“Commandments or Tradition”
(Matthew 15:1-20)
Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
November 3, 2019
The Passage
Matthew 15:1-20
1 Then Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
3 He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” 6 he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.”
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s 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 up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he asked. 17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
Introductory Comments:
Have you ever had a situation where someone wanted to come check out what you were doing just to make sure you were doing it correctly, but you didn’t really need their opinion on the matter? That kind of puts you in an awkward position, doesn’t it?
Well, Jesus was put in a situation like that in this passage, but He took it to another level. He took it from awkward to offensive. Let’s check it out and see what we can learn from this passage.
Before we do, let’s pray together.
(prayer)
Remember, that Jesus is getting insanely popular. Everywhere He goes people want to come see and experience the miracles of Jesus.
Well, the Pharisees have heard about Jesus also.
They want to make sure that everything that He is doing is good and right. They want to make sure that He fits with their rules and their ways.
That takes us to today’s passage.
From this passage we’re going to learn about three warnings.
First, we learn about the . . .
I. Warning against false religion (vv. 1-9) [on screen]
Have you ever seen someone live a false religion? I’m not just talking about religions who follow false gods. I’m talking about pretenders!
Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees and the scribes that they were just pretenders.
Let’s look at the passage. Look at verses 1-9.
1 Then Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
3 He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” 6 he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.”
First of all, we see that the bigwigs from Jerusalem came up to Galilee, probably for the purpose of checking on the ministry of Jesus.
Remember, Jesus’ ministry was in Galilee, not in Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem was the center of Judaism at the time. This is where the important religious people lived!
The Pharisees and other leaders probably wanted to see for themselves what Jesus was doing, so they traveled to Galilee. This was not just a short walk, this could have taken six or more days. This must have been important to them because it was a long journey.
As they encounter Jesus they ask this strange question: “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
We see that the Pharisees were doing what Pharisees do: questioning Jesus and His ways.
This question centered around a ceremonial manmade law that devout Jewish people observed. They would ceremonially wash their hands to signify that they were clean before they ate. They weren’t using soap and water to really clean their hands, but just to signify that they were clean. Sometimes, the water that they were using wasn’t even that clean.
This hand washing was all about religious rules and appearances, not about actually being clean.
The Pharisees and scribes didn’t like the fact that Jesus’ disciples didn’t do this.
They were breaking the tradition of the elders, that is, the teachers that had come before them.
Jesus answered, as He so often did, with another question.
Jesus never addresses the hand washing in His answer. He instead points out the problems with false religion.
Jesus comes out swinging by asking, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition?”
To say that the religious leaders are breaking the commandments of God is a big deal. They are the ones who are supposed to be teaching and upholding the commandments of God.
Instead, Jesus says they are breaking God’s commands because of manmade tradition.
Well, what did all of this center around?
Jesus explains that they have neglected the commandment to honor father and mother by creating a manmade law called Corban.
You see, Jewish sons were supposed to honor their parents into adulthood and part of that included saving some land or money to help take care of their parents in their old age. Corban allowed Jewish men to devote a certain amount of land or money towards the temple of God, for whatever reason, and they would be exempt from taking care of their parents. This was not a God-given commandment, this was a manmade tradition.
The religious leaders had created many of their own rules, such as special hand washing, and some of these rules violated the direct commandments of God.
Jesus wasn’t having it. He said they had nullified, or did away with, the Word of God.
Jesus said that they were hypocrites. He said that the prophet Isaiah even prophesied about them saying that their hearts were far from God and they worshiped God in vain. What strong accusations!
Now, thankfully, this isn’t a problem for us, is it church? (pause) We would never require special rules that weren’t in the Bible in order for us to approve of someone or something.
We would never require people to dress a certain way in church in order to meet our approval for appropriate worship attire.
We would never require certain types of songs in our service in order to truly be able to worship, be they hymns or modern songs.
We would never say true churches should have pews, or meet at certain times, or have certain programs throughout the year, would we?
Thankfully, we’re not like that!
However, some people are and some churches are, right?
I’m teasing because I love you, church. Sometimes it’s good to poke fun at ourselves, but to do so in a way that drives us to repentance and obedience.
The truth of the matter is, traditions and preferences matter, but only so much.
Our biggest priority and that which stirs us the most in our worship must be dictated and directed by the Word of God! Amen?
All of the traditions and preferences of man will fall, but the Word of God will remain!
No man or woman was ever saved from their sin, or ever came to know the one true living God because they followed manmade rules, kept a tradition, or held a certain preference. Lives are changed by the living and active Word of God!
Let us not be led in our worship by manmade false religion. Let us be led by the commandments of God and true relationship with our Savior. Amen?
