Mark 7:9-13  And he (Jesus) said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.  And you do many things like that.”  

Jesus tells the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that their traditions, teachings, and lifestyles do not reflect God's light or image to the world when He says, You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  In fact, He knows their ideas and their ways of living hinder the revelation of the one, true God to the people of Israel.  They are actually obstructing the path to eternal life.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.  You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.  (Matthew 23:13-15)  Even their interpretations of the Pentateuch distorted the truth of God's message to the Israelites.  Rather than bringing people closer to God by advocating his commandments above and beyond all other truth, they decided to elevate their manmade traditions and to place the rationality of their minds above divine scripture.  By doing this, they hid the truth, rather than propagating the truth of God's holy written commands.    

In our modern generation, we too must be careful not to elevate our personal desires, religion, and rational thinking above the Word of God.  We must strive not live our lives in the flesh, placing our willful purposes above the supernatural commandments and plans of God.  If we New Testament Christians accentuate the carnal nature's ways of living above God's desires for us to be like his perfect Son, we are abrogating the Word of God.  We are striking directly against his divine commands that are all fulfilled in loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and in loving others as we love ourselves.  To live for ourselves is to strike against God's intentions for us to be servants to all.  If we are not servants, we will not take up the cross of Christ: we will not take care of our parents as Jesus indicated in the above scriptures.  We will first serve ourselves, even justifying this self-willed choice by proclaiming our good reasons for such a life.   Jesus declares the commands of God are far more important than man's self-willed ways of living, even if we think we can justify our lifestyles.  Of course, obeying God means we lose our will to God's will.  We die to ourselves, and as Christ is alive in us, God lives his will through our lives.  When we follow his will: meditate, pray, and sing songs of worship and praise to our God, we are storing up treasure in God's economy.  When we serve the least in this world by being a servant to them, we are storing up treasure in heaven, for we are serving the King of all things.  

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

  (Matthew 25:40)  

By our service, we show the world God's unconditional love for people by loving others, such as our parents, more than ourselves.  We show the world God's nature by displaying the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  This is not the fruit of a life lived for self; this is the harvest of the Spirit from a life surrendered to the Lord.  Because we love Christ as He loves us, we willingly do unto our neighbors as we would want them to do unto us.  We choose to go the second mile with people as Jesus directed us to do.  We give mercy and grace because we have received the overflowing compassion of Jesus.  We are generous: we don't hold back in giving to the poor and the needy.  Our empathy for others who are in difficult situations motivates us to action: we cry when they cry, we rejoice when they rejoice, for we are tenderhearted, full of mercy and grace.  We are not double-minded because we are the light of the world through Christ in us.  This kind of committed living is a culmination of fulfilling all the commandments of God through Christ Jesus, the resurrected One.  Because of Jesus, we love God with all our hearts and we love our neighbors the same way.  The Pharisees and the teachers of law were obliterating this restoration message of God that we hear in the shepherds' field:  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  (Matthew 2:13-14)  Because the religious leaders were hindering the truth of God's grace and mercy, Jesus criticized them harshly and warned them sternly of God's coming judgement.  They chose darkness over light. 

 

We are to be the light of world, the salt that brings savor to the world.  We, who are IN CHRIST, are called to REFLECT the image of God to the world.  We are known as the body of Christ.  Because Christ is the same today, tomorrow and forever, our attitude should be consistently his attitude.  Our words should be his words.  Our desire, his desire.  Jesus chose the Father's will over his own will, always saying, Not my will but yours, Father.  He could have had everything in this world for his own grandiosement and comfort, but He set his needs aside for God's purposes.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  (Philippians 2:5-7)  Our likeness in this world should reflect Jesus' likeness as He walked on this earth, full of love, mercy, and grace.  Any other purposes for our lives skew our paths in the wrong direction.  The Pharisees and teachers of the Law thought they could construct their own lives and the lives of others on their manmade traditions, traditions that elevated themselves in the eyes of the people.  Jesus said they were completely wrong.  They were not to honor themselves, but to serve the people around them.  Their lives needed to be subservient to God's will, by loving others, caring for the needs of others, and going the extra mile.  They were to lose their lives in serving, not to construct them for their own glory.  Living for Christ is a daily challenge for each of us.  Today, let us all ask God to help us portray his image by serving a sick and dying world.