Challenging Tradition

Our Theme for 2025 is “Live Like Jesus”

It comes out of a simple desire to follow Jesus - and to learn better what that means.

I have called this part of our study “The Renewed Life” because Matthew tells the story of Jesus in a way that highlights the difference that Jesus makes.

We are spending the entire year in the Gospel of Matthew.

Over the last several months we talked about divine healing, deliverance, forgiveness and being a disciple of Jesus.

We have talked about faith, repentance and having a personal relationship with God.

A few weeks ago we looked at parables of Jesus which describe the Kingdom of God as being powerful like a seed and valuable like treasure.

Last week we talked about miracles, signs and wonders which demonstrate both the power of God and His purpose to restore all things.

Over this week and next we are going to be revisiting the subjects of religion and tradition.

Matthew is writing to a primarily Jewish audience about the renewed life that Jesus introduced to us.

But what about the old ways of thinking and believing - are they wrong?

Is tradition bad or is it good?

Tradition is defined as a set of beliefs, practices, customs, or ideas that are passed down from one generation to another.

It represents an inherited or established way of thinking, feeling, or doing. Tradition involves the process of handing down information, beliefs, and customs over time.

These shared elements can include doctrines, ideas, or practices that have been transmitted from one person to another.

Traditions can encompass various aspects of culture, including conventions, ethics, and forms, and they often contribute to a society's heritage or folklore.

You might be surprised to learn that the role of tradition was a key element in the Protestant reformation.

In the Catholic church, the importance of tradition was equal to or arguably even greater than that of scripture.

In that way of thinking, scripture was interpreted through the lens of tradition, so tradition took precedence.

The Reformers like Luther and Calvin, tried to return to scripture as primary and that tradition must be viewed through the lens of scripture and changed, if necessary.

Scripture was the clear priority but tradition was a close second.

The Anabaptist movement took this concept even further, they sought to return to a New Testament model of the church in that what was taught in the scriptures, especially by Jesus in the gospels was far more important than human traditions.

In this model, the traditions of the church were suspect unless clearly justified by scripture.

Interestingly, having grown up in the Mennonite/Anabaptist community - they clearly established their own historical traditions - some of which are still being challenged from scripture today.

I remember in the early Charismatic movement that tradition was almost a bad word.

People were so used to tradition being cited as the reason why they should not follow the move of the Spirit and do things differently.

Tradition became synonymous with the idea of being stuck in old ways of thinking - unwilling to change.

The younger generation today (of which most of us are sadly no longer a part) has a new appreciation for tradition.

Moral and ideological relativism has taken over our society.

The younger generation wants truth that is grounded in centuries of ritual practice.

Tradition is a good word to them, like the value of an antique - what’s old is new again.

What does Matthew say about tradition and the renewed life?

Jesus said that tradition is good as long as it honors and reflects the truth that God has revealed in His Word.

God’s Word as revealed in the scripture must be allowed to challenge and even change our traditions.

Tradition is also good in that it helps us form good habits and practices.

However, if those habits become something that makes us look good on the surface and ignore the change that is needed inside, then it also needs to be challenged.

Tradition is good in that it provides continuity by passing down truth in the form of practices from generation to generation.

However, if our traditional beliefs and practices get in the way of the restoring work that God is doing in the earth, then they are no longer serving their purpose.

We need to regularly challenge and adapt our traditions to be sure that they are in line with God’s eternal purpose.

As we read through Matthew chapter 15, keep in mind that Jesus is speaking to people who have preserved centuries of Jewish tradition.

And while there is much about that tradition that is good, Jesus is challenging the way their tradition is understood and applied.

The renewed life means challenging, re-evaluating and ultimately restoring the value of tradition to God’s people.

Challenging our practices.

In the Gospels, we see Jesus consistently rebuking the religious leaders for their hypocrisy (more of this when we get to Matthew 23). They were experts in the law but failed to embody love and mercy. This serves as a profound warning for us to examine our own lives—are our rituals enriching our faith or merely masking a lack of genuine love towards others? Traditions should lead us closer to Christ, not create barriers.

