the Jewish race. Secondly, God has a special place in His heart for the Jews. Get over yourself. God’s love is equally unfathomable for Jews and Gentiles alike, but the Jews are the “first born son” and they have special honors that not everyone receives. It has nothing to do with love. Gentiles are loved as much as Jews….not more, not less.
Some of the content today is very similar to what I have commented on before, so for the purposes of this blog I won’t go over them again. They are no less significant, and are certainly worthy of study and contemplation as well. However, my eye is drawn today to the deaf mute, and the comments made by the people.
There is such a thing as “spiritual blindness” where we simply can’t see the truth about God. Given that, I wonder if there’s such a thing as “spiritual deafness” where we can’t hear correctly..or more to the point, we can’t speak what we are learning correctly. I wonder if there is such a thing as being “spiritually tongue tied”? Christians can’t be “possessed” by the devil, since they are already “possessed” by God, so it can’t be something that serious. (just thinking aloud…or in print, as it were).
Maybe being deaf and blind are what we are delivered from when we accept Christ. Before Christ we have no ears or eyes, and our vocal cords are unformed. When Jesus comes into our life, we can hear things we could never hear before, see things that we have never seen, and speak! Oh yes, we can talk! What would such a person say? Undoubtedly they would praise God again and again for all the wonderful miracles He has performed in their life! I doubt that such a person would ever stop thanking God for all that He has done…even into their old age. I’d be willing to bet that their children would grow up knowing the story and all the relatives would know it as well. I also can’t imagine a single person in that family who would remain blind and deaf….
Thinking of that, isn’t that the task of the church? Trying in some way to communicate with people who have no spiritual hearing or vision that there is help for them? Shouldn’t we be using any and all means to try and get that point across?
I close my thoughts today pondering the words of the crowd found in Mark 7:37 “everything He does is wonderful”. That is certainly true.
“Jesus, everything you do is wonderful.” amen.
Faithfully,
PR