Chapel 7/14 Matt. 15

What Defiles a Man

Matthew 15:1–9 ESV

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

Matthew 15:1-9

We have two groups of men coming and questioning Jesus

Pharisees—”separate ones” tightly knit closed group devoted to keeping the Law, by this they distinguished themselves from the common people of the land. They were, I just learned this, most were laymen without social distinction, they were not of the upper class like the Sadduccees. So they depended on the

Scribes, who were “men learned in the Torah, the Jewish Law or the first 5 books of our Bible, they were rabbi’s and the ordained theologians and clergy. One of their main jobs was to transcribe the sacred texts which includes the Laws given by God to Moses.

So, what is the question they come to Jesus with? Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.

So, clearly, as stated by them this question does not revolve around the Law, the guidelines of right and wrong given by God, but around tradition created and established by men.

Most people who just practice religion would be ignorant of the difference between the two, laws of God and tradition. We put faith and trust in our religious leaders, just like the people of Jesus day, and we blindly follow without knowing the origin of the tradition or truly what the laws say.

For most, there’s a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Law or the commands of God. We here law and think restrictions and fail to see them as loving guidelines given by a Father to His children for their safety, protection, and so they can live right with each other and by Him.

For those who want to “please” God, but not do the hard work of reading and studying the Bible to know God’s truth for themselves, it’s easier to have someone tell us what to do and what not to do and have no idea if they are right or not.

Oh, I need to wash my hands before I eat and this pleases God, no problem. Now they had to wash them a specific way ceremonial way, but that is besides the point.

We get a good idea of what’s really going on here by Jesus’ response-

Matthew 15:3 ESV

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Matthew 15:3

So, what’s happening here is Jesus is using this opportunity, this challenge to Him, to challenge them.

This isn’t about washing hands to HIm, of course it’s not wrong or it’s good to wash your hands before you eat. This was a law, but only for the priests alone, not all people.

But an oral tradition from the Pharisees was established that said it was mandatory for all people to ceremonially wash their hands before they eat, thereby binding all people to something that was not a law given by God.

The understanding then is those who wash in this way are right and good with God, and those who don’t aren’t because they are breaking an oral tradition.

What we have here, and this is the dangerous thing about established religions at times, they elevate things taught by men, misinterpreted from God’s Word or just flat out created by men, and they make these things more important than the true commands of God and truly knowing God.

So, Jesus uses a different tradition of the elders to point out how by adhering to it they are actually breaking a command of God.

In this culture it was imperative for the adult children to care for and provide for their elderly parents, it was in God’s laws for them to do so and in fact one of the 10 Commandments instructs this, it’s the 5th commandment, “Honor your father and mother”.

They had established a tradition where instead of setting land or money aside for their parents, they could dedicate it to God.

Sounds good and holy, but in reality it was a way for them to keep the money and land for themselves rather than give it to their parents, this was wrong it was a dishonoring of their parents, it was greed hidden behind a holy vail, and that is what Jesus points out.

Part 2

We have a group of people who appear to be very holy and religious and yet their motives, their hearts are so far from God.

This is the heart of what’s going on here and that is where God always focuses, on the heart.

It is far worse doing the “right things” with the wrong motives and wrong heart, than doing the wrong thing with the right motives and right heart.

What do I mean by that?

External “religious” actions done with a bad heart just to look good, to check boxes, is a dishonoring to God, He sees right through that and so do other people.

We have a word for people who talk religious and act religious, but also live a double life and don’t live according to the faith they profess, they’re called hypocrite and thats what Jesus calls these guys in verse 7.

In verses 10-20, and we’re not going to read them, Jesus tells us what makes us defiled or unclean or not right with God.

He says it’s not what we put into our mouths with clean or dirty hands, it’s what comes out of our mouths, what comes from our hearts, evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander.

These consistent thoughts and intentions, these frequent actions prove a person to be defiled, unclean, and not right with God according to Jesus.

Now, if your heart is good, if you truly want to honor God with your life, you will occasionally do the wrong thing, and God understands that. We are still people who sin, even as followers of Jesus, we are not perfect.

Now this isn’t an easy out, “well God knows my heart so my sin isn’t that bad”, I can’t keep running that excuse out there, that person is also a hypocrite

No, we have to practice what we preach, we have to live lives that honor and glorify God and match the faith we profess.

Now we may be young in our faith, or early on this journey, or even just seeking, this is our time to truly get to know God for who He really is and what He’s done for us. It’s definitely not about being perfect.

We will mess up on occasion, we confess, we repent, we take responsibility for what we’ve done, we make things right, we ask forgiveness if we’ve hurt or offended anyone, and we move on.

Closing

Christianity isn’t perfect people who’ve earned their entrance into heaven because they never make any mistakes, because they’re good enough.

True Christianity is humble people fully aware of their sinfulness and their desperate need of a savior.

With religion, the good are in and the bad are out, but for true biblical Christianity the humble are in and the proud are out.

The proud are those who won’t acknowledge their sinful separation from God and won’t acknowledge that they need a Savior, they need Jesus.

And that’s how one becomes a Christian, he understands his massive sinfulness, and that his sin separates him from God. But also knows and believes that God, who loves him so much sent Jesus, to live the perfect sinless life he is are unable to live, and then die the death that he really deserve.

We place our faith and trust in Jesus and that His life and death on our behalf is sufficient for us, we confess our sin to God, we repent and turn from our sinful lifestyle, and choose and strive to live a life that honors and glorifies God.

It’s a life decision and happens with a simple prayer between you and God.

Matthew 15:10-

Matthew 15:10–20 ESV

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