For those of us who grew up in the church, sometimes it seemed that being a Christian was all about the rules.

When I read in scripture about Jesus talking to the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders - i pictured our own church leaders

They seemed to me like how Jesus described the pharisees - being all about the rules.

As a child growing up in the church, it was all about the rules because I did not yet understand the reason behind the rules.

It is easier to manage behavior that it is to explain why we do what we do.

Grown ups down like it when you question the rules.

When you ask why, they may interpret it as being rebellious.

You are just stalling.

Or you really don’t want to do what they told you to do.

The truth is - sometimes we are just curious.

Why do rules exist?

There are reasons why we do what we do.

And sometimes the reason is just because we have always done it that way and no one actually remembers why.

Sometimes the reasons are good enough but circumstances have changed.

Sometimes what was once a good habit has now become an rut - an obstacle that prevents us from growing and changing in ways that might otherwise be appropriate.

Jesus pointed out one such example to the Pharisees.

Sometimes rules contradict each other.

Matthew 15:1–6 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.

When God spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai, He didn’t just give him the Ten Commandments.

God gave Moses instructions for building the tabernacle - right down to the furnishings, the fasteners and how to disassemble it into pieces that could be transported with them through their wanderings through the wilderness.

God also gave Moses a detailed plan for the encampment complete with rules for hygiene and containing the spread of disease.

And yes, one of those rules had to do with hand-washing, specifically for the priests.

Exodus 40:30–32 ESV

30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31 with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The rules about washing of hands evolved throughout the Jewish writings to include, not just priests but laypeople, worshippers at the temple washing before meals.

Then it was applied to the family dining table being compared to an altar and the act of eating together being viewed as sacred.

By the time Jesus is having this conversation with the Pharisees, handwashing is no longer about table manners but about ritual purity - having “clean hands” before God.

Psalm 24:3–4 ESV

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

So if having clean hands equates to having a pure heart, then what about the other laws of Moses?

What about the Ten Commandments? - these are supposed to be a summary of all the moral laws.

What about the one about honoring your mother and your father?

The commandment about honoring Father and Mother was not just about confirming parental authority, it was about stewarding God’s authority.

The idea is that just as God is the Creator of the world and we honor Him for it - our parents had a role in our creation- and honoring them is also a way of honoring God and receiving His blessing as a result.

That’s why it is the only commandment with a promise - long life!

Ephesians 6:1–3 ESV

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

It’s about recognizing where you come from and honoring your source.

Because when we look up and bless our source - that blessing flows down.

Jesus calls out the Pharisees for having a rule that helps them get around the rule about honoring parents.

In first century Judaism, children were responsible to care for their parents in their old age, both personally and financially - that was considered one of the ways in which they were to honor parents.

Older people without children or who were abandoned by their families would become the subject of public charities.

If a child wanted to get around caring for a parent - they could declare their assets as being “devoted to God” - sort of like a charitable trust.

They wouldn’t be counted as assets so that their parents could go on public welfare - so to speak.

Here’s the irony - they are saying that their money is “devoted to God” but they are dishonoring God by dishonoring their parents.

They are essentially giving all they have to charity, or pretending to do so, but they are not being charitable to their own parents.

Their rules don’t make sense because they violate the reason for the rule in the first place.

Jesus says, you want me to wash my hands to show that my heart is clean before God, but you would dishonor your parents( and God by extension) and make it look like like you did it for charity.

How twisted is that?

Your rules only exist to make you look good - they have nothing to do with what is right.

Our rules may fail to address our motives.

Matthew 15:7–9 ESV

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.’ ”

A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be something that they are not.

The origins of the word refer to an actor on stage or a con-artist who fakes their identity to gain advantage.

Tradition tends to reduce the practice of our faith to a set of rules.

Rules are easier to follow - just do them and you are good.

Or at least, everything looks good on the outside.

Rules and practices are how we “fake it til me make it”.

Tradition makes it all very convenient.

The problem is, no one really knows really knows the true condition of the heart.

