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St. John 5 & Article XXXIV

When Jesus did things contrary to the customs of the Jews for the Sabbath, we must be clear that he was not indicating that there was anything wrong with the Sabbath itself. Nor was he being disrespectful to ecclesiastical authority. After all, the Sabbath was his idea in the first place. The law of Moses regulating the Sabbath for the Jews was his own law. The Old Testament Church was also his institution and he told people to respect those who were in "Moses' seat" (Matt. 23:2). What we have in these cases is the Head of the Church dealing with errors in his Church regarding ceremonies. Through their own traditions, the Jews had altered the Lord's identification of the Sabbath and his directions concerning its observance.

In St. John 5, we have the example of the man healed at the pool of Bethesda and the Lord's instructions for him to rise, take up his bed, and walk. The Jews rebuked the man for carrying the bed based on Jer. 17:21. The verse should be understood as referring to carrying burdens related to commerce in the city. Typically, however, the Jews added to that the command to carry no burdens at all, so as to prevent Jer. 17:21 from being violated. Yet this is "adding" to the word of God a man's idea of what should or should not be done. It was such traditions of men that Jesus confronted his church about.

Lest we think this adding, or detracting, from the word was something of which only the Jews were tempted, let us remember that St. Augustine said that, in his time, so many ceremonies had accrued in the Christian Church that they had practically exceeded the Jews in such things! It is out of concern for such a thing happening that our Anglican Fathers gave us Article XXXIV, in the XXXIX Articles.

In sum, the Church is to be ruled according to the word of God alone. Ceremonies and ways of applying and working out biblical principles in the life of the Church are going to be devised by the Church, and rightly so. As these things are devised, they should be expected to vary from culture to culture, or nation to nation, simply because they are attempts to live out the word of God according to the particular circumstances of the various localities. Such traditions are to be respected. It is not right for an individual or a church to alter those traditions they have received at will. Should anyone seek an ammendment, that can be had, but it must be done decently and in order. The Church has a right to change any tradition it has inherited if it discerns that it would be more biblical and edifying to the church to change it than to retain it.

So then: the Word is to be supreme; tradition and the order of the Church is to be respected. Careful discernment, weighing all the issues at hand, must be exercised should a tradition be changed. But there should never be any question that a tradition can be changed, because it is of man, not of God.

Our main concern in all of this is to watch over our hearts. Christ rules his Church with the sceptre of his Word. If he is to have his rightful place in our hearts and parishes, his Word must have its rightful place. God give us grace to keep it there.

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