What Will We Hold On To?

Introduction

Read text:

Matthew 15:1–14 NASB95

Then some 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 bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 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. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ” After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. “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.”

The church belongs to God. This means the identity we adopt is His. Our directives are from Him. Everything ought to exalt Him and His word.

1 Pet 1:24-25 “For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.”

The next few weeks: The Church, the Pillar and Ground of Truth

Definition

Tradition - something passed down or transmitted from one person to the next (usually over time)

Doctrine - the teaching of God. The revealed will of God expressed

We need to be able to tell the difference between the two because of possible problems:

Making doctrine tradition [baptism for salvation, women leading etc.]

Making tradition doctrine [gospel meeting becoming law]

Caveat = ALL TRADITION IS NOT BAD

2 Thess 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

There are practices, methods that have endured for a reason and it’s because it is good and accomplishes God’s will.

However we need to be honest and say which is which!

Because ONE is what we hold on to and the other is transient!

What makes Tradition/Traditionlism bad is the mindset it can develop

I can develop a mindset that divorces my WHY from my WHAT.

I become more attached to the act/activity than the heart

I view my piety and spirituality through the lense of activity/action/form appearance and not the the state of my heart

God is more interested in my heart than my activity

Amos 5:21-25 ““I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

{c.f. Isa 1:10-15} vs. 13 “I cannot endure iniquity and assembly”

2 Chr 25:1-2 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.”

Any activity I do can become tradition and make me focus more on the what that I do that the why. [Worship, etc.]

When examine the text, we would notice that though it starts with the hands it ends with the heart.

Exegesis

vs. 1 The setting - Pharisees were knowledgable, wanted to please God but there heart.

vs. 2 The question - this is a loaded question

What they are really getting at is your disciples are unclean because they ate food using unwashed hands

Lk 11:37-38 “Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.”

Historically, the Jews had three badges of honour, Dietary Laws, Circumcision, Sabbath keeping

APPL. - They created a barrier with their tradition [wearing pants, ladies class, gospel meeting]

What happens is, the Method becomes the Mandate, the mandate then becomes the Measuring stick!

vs.3-9 The answer

Their logic is flawed. “you break God commands” yet they are worried about breaking the elder’s tradtion

Matthew 2. The Polarization Enacted: From Jew to Gentile (13:53–16:20)

Corban practice in view was that of pledging money or other material resources to the temple to be paid upon one’s death. These funds could therefore not be transferred to anyone else but could still be used for one’s own benefit while one was still alive (v. 5)

We pay no attention to our evil ‘as long as the tradition is kept’. “God said (vs.4), “but you say” (vs. 6)

We create divides over tradition

Caveat: if someone wants to leave because of truth, let them.

vs. 9 Where did Jesus get this quote from?

Isa 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

APPL. “The check box mindset” [It’s really about the heart vs.10]

vs. 12 - Some people are offended

vs. 13-14 Leave them alone! This is one offense that should not be addressed

What Will You Hold On To?