How do you know if someone is giving everything they own to charity -

Or if they are just doing it so they can put their parents in a nursing home and not have to pay the bill?

Does a person really have a clean heart because they washed their hands?

Does praying before a meal mean that they are truly grateful for what they eat?

Or are we just going through the motions?

Trying to look like something we are not.

Or trying to become what we have not yet become.

Maybe we are just doing what we do because that is what is expected of us.

or maybe you never really thought about it...

Re-evaluating our motives.

Jesus is going to continue on the theme of hygiene or cleanliness - but not the kind that has to do with dirt.

The discovery of germs or “germ theory” as it was first called didn’t happen until the late 1600s. Anton Von Leeuwenheuk looks through the newly invented microscope and described microorganisms as looking like little animals. Or another scientist Kirchner would call them worms. Over the centuries, these organisms were correlated with outbreaks of various plagues like small pox and cholera. Over the next two centuries people like Pasteur, Koch and Lister would find ways to eliminate bacteria to cure disease.

Now we instinctively avoid germs whenever possible. We wash our hands with antibacterial soap, sterilize all of our plates and utensils and drink purified water.

What if we were as aware of sin as we are of germs?

What is we were as careful of what we put in our mind as we are of what we put in our bodies?

What is we visualized our thoughts and intentions multiplying and spreading like colonies of bacteria?

What if recognizing our own wrong motives, hidden in the back of our minds, produced the same gag reflex as what’s living in the back of your refrigerator?

Am I being too graphic? I think Jesus is telling it pretty much the same way...

Beware of what goes in.

Matthew 15:10–14 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.”

First century Jews were obsessed with cleanliness.

Pilgrims coming to Jerusalem would stop an wash in one of the many public pools - like the pool of Siloam- before entering the temple mount.

Rich people who could afford it would have mikvahs - ritual baths - built right into their house.

One Jewish sect - the Essenes - would ritually bathe every day (imaging that - bathing every day!)

Bathing was a luxury for special people and special occasions - and it was also considered a sign of spiritual purity.

It is in this context and against this backdrop that Jesus makes a rather controversial statement.

What you put in your mouth doesn’t make you unclean - it’s what comes out!

Ok - that’s just disgusting - but he got your attention.

I think his point is to tell you that whatever foul nastiness you are hoping to avoid is already in there.

The germs that cause disease are already inside you - you are already unclean!

Galatians 5:17 NLT

17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Paul elaborates on the teaching of Jesus by describing each of us as having a sinful nature.

If you think that temptation only comes from thoughts and suggestions introduced from outside sources, then you don’t know yourself very well.

Yes, the world and the devil tempt us, but we don’t need their help.

We are quite capable of messing things up all on our own.

The infection is already in there - I don’t care who you think you are - no one is immune!

What, who me?!

That’s what the pharisees said.

You see they were supposed to be the good guys-

That’s what they wanted everyone to think - but at the same time some of them were plotting to kill Jesus.

At the time, I don’t think anyone suspected it - people only saw what was on the outside - but Jesus knew what was in their hearts.

Beware of what comes out.

Matthew 15:15–20 ESV

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.”

So which is worse, germs or sin?

Either one is a tiny little thing that can eventually kill you.

The good thing about germs is that our bodies have an immune system.

Our bodies were gloriously created by God to recognize those tiny little microorganisms that are not supposed to be there and eliminate them.

This is true, not just of germs but of viruses and cancer too.

Those things grow when first introduced, but eventually the body recognizes them as a threat and builds up a defense against them until they are eliminated.

They become deadly when either the body does not discern them as a threat or when the body becomes too weak to defend against it.

Now apply what we just learned to sin?

What is the immune system that God has designed to deal with sin?

Our conscience makes us aware of sin - if its allowed to function.

The Word of God helps us recognize and discern what is sin.

The Holy Spirit helps us overcome temptation by giving us prayers, thoughts and right desires.

Romans 8:26–27 CEV

26 In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27 All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s people.

We don’t always know what is in our hearts - but God knows.

