Tradition vs. Scripture

Text: Matthew 15:1-31

Matthew 15:1–31 ESV

1 Then 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.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” 10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” 21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. 29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Traditions and Commandments

Matthew 15:1–9 ESV

1 Then 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.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

Read the parallel passage in Mk 7:1-13

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.”

What was the primary criticism the Pharisees had regarding Jesus' disciples in Matthew 15:1-2? What was the tradition they were neglecting? They weren’t washing their hands before eating.

Why did the Pharisees get so bent out of shape over Jesus and his disciples not washing their hands? What was this tradition meant to symbolize? (Remember, this was a couple of millennia before the germ theory of disease...) Washing one’s hands represented cleansing from sin and the need to be pure in God’s eyes.

In Mt. 15:4-6 and Mk. 7:9-13, what example does Jesus give to establish the hypocrisy of the Pharisees? The Pharisees had a custom called “Corban,” in which an adult child could use as a loophole to avoid caring for his aging parents. He could take an oath to give an offering to the local synagogue or temple, which was binding and overruled his obligation to his aging parents and the command to “Honor your father and mother.”

Why did Jesus call them hypocrites? 1) They claimed to be concerned with keeping the Law, but developed elaborate loopholes to avoid having to obey it themselves. They were concerned with outward cleanliness but were inwardly defiled.

Hypocrite: One whose heart is far from God or is not a believer who nonetheless pretends outwardly to be a believer.

Isaiah 1:10–20 ESV

10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

In what ways does God describe Israel’s sacrifices and worship in vv. 10-15? “trampling of my courts,” “vain offerings,” “abomination,” “iniquity”

How does God feel about their sacrifices and worship and how does he respond to such worship? “I do not delight” in them, hatred, burdensome, he hides his eyes and refuses to listen to their prayers.

Why did God tell Israel to stop making sacrifices to him in v. 11 and refer to their acts of worship as “trampling of my courts” in v. 12, when the Law clearly demands such sacrifices? Because their heart is not in them. Their worship is hypocritical.

We need to recognize that traditions aren’t bad in themselves. The reason we have traditions is to give a visual, symbolic representation of a spiritual truth.

But, if that spiritual truth has not taken hold of our heart and isn’t being lived out in our lives, then it’s a meaningless hypocrisy. Worse than that, it increases our guilt before God. This is why an unbeliever’s good deeds don’t count as “good deeds” before God:

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Evaluating our Traditions

My tradition: I like to pray at the beginning of my sermon or lesson.

The symbol/meaning: I want to recognize that God’s Word is holy.

I want to handle God’s Word with care and truthfulness, rightly exposing the meaning of the text.

I want to be dependent upon the Spirit in my preaching.

The heart of the issue: my prayer should proceed from a heart that esteems God and his Word as holy.

If God’s Word is holy, I should be treating it as such throughout the week, constantly soaking in it and applying it to my own life. Before I stand and preach to others, I should be preaching it to myself and allowing God to convict and transform me first.

If God’s Word is true, I should be making every effort to obey 2 Timothy 2:15 “15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” This means I ought to put forth some effort in my study and preparation of God’s Word before I stand and say, “this is what God’s Word says.” A lack of preparation for preaching and teaching can be spiritually disguised as “depending on the Spirit” when it is actually irreverence, carelessness, or apathy towards the Spirit who primarily speaks to us through his Word.

If only the Spirit can cut to the heart and apply truth to the hearers of his Word, pride in my own preaching or teaching is an abomination to God and an affront to his sovereignty. Similarly, self-deprecation is likewise an affront to his sovereignty.

I could think of 100 different ways that I could apply this truth to my life, but the bottom line is that if the truths that I’m proclaiming when I pray publicly before I preach do not proceed from my heart, then my prayer is a hypocrisy, an abomination before God.

Hypocrisy in tradition: praying before a sermon when I have not first honored God and his Word in my own heart.

