Heart of Giving (3)

Offering of Worship

Mark 7:1–13 ESV

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Matthew & Mark Chapter 15

Transgress the tradition of the elders. The world elders means literally old men. It here means the ancients, or their ancestors. The tradition of the elders meant something handed down from one to another by memory; some precept or custom not commanded in the written law, but which scribes and Pharisees held themselves bound to observe. They supposed that when Moses was on Mount Sinai two sets of laws were delivered to him: one, they said, was recorded, and is that contained in the Old Testament; the other was handed down from father to son, and kept uncorrupted to their day. They believed that Moses, before he died, delivered this law to Joshua; he to the Judges; they to the prophets; so that it was kept pure till it was recorded in the Talmuds. In these books these pretended laws are now contained. They are exceedingly numerous and very trifling. They are, however, regarded by the Jews as more important than either Moses or the prophets. One point in which the Pharisees differed from the Sadducees was in holding to these traditions. It seems, however, that in the particular traditions here mentioned all the Jews were united; for Mark adds (ch. 7:3) that “the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.” Mark has also added that this custom of washing extended not merely to their hands before eating, but in coming from the market; and also to cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and tables, Mar. 7:3, 4. They did this professedly for the sake of cleanliness. So far it was well. But they made it also a matter of superstition. They regarded external purity as of much more importance than the purity of the heart. They had many foolish rules about it respecting the quantity of water that was to be used, the way in which it should be applied, the number of times it should be changed, the number of those that might wash at a time, &c. These rules our Saviour did not think it proper to regard, and this was the reason why they found fault with him.

3. But he answered, &c. They accused him of violating their traditions, as though they were obligatory. In his answer he implied that his disciples were not bound to obey their traditions—they were invented by men. He said, also, that those traditions could not be binding, as they violated the commandments of God. He proceeds to specify a case in which their tradition made void one of the plain laws of God; and if that was their character, then they could not blame him for not regarding them.

Matthew E. The King versus the Hypocrites: What Is Clean and Unclean? (15:1–20)

Jesus addressed the Pharisees and scribes here as hypocrites. The English word is transliterated from the earlier classic Greek term for “one who wears a mask” on stage in a Greek drama—an actor or pretender—although by Jesus’ day the language used the term exclusively for its present negative meaning. A hypocrite is a person who puts on an outward display that is not representative of what is truly inside. (See comment at 6:2.) As Jesus had demonstrated in 15:3–6, the religious leaders were putting on a show of spirituality and devotion to God and his Word. In reality, they were in rebellion against God and his Word.

Ezekiel 33:30–33 ESV

30 “As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”