“Why call you Me, Lord"

[Christina]

“Why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). He is asking why individuals profess Him to be their Master, and as such accept His authority over their lives, but do not do—obey—believe—His words. They fail to properly acknowledge Him as their Master by doing what He says.In verses 47-48, Christ explains the wisdom in hearing His words and doing them. (Keep in mind that these verses immediately follow Jesus asking why people call Him Master but do not obey Him.) “Whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock [Jesus Christ].”In verse 49, however, Jesus shows the folly of hearing His words and not doing them. “But he that hears, and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”Not believing—or obeying—Christ is likened to foolishly building a house on shifting sand: Eventually, the disobedient, like the house, will fall. When storms (trials and temptations) come, they will not stand.Sadly, most people are building their houses upon sand. Mark 7:7 – “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”Just prior to this statement, in verses 1-5, the Pharisees noticed Jesus’ disciples eating food with unwashed hands. They, seemingly innocently, asked, “Why walk not Your disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” (7:5).The Pharisees were extremely meticulous in regard to washing items used in consuming food, such as their hands, cups, bowls, pots, utensils, etc. Over the years, they added numerous regulations—traditions—to God’s commandments, statutes and precepts. These traditions sometimes even superseded the laws of God, though He never authorized this.Cutting to the heart of the matter, Jesus responded, “Well has Esaias [Isaiah] prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (7:6-7).This is quite an indictment of the religious elite! Jesus stated that the Pharisees professed to worship God with their lips, but inside they were far from Him. He realized they were not looking for an explanation. Instead, they sought an opportunity to accuse Him and His disciples of breaking tradition—or “commandments of men.” Christ’s disciples were not breaking any laws of God, yet the Pharisees acted as if this were the case. As such, Jesus labeled their worship vain, which means “to no purpose, fruitlessly.”Do you grasp this? Christ said the Pharisees worship was pointless! They may have believed they were worshipping God, but Jesus revealed otherwise. Their worship was fruitless because they obeyed laws of men rather than laws of God. They were hypocrites because they appeared to be holy men who obeyed God. The “religious authorities” had an outward appearance of religious holiness. But inwardly, they were “full of dead men’s bones” (Matt. 23:27).Jesus further elaborated, saying, “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things you do…Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:8-9).The Pharisees made the laws of God of no effect by establishing and following man-made traditions. (While God does authorize the use of some traditions [II Thes. 2:15], they are never to supplant, or contradict, God’s laws.) Even more so, they rejected God’s commandments. Take a moment to read Mark 7:10-13, in which Jesus gives an example of the Pharisees nullifying the Law of God.Like these of Christ’s time, today’s “religious elite” reject God’s laws and instead hold to and teach the traditions of men: Easter, Christmas, the fallacy that All God’s Law has been “nailed to the cross,” among a host of others too numerous to mention. In fact, many of the teachings of orthodox Christianity today are man-made. The ministers of this world preach false doctrines and lead people away from God, just like the Pharisees did. If Jesus were alive today, He would indict these ministers in the same manner as the Pharisees! Do not assume this statement applies to others.We must start with the assumption that it applies to us! Investigate why we believe as we do—why we may perhaps observe traditions of men, rather than laws of God.