Matthew 14:34-15:20

In Our Text, Jesus is Going to Have a Run-In with the Pharisees and Scribes

They are Concerned About Why Jesus Doesn’t Teach…

His Disciples to Keep a Certain Jewish Tradition

Jesus’ Response is that:

The Pharisees Should Be More Concerned About God’s Law Than Their Traditions…

Because Some of Their Traditions Cause Them to Break God’s Law

The Jewish People Were Very Serious About Keeping the Law of God

They Wanted to Be Within the Boundaries of God’s Law

Obedience to God Leads to Blessings, Safety, Joy, and Life

Obedience to God’s Law Kept Them From Sin

Sin Leads to Separation From God, Judgement, Suffering, and Death

They Were Right to Want to Be Obedient to God and Free From Sin

Their Seriousness Concerning the Law Led Them to Develop Traditions

These Traditions Were Intended to Be a Protective Fence Around the Law

They Were Additional, Non-Authoritative Instructions…

To Help the People Keep the Law and Reject Sin

They Weren’t Binding, But They Could Be Helpful

But, What Often Happens with Traditions is…

Over Time, Those Who Hold Them Eventually Hold Them Too Tightly

Eventually, They No Longer Consider Their Traditions as…

Man-Made, Non-Binding, Helpful Instructions

They Consider Them as Equal to the Law of God Itself

It’s Bad When a Helpful, Man-Made Tradition is Bound on Others

But it’s Even Worse When an Unhelpful Tradition is

There Were Some Traditions that Weren’t Helpful at All

Instead of Leading the People to Obedience to the Law

They Led the People to Break the Law/Commit Sin

Here’s Why this Text is Important for Us Today:

We, Like the Jewish People, Have Religious Traditions

Every Religious Group Does

Traditions Aren’t Bad in Themselves

Some are Helpful in Obeying God’s Commands

But Some Aren’t

Some are Based Off of Flawed Interpretations/Views of Scripture

Some can Lead to Improper Hearts/Motives

Some are Just Unnecessarily Burdensome and Don’t Offer Any Benefit Whatsoever

And Some are Just Downright Sinful Themselves

And, if We Aren’t Careful, We can Be Like the Scribes and Pharisees…

And Elevate Our Traditions to Be as Binding as God’s Law

For Millennia this has Led Christians to Exclude Others From the Family of God

So Many Have Been Rebuked, Ostracized, and Disfellowshiped…

Not Based Upon the God’s Law…

But Upon Traditions that have Been Elevated to the Level of Law

In this Text, Jesus Reminds Us…

That God’s Laws are Greater Than Our Traditions

Matthew 14:34–36 (NASB95)

34 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

After Jesus Walked on the Water and Got into the Boat with the Disciples…

They Landed at Gennesaret

As Usual, it Didn’t Take Long for a Crowd to Form

This Crowd Brought the Sick to Jesus…

And They Begged to Simply Touch the Edge of His Coat and Be Healed

Jesus Allowed Them to Do So and They Were All Healed

This Little Passage is Probably Intentionally Connected to the Next Passage

Jesus Just Allowed a Multitude of Sick People to Touch Him

He Wasn’t Concerned About Becoming Defiled/Unclean From Them

But this was the Kind of Thing that the Scribes and Pharisees Were Very Concerned About

Matthew 15:1–2 (NASB95)

1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

These Weren’t Local Pharisees and Scribes

They Were From the Holy City of Jerusalem

These Guys Were the Real Deal

And They Have a Bone to Pick with Jesus

They Want to Know Why He Doesn’t Teach His Disciples…

To Ceremonially Wash Their Hands Whenever They Eat?

There was No Command in the Law of God to Do this

This was an Oral Tradition Passed Down By Their Jewish Forefathers

You May Think, “Where in the World Did this Tradition Come From?”

The Idea was:

You’re Likely to Touch Something Unclean with Your Hands…

Throughout the Course of the Day

This Would Make Your Hands Unclean

Then When You Touch Your Food, it Becomes Unclean

Then When You Eat it, Your Whole Body Becomes Unclean

And if You’re a Jewish Person…

You Did Not Want to Be Unclean

But Look at Jesus’ Response:

Matthew 15:3–6 (NASB95)

3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?4 “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,”6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Jesus Disregards Their Question…

And Responds with a Question for Them

“You Ask Me Why We Transgress the Tradition of the Elders?”

“Well, I Ask You Why You Transgress the Commandment of God!”

“Your Elders Said to Wash Our Hands When We Eat?”

“Well, God Said to Honor Your Parents!”

“And Those Who Don’t are to Be Put to Death”

What is Jesus Getting at Here?

He’s Referring to a Tradition Known as “Corban”

This is Where a Person Could Dedicate Their Wealth/Possessions to the Temple

It Would Still Be Theirs to Have and Use Until Their Death

But it Couldn’t Be Given to Anyone Else

The Jewish Leaders Considered this a Good and Righteous Oath to Make

But if a Person Did this, They Couldn’t Use Their Wealth/Possessions…

To Care for Their Elderly Parents

“Sorry Mom & Dad, What I have that Could Be Used to Honor/Help You…”

“I’ve Dedicated to God.”

