OUR FATHER WHO DESIRES OBEDIENCE OVER SACRIFICE

Matthew chapter 15 starts with the religious and academic leaders of the day, having traveled north from Jerusalem to assess what the Lord Jesus was doing in the Samarian territory, observed that the disciples of Jesus did not observe the traditions that were laid down by men.

They approached Jesus with an objection to the fact that his disciples did not wash their hands before they ate bread. The washing of hands before eating was not a legal requirement but had been established as a cultural tradition and the religious leaders were  enforcing the tradition as though it were law.

The passage in Mathew chapter 15 from verse 1 to verse 9 records the confrontation between Jesus and the pharisees on this point.

1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 

3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 

7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 

8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.  

9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

The Lord Jesus turned the hyper-sensitity of the religious leaders to their traditions back on them. Jesus told them that they venerated the man-made cultural norms so highly that they displaced the actual commands of God with their traditions.

He gave an example of a tradition had been set up where a person could say to his parents that whatever they were going to receive from him was a gift to God and by saying this, that person was no longer obilgated to honor his parents with support and thus the law of God that required a person to honor his parents was nullified by a artificial custom.

The Lord, incensed by the scribesˋ and phariseesˋ disregard for the holy law of God, quoted the prophet Isaiah in chapter 29 verse 13 which foretold of the teachers of the law who made a public showing of their peity but were insincere and preferred their own mandates over what God actually required.

“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips,

But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

Amen.

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