Warning number one is false religion.
Our second warning is a . . .
II. Warning against blind guides (vv. 12-14) [on screen]
Jesus calls out the Pharisees for what they are: blind guides.
Look at verses 12-14.
12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
There’s this awkward situation where the ones who are supposed to hold authority from Jerusalem come and approach the rabbi who is said to teach as one who really has authority: Jesus.
The disciples tell Jesus that this has gone beyond awkward. They say that Jesus has offended the Pharisees.
Jesus doesn’t apologize for the offense, or even soften what He says. Instead, He potentially offends even more. He says that are like weeds that will be pulled up and thrown away. They are like blind guides.
Jesus says, “Leave them alone!” Don’t have anything to do with these blind guides. They aren’t helpful. They are a distraction. They are dangerous.
Jesus compares them to a blind person trying to lead someone away from danger. Rather than helping the person, a blind guide can actually lead both themselves and the other person into danger, like falling into a pit.
The Pharisees were not leading people closer to God as they should have been. Rather, they themselves were far from God and they were leading others away from God.
Here’s the quick application for us, church: don’t follow blind guides and don’t be a blind guide. Don’t follow those who are leading you away from God and don’t behave in such a way; including, but not limited to, creating unnecessary religious rules; that leads other people away from God.
We have a warning against blind guides.
Finally, Jesus gives us a . . .
III. Warning against defiled hearts (vv. 10-20) [on screen]
Look at verses 10-11 again.
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”
Let’s also look at verses 15-20.
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he asked. 17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
Jesus explains this to His hearers in a way that they can understand the heart of what He’s getting at, which is this: it’s not what goes into your body that makes your spiritually unclean, it’s what comes from your heart.
We must remember that the Jewish people took ceremonially cleanliness very seriously. They had all kind of commands and laws from God about cleanliness, and the people even made up extra rules (as we saw in this passage).
However, Jesus is saying that the heart of the matter is whether or not your heart is clean.
Jesus gives the disciples a science lesson to explain this. When you eat something it eventually passes out of your body (except some of the Reeses cups I ate for Halloween. The scale indicates that some of them stuck around). Generally speaking, God created our bodies in such a way that the bad stuff we take in is processed and leaves the body. However, what’s really unhealthy for us, what really makes us unclean is what comes from our hearts and comes out of our mouths, or through our actions.
Jesus lists several sins which come from our hearts. Jesus mentions evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, and slander. He could have very well said many more including gossip, hate, racism, bitterness, pride, greed, and more. Sinful behavior comes from a sinful heart, and that is what makes us unclean before God.
Well, if the heart is the heart of the problem, what are we to do?
The apostle John answers this question for us in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [on screen]
There’s only one way to have a heart made clean and it’s through Jesus Christ!
So, let these warnings from Matthew 15:1-20 serve as signs that point us to the cross of Jesus. We need a true relationship with the Savior. We need to really follow the ways of God, not merely the traditions of mankind. Our worship and lives must focus on God and His ways.
Concluding Thoughts:
Pastor David Platt says, “As long as the thoughts of man are central in the church, the worship of man will be central in the church. Alternatively, as long as the truth of God is central in the church, the worship of God will be central in the church.”
May God and His ways be central in our lives and in First Baptist Church Bartow.
That brings us to our bottom line for today’s sermon:
Bottom Line: Strive for God–centered faithfulness, not man–centered performance. [on screen]
(repeat)
We must faithfully follow the Father. We must not be sidetracked by pretend religion or manmade rules. We must follow God and His ways.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
- Consider your religious preferences. [on screen]
All of us have religious preferences. We prefer one way to worshiping over another. We prefer one translation of the Bible over the other. We have opinions about the way money is spent in the church. We have theories on how missions work should be done.
There’s nothing wrong with preferences, so long as we realize that’s all that they are.
Consider your preferences this week and weigh them against the Word of God.
- Consider your heart. [on screen]
Is your heart dirty? Has your heart ever been made clean by the work of Jesus? Is your heart devoted to the ways of God or to the ways of man?
- Consider some action. [on screen]
What will you do this week as a result of the Word of God?
Consider how you can demonstrate that God’s ways are more important than religious tradition, or manmade rules, or anything else.
God’s commandments matter most. Do you remember what God’s greatest commandments are?
In Mark 12:30-31, Jesus tells us, “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” [on screen]
Love God and love others.
Closing:
As we close, remember it’s a matter of the heart.
You can be the best religious rule-keeper in the world, but that doesn’t mean that you have a relationship with Jesus.
Let’s all examine ourselves now.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
Invitation Song – Only Trust Him
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