“Sorry, But You’re On Your Own”

“Honor Your Father and Mother” is the First of the 10 Commandments…

That Deals with How We Should Treat Others

It was an Extremely Important Command

1 Timothy 5:8 (NASB95)

8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

This was in the Context of Children Taking Care of Their Widowed Mothers

If You Refuse to Take Care of Your Parents When They Need You…

You’ve Denied Faith in Jesus and are Worse Than an Unbeliever

Matthew 15:6b

And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

By Teaching this Tradition, the Pharisees and Scribes are…

Invalidating, Revoking, Nullifying, Making Void God’s Command

Their Tradition Led Them to Break God’s Law Instead of Keep it

If We’re Not Careful, We can Do the Same Today

As Christians, We are Not to Show Partiality/Favoritism

We Shouldn’t Treat Some People with Honor…

And then Turn Around and Treat Others with Dishonor

But the Tradition of Wearing One’s “Sunday Best”…

Can Often Lead to this Type of Sinful Behavior

Is it Wrong to Wear Your Best to Worship?

Is it Wrong to Not Wear Your Best to Worship?

It All Depends on Your Heart/Motive for Wearing What You Wear

If Wearing Your Best Leads You to Judge or Look Down on Those Who Don’t…

Or You Get a Sense a Self-Righteousness By Wearing Your Best…

Then Your Heart/Motives are Impure

If You Refuse to Wear Your Best Out of Utter Rebellion…

Against Those Who Do…

Then Your Heart is is Also Impure

It’s Not About the Outward Action

It’s About the Inward Heart that Leads to the Outward Action

The Law is to Love Our Siblings and Neighbors

If Your Tradition Causes You to Do Any Less…

Then You are Invalidating God’s Law with Your Tradition

Matthew 15:7–9 (NASB95)

7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

Jesus Calls Them “Hypocrites”

They Were “Actors and Pretenders”

They Acted the Part of People Seeking to Honor and Worship God

But in Reality, Their Hearts Weren’t Really in it

They Thought More of Their Traditions Than of God’s Law

I Know of Christians From Not that Long Ago…

Who are Still Considered Faithful and Righteous By Christians Today

But They Were Blatant Racists and Segregationists

But They Held All of Our Same Beloved Traditions…

So We Easily Overlook the Impurity/Unrighteousness of Their Hearts

We Need to Stop Judging Faithfulness Based on the Periphery Matters…

Such as Religious Traditions…

And Start Basing Faithfulness Off of the Fruit of the Spirit

Matthew 15:10 (NASB95)

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

Jesus Turns From the Pharisees and Scribes to the Crowd

“Hear and Understand” = “Pay Close Attention to What I’m About to Say”

He Knew What He Would Say Next Would Be Difficult for Them to Take

Matthew 15:11 (NASB95)

11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

This Would Have Been a Revolutionary Statement for the Jews of that Time

Ceremonial Hand-Washing had Become a Part of Life

Believing that One Becomes Defiled/Unclean…

When Eating with Unclean Hands was a Deeply Held Belief

Have You Ever Been Told that Something You’ve Believed Your Whole Life is False?

If You Have, You Understand How Difficult it can Be to Tear Down the Wall of Deception…

And Fully Embrace What is True

That’s What Jesus is Doing for the Jewish People

He is Trying to Help Them Break Down the Walls of Tradition…

So that They can Fully Embrace What is True

It’s Not the Things You Put in Your Body that Defile You/Make You Unclean

It’s What Comes Out of the Mouth that Defiles/Make Unclean

Uncleanness and Impurity Comes From Within, Not From Without

Matthew 15:12–14 (NASB95)

12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

“Jesus, Did You Know that What You Said Made the Pharisees Angry?”

Jesus Doesn’t Seem to Be Very Worried About that, Does He?

“They Don’t Belong to God!”

“He Didn’t Plant Them!”

“They are Weeds in His Garden!”

“Let Them Be Angry!”

“They Think They are Guides of the Blind…”

“But They Themselves are Blind!”

“They are Leading People, Not to Life, But to Death!”

“If You Think What I Said to Them Hurt Them…”

“Just Wait Until They Get What’s Coming to Them From the Father!”

We’re Often Afraid to Upset Those Who Think Too Highly of Their Traditions

But Jesus Wasn’t

When Someone’s Traditions are Contrary/Inconsistent with God’s Law…

We Must Stand Against it for Their Sake…

And for the Sake of Those Who They Teach

Matthew 15:15–20 (NASB95)

15 Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.”16 Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

You can See They are Having Trouble Tearing Down this Wall of Deception

We Don’t Need Pages and Pages of Traditions and Laws…

To Tell Us Exactly What We Should and Shouldn’t Do to Be Pure to God

It’s Not About Purifying the Outward so that the Inward will Be Pure

It’s About Purifying the Inward so the Outward will Be Pure

It’s Not About a List of Regulations

It’s About Having a Pure, Transformed Heart

Everything Evil that Humanity Does Comes From an Impure Heart

Trying to Clean Up the Outward Without Cleaning Up the Inward First…

Is the Most Fruitless Thing a Person can Do

Only By Placing Ones Faith (Trust & Allegiance) the Gospel of Jesus…

And Being Baptized for the Remission of Sins and Indwelling of the Spirit…

Can a Person’s Heart Be Purified and Transformed

This Purified, Transformed Heart will Lead to Purified, Transformed Living

We All have Many Man-Made Religious Traditions

That’s Not a Bad Thing in Itself

But We Need to Be Extra Careful When it Comes to Our Traditions…

Because We can Allow Them to Steer Us Away From God Instead of Toward Him

Many of Us Hold Traditions that We Don’t Even Realize are Traditions

We Need to Be Able Identify the Difference Between Tradition and Law

We Need to Analyze All the Things We Practice as Christians…

And Consider Whether They are From Scripture or Man

Then We Need to Treat Them Accordingly

Obey and Keep the Law of God, First and Foremost

Keep Tradition if it Helps You Love and Obey God

Trash the Tradition if it Doesn’t

And Don’t Bind Your Tradition on Others, Regardless