Jesus was talking to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.
Mark 7:6-8 – 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.
Traditions by men are worthless even if they are sacrificial and the person doing them is sincere.
Why is that?
It’s because Jesus doesn’t want sincerity first, He wants a loving relationship sought first. Once we put Him first and seek Him to know Him better, the more the truth is revealed.
Their hearts are far from Him.
You see this life is full of people who want to put on a good show. It’s very important to them to come across as being nice and caring. However, the fruits will shine forth when an individual is observed closely. It’s not about being good, because outside of God no one is good.
Mark 10:18 – 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
It’s amazing in our society that just being a genuine nice caring person will have some people referring to that person as a Christian. That doesn’t make a Christian. A Christian is someone who accepts the Son’s sacrifice on the cross as their own death and now begins a new life with Christ as Lord.
We’re all sinners. We all have a bad sin gene we inherited. The only way to combat that gene is to live less of ourselves and live more of Him.
Just examine everyone around you. The more one cares about themselves first, the bigger the problems in those people’s lives. You might not see it right away, but eventually you will.
The Word of God is all about warnings of selfish desires and actions. The remedy is to come and follow Him and leave the temporary unfulfilling things behind. We can slant it anyway we want but in the end it only ends up hurting ourselves.