I have not first applied it to my own life

I have not treated the text with the reverence and devotion that it deserves, to ensure I am rightly handling it

I am pridefully claiming credit for something God has revealed to me

Our tradition: Praying over a meal.

The reason/meaning: Recognizing that each meal is a blessing from God.

The heart of the issue: We ought to live in a way that recognizes that every single thing we have is a gift from God. This should produce attitudes of gratitude, generosity, and stewardship in our lives.

Hypocrisy: Praying when you don’t believe in God, praying out of obligation/pride, not allowing the truth of God’s blessings and grace to extend to other areas of your life (tithing, being generous, stewardship, etc.), taking credit for your paycheck, etc.

Example hypocrite: John prays before every meal, breakfast lunch, and dinner, but doesn’t tithe or give to the church. He has plenty of money, but he treats his money as if it’s his possession that he earned instead of as a gift from God. Yet he complains about how other Christians often forget to pray before their meals.

Example hypocrite: Angela prays before meals religiously, but only when others are there to see and hear her. Otherwise, her prayer life is non-existent. She gives, likewise, only when others might notice. Her prayers and giving do not proceed from a heart of gratitude but pride.

What defiles a person

Matthew 15:10–20 ESV

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Why might Jesus’ disciples and others listening have found Jesus’ saying in verse 11 difficult to understand? Because Jewish law in the Old Testament clearly stated that certain foods would make you unclean.

Leviticus 10:10 ESV

10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,

Leviticus 11:4–8 ESV

4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

What does Mark conclude in his gospel from Jesus’ teaching on cleanness? That the clean/unclean distinction for food was eliminated by Jesus.

Mark 7:18–19 ESV

18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

What does Jesus’ statement in Mt. 15:11 mean for his followers in the New Covenant? The old ceremonial cleanness laws were merely a foreshadowing of the New Covenant realities. Cleanness in God’s eyes is a matter of the heart. Jesus is here setting the stage for the NT community which would include Gentiles.

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21–28 ESV

21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Find Tyre and Sidon on a map. What is significant about this little side-trip? Jesus did most of his ministry within Israel’s borders, predominately in Galilee. Tyre and Sidon were well outside of Israel’s borders in entirely Gentile territory. He would have had no reason to go to these places outside of intentional ministry to Gentiles.

How does the story of the Canaanite woman fit with the previous sections about cleanness, traditions, and the heart? It demonstrates that even Gentiles can be made clean if they have faith. It is a reversal of the Pharisees’ expectations.

Jesus initially doesn’t respond to the woman (v. 23), then dismisses her (v. 24), then seems to insult her (v. 26). Why does Jesus act this way towards this woman? He is echoing the disciples’ attitudes towards her (v. 23b) in order to teach them a lesson, while also drawing out her humility and faith (vv. 27-28).

Jesus praises the woman’s faith. Who else in the gospels gets such praise for their faith? Whose lack of faith is frequently mentioned?

Praised:

The Roman Centurion (Mt. 8:10)

Blind beggar near Jericho (Lk. 18:42)

The Samaritan Leper (Lk 17:19)

The friends of the paralytic (Lk 5:20)

The Sinful woman (Lk. 7:50)

The two blind men (Mt. 9:29)

The bleeding woman (Mt. 9:22)

Mildly Rebuked:

The 12 Disciples (Mt. 8:26)

Sternly Rebuked:

His hometown, Nazareth (Mt. 13:58)

His brothers (Jn. 7:5)

Israel, generally (Mt. 8:11-12)

Jesus Heals Many

Matthew 15:29–31 ESV

29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

What does the end of v. 31 tell us about the ethnic makeup of the crowds Jesus was healing? “they glorified the God of Israel” probably indicates that the subjects being referred to are not themselves Israelites. i.e., they’re Gentiles.

Mark 7:31 ESV

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

What does this tell us about ethnicity in the Kingdom of God? The kingdom is open to all peoples, not just Jews.