GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 2:18
Traditions
On this Christmas day, there are a lot of traditional observances—trees, lights, Santas, sleighs, reindeer, gifts, songs, etc. There will also be observances of the Advent of the Son of God, the Christ. There are pictures of a stable, a manger, and a mother and father standing protectively over a newborn baby boy in Bethlehem. These observances, along with others, enrich life and help focus on the enduring foundations.
St. Mark described an event, however, when traditional observances took on a life of their own and became more important than the essence to which they point. “And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to him, ‘Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” (2:18)
A little background: There was only one required day of fasting in the Jewish calendar—the Day of Atonement, when the nation confessed and was forgiven of its sin. But some Jews developed the tradition of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Luke 18:12) For the Pharisees, these fasts were for self-display of their piety. They whitened their faces and went about with disheveled garments on their fast days so that no one could miss the fact that they were fasting—a display of their piety. It was as if these self-aggrandizing Pharisees were saying that Jesus claimed to be a new teacher sent from God, but we are fasting, we are more religious, than your disciples who are eating and drinking.
Traditions are wonderful as long as the message to which they point is not lost.
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