Back to the Bible: Matthew 15:1-20
Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus because His disciples did not follow the elder’s traditions of hand-washing. (This was about tradition, not hygiene.) Jesus called them out on their hypocrisy. They were concerned with traditions, but unconcerned with God’s commands.
Sometimes folks have the idea that Pharisees and Jesus collided because they were “too concerned” about keeping God’s Law. Jesus explained that really they were experts at setting aside God’s Law so they could follow their traditions. Some say that those who are strict with God’s law are like the Pharisees, but the Pharisees weren’t strict with the command to honor father and mother, were they? They acted like dedicating money to the Lord removed their responsibility to care for their parents.
Let’s be clear: Jesus never chided anyone for being careful to do God’s will. That’s what He was doing and expected others to do. These Pharisees were fakes. Externally, they honored and worshiped God. But, they were far from God because they privileged human commandments over the Lord’s ( like those in Isaiah’s day who received judgment from God, Isa. 29:13). Jesus spoke to the issue of hand-washing more directly. He declared that a person is not defiled by what he eats. Instead, it was what came out of a person that defiled them.
The disciples told Jesus that the Pharisees were offended by His words. But, Jesus said that they would be rooted up because they weren’t planted by God and they were teachers who couldn’t see the truth.
Peter asked for help understanding. Jesus described the way food works with such simplicity it’s as if he was saying, “Everyone knows how this process works: When you eat something, it goes into your stomach, not into your heart, and then it is expelled.” The Law regulated clean and unclean food and mandated washing in certain circumstances, but the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees, missed the holiness it was pointing to.
Jesus showed that the things that actually defile a person are the things inside his heart. Every sin germinates and grows within man's spirit and is then expressed in external action. It was foolish for the Pharisees to emphasize ritual purity without a focus on the heart. True righteousness starts in the heart, not with ritual. Clean hearts mean more than clean hands.
Lessons to Learn:
Often, man-made traditions keep us from doing what God has revealed for us to do. Many traditions regarding salvation, the church, and worship, keep us from doing what God has instructed people to do. Jesus' teaching is clear: in order to do God’s will, we must do God’s will. Don’t do your own will and say you’re doing God’s. Don’t allow yourself to go through religious motions but allow sinful practices to continue. That is what makes someone like these Pharisees. Going to church and contributing money are significant and necessary. But, if that’s as far as it goes, you’ve missed real faithfulness to God.
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