Matthew 15:1-20
Blind guides
Up until now Jesus has been mainly ministering in Galilee. This is not Judah, where Jerusalem is, so these scribes and Pharisees are a special delegation come to look at Jesus for themselves.
So it starts out on the wrong foot right away. These scribes and Pharisees are upset that the disciples do not observe the rigid and extensive ritual of washing the hands.
That these beliefs are not scripture is admitted to by the Pharisees themselves when they say, “the tradition of the elders”. They do not even pretend that they are quoting scripture, in fact they clearly say that they are holding to the traditions of the elders.
The answer of the Lord shows us that doctrines of men will and often are elevated to the level of God´s word.
They said, The traditions of the elders.(vs.2) Jesus said, the commandments of God. (vs.3)
Jesus is putting the 2 in direct opposition.
I wonder that Jesus was so harsh with his reply; he was not subtle in the least. In fact later the 12 mention the fact the Pharisees were offended by Jesus. I believe Jesus took offense with them because these were a people that declared others to be unclean or unaccepted based on the doctrines of men, thereby denying access to God.
Vs. 6 - Tradition makes the Word of God of no affect
What does God say? His word says, Honor thy father and mother. That is the clear command of the Lord.
Vs. 4 – God commanded…
Vs. 5 But ye say… The Jewish people of Jesus’ day had a way to get around the command to honor your father and mother. If they declared that all their possessions or savings were it is a gift, specially dedicated to God, they could then say that their resources were unavailable to help his parents.
Through this, someone could completely disobey the command to honor his father and mother, and do it while being a hymn singing member of the local church.
Proverbs 28:24
How? How does tradition make the word of God of no affect?
a. By elevating a source of commentary to the same level as the word of God
Vs. 6... Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
For the Pharisee the Mishna was authoritative. It compiled the oral traditions into a single text. Understand that the Mishna wasn´t a book of writings devoted to theological issues, not so much anyways. It was primarily concerned with interpretations. It was a commentary on what the law meant or signified.
One thing I know about and have seen firsthand is that eventually you will serve the idea that dominates you. You will eventually fashion yourself after your idol. Somewhere down the line, some great truth (or some great lie) will bring you under its spell. From then on you are loyal to that line of thought and all of your theology will be controlled by it.
Commentaries have a tendency to influence men that way.
That is what happened to the Pharisees – all of their understanding came from the Mishna, their habits, their daily dictates, their dealings with others, everything.
Now, books are not altogether a bad thing. I have many books, most pastors do, in fact
most of us have been encouraged to build a good balanced library. Yet, there needs to be a realization at some point that books are just books and that the wisest man that ever lived said, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Listen to that – studying the writings of men will wear you out. But studying the words of God will refresh you, energize you, and give you life. The words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63)
Only the word of God converts the soul, only the word of God makes the simple wise, only the word of God rejoices the heart, only the word of God enlightens the eyes, only the word of God endures forever.
Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Psalms119:103 says, How sweet are THY words to my taste…
Unfortunately, the words of men and the words of God get all jumbled up together and we understand that one is not the same as the other, but the mind has a harder time distinguishing between the two.
The Pharisees fell into this and they made the word of God no affect because they could not read it apart from hold that the Mishna had on their minds..
Paul said that the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, he said 1 Cor 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
If and when you think about it, Jesus never once appealed to any writings of men outside of the scripture. Not ever, not once. He said, As it is written. Moses saith. Isaias saith. What saith the scriptures? It was never my Bible College says, my pastor says, my favorite author says, the guy on the radio says, my teacher in Sunday school….
b. Secondly, traditions make a man blind to truth
Vs. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Jesus says later on in the text that the Pharisees were blind leaders of the blind. And he
said, Let them alone. (vs.14). Jesus said that every plant not planted by the Father will be
rooted up. In other words, Christ knew that the Pharisees would not last and would
eventually fall under the weight of their own unbiblical foundation. Paul said that the real
follower of God is rooted and grounded in Christ, the word of God says that For other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
So the Pharisees were blind to the truth of Jesus as they had no biblical foundation, no real truth, only the hollow and dead words of men to follow. The only book that gives life is the Bible.
