Those Who Chose To Stay By Jesus' Side

By Mary Vee
John 6, Mark 7, Matthew 15

Peter

Photo by Mary Vee
The ruins of the synagogue in Capernaum

Jesus spoke to a crowd of people a few minutes ago. When he finished teaching, many of His disciples turned their backs on him and chose not to follow his teachings any longer.

After they left, Jesus turned to the twelve of us. Andrew, James, John, Thomas, Matthew, Philip, Bartholomew, James, Thaddeus, Simeon, Judas, and myself. He asked, "You don't want to leave too, do you?"

The question sliced my heart in two. How could I ever leave Jesus? I spoke out first, it's just something I did. Sometimes my words blurted out what was in my soul. I said, "Lord, who are we to go to if we leave you? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Jesus said, "Even though I have chosen the twelve of you, one is a devil."

I didn't know which one of us He meant. Surely Jesus knew my heart and commitment to Him. What I knew was I would always follow Jesus.

The mealtime came. We disciples ate using our hands. Moving about the country as we did left us without tools to abide by the traditional hand washings. 

Some teachers and Pharisees came from Jerusalem to hear Jesus. They apparently saw us eating food with our hands. The Pharisees didn't eat unless they performed the ceremonial washing. They kept the tradition of the elders faithfully. When the Pharisees left the marketplace, they didn't eat unless they first washed. They also followed other traditions such as washing cups, pitchers, and kettles.

These Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus why He didn't require us to follow the traditions of the elders instead of allowing us to eat food with 'unclean' hands.

Jesus said, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He wrote: '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 God's commands and are holding tight to the traditions of men.

Jesus then said, "You have a fine way of setting aside God's commands in order to observe your own traditions. Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother.' He also said, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you tell the men they don't need to do anything for their father or mother. This is when you nullify the word of God with the traditions you have handed down. I have given you only one example of the many ways your traditions do not follow the commands of God."

With those words, Jesus finished speaking for the time.

His message was so clear to me. Follow God's commands not the traditions of the elders. His words confirmed why I would continue to follow Jesus, the Holy One of God, and his teachings.

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.