“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  Mark 5:19       

This story illustrates how a person receives salvation from the Lord Jesus, and then Jesus wants us to bring the testimony about His salvation to our family as soon as possible.

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Mark 7:6-8 - Jesus replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’  You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

In the passages quoted above, the Scriptures teach us that religious traditions are spiritually worthless.  The only thing that pleases God is to obey His revealed will.  People do not want to obey God.  They want to go their own way, following their own opinions and desires, and then appease God through religious observances so that they can somehow elude his judgment or persuade Him to bless them.  God, however, sets the terms by which we can approach him.  Man does not set the terms for God.   continue

Mark 7:6-8 - He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 

   ” ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

“Rules taught by men” produce two types of problems in religion: trends and traditions.  This lesson is about the problem with religious trends, fads, or fashions (we address traditions in a separate lesson).   continue

Mark 7:32-35 - ”There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.   After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.  He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!” ).  At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly…”

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