Ephesians 3:17, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Colossians 2:7, Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
c. Thirdly, tradition makes worship of God a vain act
Vs. 9, But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
By attributing to God things that are not so. What happens when traditions, the doctrines of men begin to influence us in a great way we begin to attribute to God things that are not supported by scripture. We begin to develop an un scriptural view of the Lord and it it does have an effect upon our worship. What Jesus is saying is that if your view of God is distorted, then your worship will be as well.
If God is a God who tolerates all acts, no matter what in the name of love, then what kind of God has been created in the mind of the worshiper? A God who does not judge sin.
If God is a God who is only judgmental and full of wrath, then what kind of God has been created in the mind of the worshiper? A God who does not love the sinner.
You see our perspective of how God works will directly affect the way we approach him.
An example, Jesus said that when a sinner repents there is rejoicing in heaven.
The Pharisees taught that when a sinner is destroyed and tossed into hell, God is pleased.
That is 2 very different perspectives one is right, the other is wrong.
Now the thing is that Jesus says that the real problem is a heart problem, and that is where the trouble lies.
So tradition has the tendency to keep men away from God, it teachers men to follow men, it will keep a man blind, it will cause a man to transgress or sin against the commandments of God.
The issue is an issue of the heart –
So after a bit the disciples came to Jesus and asked for that he declare unto us this parable.
So Jesus begins to expound even further and explains that the real issue is not one of traditions as much as it is an issue of the heart.
In the final analysis Jesus says that to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. So after all was said and done, it was neither here nor there this matter of washing the hands. The original complaint of the Pharisees according to Jesus was a moot point.
The real issue is where is your heart in these things? He says that the things that come out of our mouths defile us
Jesus says that evil thoughts defile a man.
Murders defile a man.
Adulteries defile a man.
Fornications defile a man.
False witness defiles a man.
Blasphemies defile a man.
Those are all issues of the heart.
So how can we avoid this pitfall? This falling in line with vain traditions?
1. Recognize the heart is deceitful.
God said that our heart will lead us down the wrong path. The Bible mentions deceit is in the heart. Haughtiness is found there. Foolishness is bound up in the heart. Wickedness finds a home there. The heart is not always the best gauge for what is right and true.
We all are familiar with Jeremiah 17:9, where the Bible says, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Proverbs 28:26, He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
So we must recognize that the heart is problematic.
2. We need a changed heart.
The only thing I know that will really change a man is the word of God. James says that we need to receive the word. James 1:21.
Engraft is a word that means a living extension. The word becomes engrafted in you and it is that which bears the spiritual fruit, Jesus said the flesh profiteth nothing, but the words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life. There is no way I can over emphasize the benefit of meditating upon the word of God.
The Bible speaks of a heart of stone, that one day God will take away the stony heart and give a heart of flesh. Seed cannot germinate on stone. There is no ground. In order to spring up a seed needs earth; it needs the ground of a heart that is not made of stone, unable to receive the seed.
Meditation is key. You must learn to fix your mind upon the word of God and meditate upon it. Focus upon it, many think that mediation is emptying your mind, sitting with your legs crossed and saying Ohmmmm. True meditation is akin to concentration. It´s paying attention to the details, mulling it over and over, it is deliberate.
It takes practice and too often Christians give up. They are too distracted, the mind wanders, and like the song says Prone to wander Lord I feel it. So it will take some discipline in your life, some changes of habit. You might have to stop listening to some of the radio; get that out of your head. If your mind is full of other voices you will never hear the voice of God.
So it will take some time, it will not happen overnight. It takes practice and discipline.
Look at Psalms 1:2-3, His delight is the word of God; he meditates on it all the time and look at the result His fruit comes in season. A season is a time, it isn´t instant fruit, it´s not add water and then presto, he first of all delights in the word. He desires it like Peter said, desiring the sincere milk of the word.
This habit has to be cultivated. And unfortunately too many Christians today simply do not have the patience it requires.
Psalms 57 says, My heart is fixed oh God. It´s fastened, it´s steadfast, it is focused, it´s single in purpose. It´s available for the Lord.
The most practical way I know of to avoiding becoming pharisaical is to spend time in God´s word.
Look with me at Luke 6:45 – treasure is always hidden. The good man has hid good treasure in his heart. The other man has hidden evil treasure in his heart. What you deposit there is what will come out. Thy word have I hid in my heart…
So we spend time hiding the good treasure of the word of God in our hearts, we make good deposits. The abundance of his heart, or in other words, what his heart is filled with.
