2) Frequency of the Lord\u2019s Supper (Billy Moore)
3) Mark 6:53-56 (NASB)
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Tradition and God\u2019s Word<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Doy Moyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark 7 tells one of the more well-known accounts of Jesus\u2019 confrontations with the Pharisees. The Pharisees and some scribes had seen Jesus\u2019 disciples eating with \u201cimpure\u201d or unwashed hands. The tradition of the elders was that they were to wash their hands very carefully before eating, and then when they return from the market place they would not eat unless carefully cleaning themselves. Additionally, \u201cthere are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.\u201d So these Pharisees confronted Jesus about his disciples not doing this: \u201cWhy do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?\u201d (v. 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before considering Jesus\u2019 answer, let\u2019s note a few items. First, there is something good about keeping yourself clean. Washing hands before you eat is good practice; there was nothing inherently wrong here, and most of us would promote this as healthy practice. Second, tradition, in itself, is not the problem. It is simply something that is passed down to others. Tradition is unavoidable in many ways. Coupled with being clean in this context, tradition can be noteworthy and good. It is something we might all like to pass down to our children. Third, notice that the appeal of the Pharisees is the tradition. They did not ask about the disciples breaking the Law of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The essence of Jesus\u2019 response is: first, He called these Pharisees hypocrites; second, He quoted Isaiah 29; third, He showed how they were placing their traditions above God\u2019s commandments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaiah 29 comes in the middle of a context in which Isaiah is rebuking God\u2019s people for the sins of idolatry and apathy toward His covenant. The first chapter of Isaiah rebukes Israel for merely going through the motions without really desiring to please God. They were offering their sacrifices, but then they were going out and committing all kinds of evil. Ironically, Isaiah does tell the people to wash themselves and make themselves clean (Isa 1:16). However, his emphasis was not physical, but spiritual: \u201cRemove the evil of your deeds from My sight.\u201d This was the way they were to clean themselves, and it is a far more important kind of washing than we can ever do with the hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Isaiah 29, one of the phrases is this: \u201ctheir reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote\u201d (v. 13). That is, the extent of their respect for God was, at best, learned tradition. That tradition was not in itself the Law. They appeared to care little for the Law itself, but were concerned about keeping a tradition in place even though it was not Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, He was noting how they were neglecting the commandments of God for the sake of their traditions. Now here they were chastising others for failing to keep a tradition while they themselves were guilty of the violation of God\u2019s commands. The beam in their eye was much larger than any speck in the eyes of the disciples of Jesus, who were not breaking God\u2019s Law on this occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traditions are a part of life. We really cannot do without them. To one degree or another, all that we know is passed down. Railing against tradition just because something is a tradition is rather naive. Even the commands of God are traditions handed down to us (2 Thess 2:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How we act about these traditions may be another matter. Again, we must distinguish between traditions that are commandments of God and traditions that are handed down otherwise. If we put man-made traditions on par with, or even over, God\u2019s word, then we are guilty of something very insidious. This is the point made in Isaiah 29:15-16. By putting their own traditions on par with God\u2019s commands, they were essentially saying that they were God\u2019s equal. They were guilty of pulling God down to their level and acting as though He did not have sufficient understanding of what they needed. They were smarter than God. If we think that breaking our own human traditions is on par with breaking God\u2019s word, then we are guilty of bringing God down to our level. That\u2019s serious business for which we need to repent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus illustrated how they had disrespected God by showing their neglect of the command to honor father and mother. They were more concerned about washing their hands than they were about caring for their parents. Talk about upside down! Yet, if we are not careful, we can fall into the same trap. Human traditions change, but what we receive from God\u2019s word will never change. Let us be careful to make that distinction. Even more, let us always be careful to engage in God\u2019s will over our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Via Mind Your King<\/em> -2-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Billy Moore<\/p>\n\n\n\n As to the frequency of eating the Lord\u2019s Supper, many have wrestled with this question. Since Acts 20:7 is the only reference of disciples coming together to eat the Lord\u2019s Supper, it is the only reference to which we can appeal to establish frequency. We learn \u201cwhat to eat\u201d and \u201cwhat to drink\u201d from the words of Christ when he instituted it (Matt. 26:26-28) and in Paul\u2019s reference to it in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. The Acts 20:7 reference does, in fact, teach \u201chow often\u201d they came together to \u201cbreak bread,\u201d and it does so by a necessary inference, one of the three ways of teaching. I reach this conclusion based upon the following reasoning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. A thing that is to be observed annually must have both the month and day of the month for its observance.Example: your birthday. Or a Bible example would be Pentecost, the day following the seventh Sabbath after the Passover, which was an annual occurrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Anything that is to be done monthly must have a day of the month. Example: a house payment, or rent, due on the first day of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. That which is to be observed weekly need only have the day of the week. Example: the Sabbath day. The command was simply, \u201cremember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.\u201d And since every week had a Sabbath day the people knew that it was a weekly observance. The local Lions\u2019 Club has a sign in front of a restaurant which says: \u201cLions\u2019 Club meets here, Friday at Noon.\u201d It does not say \u201cevery Friday,\u201d but all who read it will certainly reach that conclusion. Other clubs may meet twice a month and their sign may read: \u201cSecond and Fourth Friday at 12:00.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the Lord \u2019s Supper were not to be eaten each week, then who is to decide which \u201cfirst day\u201d of which week? Incidentally, everyone seems to understand that \u201cupon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store\u201d (1 Corinthians 16:1,2) authorizes a weekly collection. The identical expression is used regarding the breaking of bread and it also necessarily infers a weekly observance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Via The Beacon<\/em>, January 19, 2020 -3-<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured\u201d (NASB). 1) Hear <\/strong>the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31). Tebeau Street \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations\u2026teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 Contents: 1) Tradition and God\u2019s Word (Doy Moyer)2) Frequency of the Lord\u2019s Supper (Billy Moore)3) Mark 6:53-56 (NASB)\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 -1- Tradition and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrequency of the Lord\u2019s Supper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMark 6:53-56<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2) Believe <\/strong>in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent<\/strong> of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith <\/strong>in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized<\/strong> in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith<\/strong>, living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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