These unpopular scriptures are often hard to find as many Christians have torn them from their Bibles. Some have removed so many such scriptures that their Bibles are nothing but empty leather covers flapping in the breeze.
Mark 7
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the (fifth) commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother,
let him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Context is key: Here is the pre-text, that was left out.
7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they [
a]carefully wash their hands,
thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and
when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they [
b]cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the [
c]washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to [
d]be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to
his father or
his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, [
e]given
to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for
his father or
his mother; 13
thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
The point of this entire passage is Jesus pointing out the hypocrisy of the Jewish elders trying to entrap Jesus. They were elevating their man made oral traditions above the law of moses. Jesus called them out for it by basically telling them they would rather take the money into the temple coffers rather than allowing the child to use the money to help the mother and father. By taking the money, the child no longer has to honor the father and mother.
This text is in by no means an absolute validation of the death penalty from Jesus, but rather, in its proper hermeneutical context, exposing the hypocrisy of the jewish leaders or elevated their oral traditions and temple traditions over the law of moses.
