Today’s reading led me to focus on our New Testament reading. Jesus had crossed over and is now in a port town on the northwest side of the Sea of Gailee. Immediately the people recognize Him and they went throughout the town calling people and bringing them to Jesus so that he may heal them. So much so that even touching a piece of His clothing lead to healing.

But even in the midst of this religious tradition took over. As people are being healed and made well. A little side bar here. We have to understand exactly what healing does. It isn’t simply that people get there limbs back functioning or their eyes opened, or even the flow of blood stopping, or grow back limbs. To be crippled and sick made you an outcast in Israel. You were ceremonially unclean and for the most part the people would believe either “you sinned or your parents”. Other than that if you are obeying the Law of God you should be healthy and prosperous. These paralytics, mute, blind and sick individuals were social outcast. They had nowhere to go, their families often left them, they were unable to work, unable to have families and were left to beg in the city streets. The religious leaders of their day would outright ignore them, thus the apathy that clouds the mind of the pharisees in this section of scripture. How often today are we the same way? But…

So, as many were healed that day, here comes the religous leaders. Instead of giving praise to God, instead of recognizing bones being set straight and families restored and social outcast now being reconciled to their communities, they ask “why don’t your disciples follow tradition”.

Jesus’ response is hilarious. He asks “why do you break the COMMANDMENTS of God”. You see their tradition had so clouded their minds that they believed that their tradition had greater authority than God’s word! And often times today our tradition have more authority than God’s word. Our tradition of what we should watch, or what we should wear, or how we should educate our children, or where we should go to “church” or make-up, or dating or…… you see, Christ has given us a NEW COMMANDMENT. That commandment is “love one another”.

But like the religious leaders our tradition usurps the authority of God’s commandment even to the fact that when we see people accepting the social outcast of our days, and loving the unlovable, and receiving the unreceivable we look and say “how can they do that, don’t they understand our tradition”?

Religious tradition and heritage can be healthy, it just has to be put in the right perspective. God’s word is authoritative, not our traditions. And whenever our tradition usurps the authority of God’s word we should repent and put our traditions in check. This goes for all of us. Lets not be too quick to make our traditions God’s word and ignore the work and power of God in the lives of others, regardless of how “unorthodox” it looks to our tradition. We may end up missing an opportunity to see Jesus working, much like the religious leaders did in Gennesaret.

Healing, Religion, Tradition