Trade in Tradition!

There are so many patterns, behaviors & habits we pass down in our families. While some of them may be fun and innocent, it's always good to examine the practices of our lives to see if we are moving closer to God, or farther away. We may have the best of intentions in how we serve God, but it may actually be the opposite of what we should be doing! That's what Jesus had to continually show the scribes & Pharisees, although they never quite grasped the fact that their tradition was the problem. Tradition became their god instead of God Himself!

After the death of John the Baptist, Jesus feeds 5,000 people on 5 leaves of bread & 2 fishes:

"And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full." Matthew 14:19‭-‬20.

Somehow, all were fed, and there was some to spare! Before this miracle happened, the disciples were very skeptical that Jesus could make enough out of so little. This was because, according to tradition & history of humanity, this was not possible. But remember: "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37. Jesus was more than flesh, He was and IS God! He wanted His disciples to know they had something more powerful than tradition.

Next, Jesus walks on the sea! Of course, according to popular belief of the time, (and even of today), no one can walk on water. But Jesus has a DIVINE NATURE! Peter wanted to go to meet Jesus out on the water, but he took a few steps and remembered human condition & tradition:

"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
Matthew 14:28‭-‬31.

Just remember who GOD is, not who WE are! Peter saw the waves around him and got intimidated. But with Jesus, we don't need to fear, we need to have FAITH!

Next, Jesus rebukes the scribes & Pharisees for the exact issue of tradition:

"Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"
Matthew 15:2‭-‬3.

Is Jesus saying it's bad to wash your hands? No! But He IS saying that we need to realize the true meaning behind these things, and that these past traditions were never meant to cause strife or offense. As we can see from past passages, strife and offense kept re-surfacing with the scribes & Pharisees because they only had a surface-level relationship with God. They needed to go deeper than tradition! The disciples questioned this:

"Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Matthew 15:12‭-‬14.

This offense caused by tradition would eventually cause them all to lead themselves to a bad spot. It was not Jesus' fault. If they were not willing to let the seed of Truth be planted because they were hanging onto their past, then there was no other end in sight but a deep ditch.

Next in Matthew 15, 4,000 people were fed with 7 loaves & 2 fishes, and STILL the disciples questioned how they would feed all those people. By now, it should have been clear to the disciples that Jesus was making a NEW tradition: the tradition of letting go & trusting God! Remember last time? Jesus did this exact same miracle and fed MORE people with LESS food to start with!

"Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?" Matthew 16:9‭-‬11.

Don't eat of the leaven of tradition! Yes, we can have some things we keep & celebrate, but we can't let our traditions & our past sustain us, because it never will. We need to break loose from tradition & trust in Someone greater-God! If our traditions are stopping us from having more of God in our lives, then we need to re-examine our traditions!