And we don’t need to worry about what God knows we need.

Because God also knows how to get us to where we need to be.

And that is exactly what God is doing...

Restoring God’s purpose.

There is more going on in this passage than Jesus teaching the disciples and the Pharisees, it is about watching what is in their heart.

There is also a corporate aspect to this thing about keeping up appearances but harboring hidden motives.

The Jews were God’s chosen people.

They were the ones to whom God entrusted the law of Moses, the temple and through whom the Messiah would come.

But when Jesus came, many were so used to wearing that as their “thing that makes us better than everyone else” that they weren’t willing to give it up.

You see what God wanted all along was for His people to be a witness for Him to the whole earth — not just to keep it to themselves to make themselves look good.

But to get there, Jesus needs to expose what’s going on inside.

Traditions, rituals and habits are not bad - they are good!

However, they can be a problem when we start to get lazy in our thinking especially when it comes to imagining what God is doing or wanting to do in restoring people to Himself.

We become so accustomed to seeing things a certain way that we don’t even see what God sees or what He is wanting to show us.

We become so accustomed to doing or not doing certain things that we are no longer open to new possibilities.

This is where God has to be able to challenge our traditions - not simply to get rid of them - but to change them where necessary.

He wants us to align with Him - to see what He sees.

You see an annoyance, God sees an opportunity.

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.

Jesus is travelling a bit out Israel’s territory - nice vacation - except for all the foreigners!

You know we do that too.

Church would be great if it were not for all those sinners - why do you thing the church exists?

We start a Bible study - but it gets bogged down because people come with their problems- Um, yeah and that’s why we study the Bible.

Or we go on an outreach - but all we find are broken and helpless people.

They don’t come all cleaned up looking like church people.

And thank goodness - the world doesn’t need more phony perfect people - what we need is more real people who know the grace and power of God in their own lives.

What Jesus said to this woman may seem rude - but what he said was what anyone would have expected him to say according to Jewish tradition.

The Jews were God’s chosen people and Gods children

Hosea 1:10 NLT

10 “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’

It was not uncommon for Jews to refer to Gentiles as dogs - meaning they are to be avoided as potentially dangerous (think street dogs - not pets).

However, this woman, instead of getting offended, turns the metaphor around in an unexpected way.

Even dogs get scraps - hey, throw me a bone!

Jesus is more than amused - she gets it - if the God of Israel is true - then it applies to her too!

The disciples see an annoying woman who is desperate to help her demonically oppressed daughter

And she probably seemed a little crazy herself.

But Jesus sees a woman to whom God is already beginning to reveal Himself.

You see a problem, God sees a possibility.

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.

Last time they had a crown this big, they almost got stranded in the wilderness without food.

Then they got caught in a storm which almost left them stranded at sea.

When the people started streaming toward them, I wonder if any of the disciples thought - Oh, no - not this again!

I don’t know if they did, but I sometimes do.

There is something in the language of this passage that is easy to overlook.

The woman who came to Jesus a few verses ago came and knelt before Him.

The sick people that the crowds brought to Jesus were placed at His feet.

The language is intentional but the message is subtle.

Kneeling, laying at someone’s feet is an act of submission.

It is surrendering your will to that of His.

Tradition may be good, but surrender is better.

I have my way of ding things, but not my will, but yours God!

I may think I know how things should be, but I’m open to something new.

Crowds of people all getting healed, that’s not tradition, that’s revival.

Tradition is good, but it gets in the way when God sends revival.

And the best way to do either or both is to surrender at the feet of Jesus.

Questions for reflection:

Which is more important to you, scripture or tradition? How does your tradition shape the way you read the Bible? How has reading the scripture challenged or even changed your tradition?

What bothers you more, germs or sin? Do you give as much attention to the dirt on the inside as you do the dirt on the outside? What does it take to have clean hands and a pure heart?

Have you become complacent in your tradition? Does being comfortable blind you to opportunities and possibilities that God might want you to consider? Is it time to surrender tradition to the Lordship of Jesus?