Three kinds of spiritual leaders are mentioned in the above texts. Scribes were trained in the copying of the written Scriptures; so they were respected in Jewish society for their knowledge of the Bible. ‘Legal scholars’ were the most respected of all scribes due to a greater knowledge of the Scriptures. Members of the Pharisee sect had even more social power because of their detailed knowledge of both the written Scriptures and the oral traditions about how God's Word (especially the Torah) should be interpreted and put into practice. Yet in Jesus' day, the Pharisees had elevated these oral ‘traditions of the elders’ (or ‘traditions of the fathers’, Gal.1:14) to a status that was equal to the written Scriptures.

According to the chronology of Mark: the above incident seems to have taken place in Galilee, and the scribes and Pharisees present were Judeans from Jerusalem. Note that their emphasis on the oral traditions had a strong influence on Judean society, and they now want to impose these traditions on Jesus and his Galilean disciples. Jesus, however, challenges them by demonstrating: that even very ancient traditional interpretations of the written Word of God can contradict it; and that those who teach such ‘traditions of the fathers’ can end up misleading people—into disobeying God and away from true worship of the Father. As an example, Jesus points out how one such traditional interpretation of several passages in the written Torah—about 'Korban', offerings and vows that dedicate certain things to God—actually contradicts two other things God said in the Torah. Now Jesus is not opposed to traditions, only to the hypocrisy of giving lip service to the authority of God's written Word while ignoring those texts in it that contradict certain traditional human interpretations of it that support the power of religious institutions. Further, he speaks about how human traditions—by focusing on the correctness of words and ritual details—often obscure the Bible's emphasis on the more serious sinful behaviors that reflect the true state of our hearts towards God.

Secondly, Jesus implies that God has a purpose for all those—like these Pharisees and legal scholars—who teach his Word. This is why he tells his disciples to respect them and even obey such Bible teachers when they give rulings based on it—because they ‘sit in the seat of Moses’. But his disciples must not follow any of their hypocritical practices, and they must keep their distance from such teachers (Med.#68). For by their hypocrisy in placing their own religious traditions and interpretations above the authority of the Scripture itself—and by not submitting to being baptized by John—these Bible teachers have disqualified themselves as a ‘planting’ of the Father. This calls to mind Jesus' parable of the ‘weeds’, where the ‘sons (and daughters) of the kingdom’ that Jesus has ‘sown’ into the world are contrasted with the ‘sons (and daughters) of the evil one’ that he ‘sows’ into the world. The Father's purpose for all Bible teachers is that they behave like true sons and daughters, ‘planted’ as disciples of Jesus who work with him and with all his brothers and sisters toward the transformation of the world into the family kingdom of their Father (Med.#17). Yet there are many Christians and Christian teachers today who behave like these Pharisees. While they claim to be working for the transformation of society according to biblical principles, their teaching and directives are based on a very selective interpretation of the Scriptures and on contemporary political ideologies.

Finally, though, Jesus does not reject such Bible scholars out of hand; for he says that they too can still have a powerful social impact—if they are thoroughly ‘discipled into the kingdom’ (see Med.#87). Every Jewish and Christian denominational tradition has something ‘old’ to contribute to the impact of the God's kingdom on the world. But this must be combined with the ‘new’ things that Jesus brought: as ‘the Son of God’ anointed by the Holy Spirit, so that he could anoint us with the same Spirit as his adult co-heirs in our Father's kingdom (Med.#26, Med.#55 & Med.#5). Saul of Tarsus is an excellent example of a Pharisee who had been thoroughly trained in ‘the traditions of the fathers’ as well as in the Scriptures (Gal.1:14; Phil.3:5-6). As a disciple of Jesus he then had a huge impact on many societies in his day—also through people he taught and mentored. He still valued the Jewish Scriptures and other old treasures (Rom.3:1-2; 9:4-5), yet he had to break free of the guardianship powers of his traditions (Med.#28 & Med.#30), in order to rework these and his knowledge of the Tanakh (Old Testament)—so they fit with the new revelation he had received in Christ. (Med.#6 & Med.#8).

As disciples of Jesus, we need to heed his warning and not follow Bible teachers that are not ‘planted’ by the Father the way Paul was—any who refuse to even consider or apply important texts in God's Word, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, just because these don't fit into their traditional religious or theological system. Such ‘blind’ teachers will ultimately be ‘uprooted’, but not right away (see Med.#17). Becoming mature means becoming grounded in God's Word ourselves, with the help of Bible teachers who do approach it like adult sons and daughters of the Father (Jn.6:45, Med.#61) and not as slaves to a particular religious or theological tradition. Having a biblical influence in our societies is more about how we apply the Word in partnership with the Father where he ‘plants’ us. It's not just about teaching biblical principles (Med.#87).

Father, since we now live by the Spirit, help us also line up under the Spirit as we learn to become better hearers and doers of your Word—that we might become true disciples that indwell the Word of Christ as free, adult sons and daughters who are no longer child-like slaves to the elemental powers of this world and to human tradition. (Gal.5:25; Jas.1:22; Jn.8:31-32; 2 Cor.6:18; Gal.4:3,7; Col.2:8)

[i] The Scripture passage is taken from J.K. Mellis, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses: pp.109-110,73,87.