"Why Do Ye Also Transgress the Commandment of God by Your Tradition?"

In Matthew 15, the Pharisees approached Jesus with a complaint: His disciples were not washing their hands according to the tradition of the elders. It seemed like a minor religious dispute. But Jesus turned the question around with a rebuke that cuts to the heart of all false religion: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3). In that one question, Jesus exposed the fundamental danger of placing human tradition above the written Word of God — a danger that is just as real, and just as deadly, in Christianity today.

The Rebuke: Tradition That Nullifies the Commandment

Jesus did not merely criticize the Pharisees for adding extra rules. He charged them with using tradition to nullify the commandment of God. His specific example was the Corban tradition — a practice by which a man could declare his money "given to God" and thereby excuse himself from supporting his aging parents, directly violating the fifth commandment: "Honour thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12; Matthew 15:4–6). Jesus declared: "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition" (Matthew 15:6).

The pattern is clear: a human tradition, however sincere or ancient, that contradicts or displaces a direct commandment of God is not merely imperfect — it is a transgression. And Jesus quoted Isaiah to describe the spiritual result: "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8–9; Isaiah 29:13).

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." — Mark 7:7

Mark 7:7–9: Full Rejection of the Commandment

Mark's account of the same confrontation adds a sharper edge. Jesus says: "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mark 7:9). The word "full well" carries a note of bitter irony — they were very skilled, very thorough, very consistent in setting aside God's law to maintain their traditions. This was not accidental negligence; it was systematic displacement.

The principle Jesus established is universal and timeless: wherever human tradition stands in the place of God's written commandment, worship becomes vain. It does not matter how ancient the tradition is, how many millions practice it, or how sincere the worshippers are. If it contradicts the commandment of God, it is a transgression.

The Application: Sunday Worship vs. the Biblical Sabbath

The fourth commandment is unambiguous: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God" (Exodus 20:8–10). The seventh day of the week — Saturday — was blessed and sanctified by God at creation (Genesis 2:2–3), observed by Jesus throughout His earthly ministry (Luke 4:16), and kept by the apostles and the early church (Acts 13:14, 42–44; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4).

Sunday worship — the observance of the first day of the week as the Christian day of rest and worship — has no commandment in Scripture. There is no "Remember the first day." There is no "The first day is the Sabbath of the Lord." The New Testament records that the disciples met on the first day (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2), but these are not commandments to keep Sunday holy, and they do not abolish the fourth commandment.

The change from Saturday to Sunday was a gradual historical process driven by anti-Jewish sentiment in the Roman Empire, the influence of sun-worship culture, and ultimately the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church itself openly acknowledges this. In the Catholic Press (Sydney, 1900): "Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles… From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first."

"Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." — Matthew 15:6

The Question Jesus Asks Modern Christianity

Jesus' question to the Pharisees is His question to the church today: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" The tradition of Sunday worship is ancient, widespread, and sincere — but it is a tradition of men. The commandment of God is the seventh-day Sabbath. When the tradition displaces the commandment, worship becomes vain, no matter how heartfelt.

The good news is that God is calling His people back. Revelation 14:7 — the first angel's message — is the end-time call to "worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." This is a direct echo of the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:11). God is calling His people to remember the Sabbath, to return to His commandments, and to worship Him in spirit and in truth — not in the traditions of men.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." — John 14:15