Bible Verses About Tradition

For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . .

These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n'tilat-yadayim does not make a person unclean."

(For the P'rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing.

Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)

The P'rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, "Why don't your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?"

Yeshua answered them, "Yesha`yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites -- as it is written, `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me.

Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.'

"You depart from God's command and hold onto human tradition. Indeed,"

he said to them, "you have made a fine art of departing from God's command in order to keep your tradition!

One Shabbat, while Yeshua was passing through some wheat fields, his talmidim began plucking the heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands and eating the seeds.

Some of the P'rushim said, "Why are you violating Shabbat?"

Yeshua answered them, "Haven't you ever read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

He entered the House of God and took and ate the Bread of the Presence" -- which no one is permitted to eat but the cohanim.

"The Son of Man," he concluded, "is Lord of Shabbat."

On another Shabbat, when Yeshua had gone into the synagogue and was teaching, a man was there who had a shriveled hand.

The Torah-teachers and P'rushim watched Yeshua carefully to see if he would heal on Shabbat, so that they could accuse him of something.

But he knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Come up and stand where we can see you!" He got up and stood there.

Then Yeshua said to them, "I ask you now: what is permitted on Shabbat? Doing good or doing evil? Saving life or destroying it?"

Then, after looking around at all of them, he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." As he held it out, his hand was restored.

But the others were filled with fury and began discussing with each other what they could do to Yeshua.

Now I praise you because you have remembered everything I told you and observe the traditions just the way I passed them on to you.

Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah.

Therefore, brothers, stand firm; and hold to the traditions you were taught by us, whether we spoke them or wrote them in a letter.

Now, in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah we command you, brothers, to stay away from any brother who is leading a life of idleness, a life not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

Have them stop devoting their attention to myths and never-ending genealogies; these divert people to speculating instead of doing God’s work, which requires trust.