"You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your traditions!" (Mark 7:9) The Pharisees must have been bewildered as they listened to Jesus so easily condemn their traditions. "What's wrong with tradition?" Much of them are built upon the law; a law this wandering rabbi professes to believe in. But that's the problem: only most of the traditions of the Pharisees were biblical. The remainder was simply a historical fabrication. There's nothing wrong with tradition, but when it is mistaken for divine inspiration, it becomes idolatry. In verse thirteen of our chapter, according to Jesus, tradition/idolatry causes us to "nullify the word of God" (Mark 7:13)
We treasure many of our traditions. But do we realize how temporal they are compared to the Word of God? The Word is preexistent - it has always existed and it always will. John tells us that the Word became flesh in the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth and He lived among mankind for thirty years and lived intensively for three additional years among his disciples as He crisscrossed Israel preaching repentance and the coming of the kingdom of God. Traditions began as Preacher Smith added his opinion to the Word and preached it for 40 years. Young Preacher Jones was impressed and preached it for another 40 years adding his opinions to it. As such, the Word was expanded from generation to generation and has been drilled into our psyches - but they are not sacred! - Not when placed beside the incarnate or inscribed Word. Some of our traditions have become "golden calves". Jesus calls us to a kind of sharp discernment that can only come by the Spirit of God. Stake your life on His Word. Stake nothing at all on the rules of your own construction. Know the difference and live for what matters. So, if you find yourself doing a bunch of religious stuff that you can't find in the Bible - stop doing it and don't accept the false guilt Satan and his minions throw your way! The only one who profits from elevating traditions to the level of the Incarnate Word or the inscribed Word is Satan.