Behind every tradition is a heart that motivates it. Many times, people remember the traditions they hold but easily forget the heart of why they do them. Jesus urges us to always seek after the heart and core of every tradition so that we don't lose track of what matters most.
If there were people during Jesus' time who best knew about traditions, they were the Pharisees. But although they were very knowledgeable about traditions and laws, they were clueless as to the heart of those traditions.
Matthew 12:1-8 shares to us an instance when the Pharisees confronted Jesus for allowing the disciples to pick grains on a Sabbath so they could eat. Jesus answered them in Matthew 12:7-8, saying, "And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
My grandmother had this wonderful recipe for roasted chicken that involves wrapping it in cloth. For years we were all convinced that the cloth helped give flavour to the chicken and was important to the recipe. I later found out that the reason why my grandmother used cloth was because she hated the sound of crumpling foil and opted to use cloth instead of foil.
So many Christians today look to and uphold various traditions, both Christian and non-Christian, without knowing or appreciating the heart of those traditions. We look to the "cloth" thinking that it's what makes God happy, not realising that it has nothing to do with God's pleasure.
God's laws are important and so are the traditions we uphold such as water baptism, communion, church gatherings, Bible reading and prayer. I'm not saying they aren't.
But more important than the tradition is the heart of the tradition. It's important to know what God commands us to do, but also why does He command us to do so? God is not a flippant being who just tells us to do something and leaves us hanging.
He allows us – through the power of the Holy Spirit – to understand the heart of his laws and commandments so we may learn more about His heart for us and His desire to bring us blessing, not curses.
Searching every tradition for its core meaning is hard, but it's something worth doing because as we understand God's laws more, we understand God more. And ultimately, it is when we look for the heart of things that we are led to Jesus Christ. Look for the heart and you will find the heart of Jesus.
