The Gospel of Matthew
The tradition of the Pharisees
Chapter 15: 1-20
The temple was in Jerusalem, the capital of the Roman province of Judea, and that was where the Pharisees led their conspiracy to kill the Lord Jesus (chapter 12:14, Mark 3: 6, Luke 6:11).
The Lord had stayed in the province of Galilee, avoiding Judea because of their conspiracy (John 7:1). He would also caution His followers against the Sadducees (chapter. 16:6). The conspirators were facing a big difficulty: it was necessary to destroy His integrity, admired by His followers, as no sin could be found in Him.
The Pharisees (guardians of tradition), and some of the scribes (the legalizers), came from Jerusalem to where He was, and noticed that some of His disciples ate bread without first washing their hands.
It was not a matter of simple lack of hygiene, but traditionally "the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches." (Mark 7: 3.4).
This was a regulation passed on verbally by the elders of the people, which later came to be a part of sector of "purifications" of the code of Israelite laws called Mishnah. They are not found in the Law of Moses but were added as a post-biblical supplement.
To wash their hands before eating was not required by the Law of Moses, but the Pharisees and the scribes considered that this was part of the sanctity of life. It became an obligatory ritual, with various regulations, involving not only washing before, but also after, and even during meals. Hands had to be immersed. The water had to be "pure", and the utensils had to be ceremonially “clean”. There were jars suitable for water used in the purifications (2 John: 6-8).
Thus, the issue raised on this occasion by the enemies of the Lord had nothing to do with etiquette or hygiene, but it was a serious sin in their understanding.
The Lord Jesus admitted that the disciples had transgressed traditions. To Him this was not important. Much more serious was the fact that the Pharisees had replaced the Law of God by the tradition of men. When they opposed each other, which happened frequently, the Pharisees transgressed the commandment of God "because of their tradition".
Tradition itself was neither good nor bad. It was the simple passage of a custom through generations. However, the custom ended up becoming as strong as the law, eventually establishing itself in the Talmud through the Mishnah. The Lord could not compromise on this matter, since He taught the true justice and spiritual freedom, not bondage to ritualism and to tradition. The Pharisees placed tradition above the Law of God.
To illustrate this great sin they committed, the Lord Jesus cites an example: the law required children to honour their parents. This included financial sustenance. However, tradition allowed that law to be broken if the son said the financial support owed to them according to law was "corban" (that is, a gift to God: Mark 7:11), which meant it would be used for God. With this magic word, he was exempt from obeying the fifth commandment.
In this way, the Pharisees invalidated the word of God by their tradition. This charge by the Lord Jesus made insignificant any discussion on whether or not to wash their hands before eating. Their vagaries and immoral conduct eliminated the moral force of the law of God. Hypocrisy characterized the conduct of the Pharisees, for they honoured God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him, worshipping God in vain, because they taught doctrines that were nothing but precepts of men. Isaiah, who lived seven centuries before this episode, had already prophesied about them (Isaiah 29: 13).
Leaving the Pharisees and scribes, the Lord called the crowd to Himself and told them to pay attention and to understand the following: "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." He was making a vital distinction between what enters the mouth, which is something material, and what comes out of the mouth, which is the verbal expression, speech.
Here “to defile” comes as translation of a Greek word, koinos, which, among others, has the meaning of "impure", or "vulgar", in the ceremonial or real sense. The person who, in the religious sense was "impure" or "vulgar”, was forbidden to take part in Jewish rituals.
Defilement in this sense was very relevant for Legalists and Pharisees. The Lord was stating that what defiles man is not what he eats, but moral impurity is revealed by what he says and teaches. With His authority, the Lord Jesus overcomes the Levitical distinction between what is "pure" and "defiled" and leaves behind the traditions of the elders.
The Pharisees, as was to be expected, were "offended" with this statement of the Lord Jesus. That is, they took umbrage, they were angry and they were shocked. They had suffered a public rebuke, and it hurt even more because it was true. Their embarrassment was such that it showed in their faces, and it was noticed by the disciples.
God's ways are perfect. He gave to men through Moses a perfect, instructive law that shows their sin, and points to the need for an atonement, first through animals “pure” and without blemish, then through Jesus Christ, the Saviour of Whom they are a symbol.
But evil men, hypocrites, have tried down through the ages to replace the paths of God, taught in His Word, the Bible, by their own inventions that are first added and then invalidate what proceeded from God.
The Lord Jesus here says: "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." Just as at the second coming of Christ the tares are separated from the wheat, to be thrown in hell, also these false religious systems are doomed to eternal perdition.
The founders and leaders of these sects, many of them rich, powerful and "traditional", are blind leaders; now, if a blind man leads the blind, both shall fall into the pit. The Lord’s instruction to us is to "leave them alone ". It is not for us to fight to correct their behaviour. If they know the Gospel but the reject it, their fate is already defined.
The disciples had not understood, or feared to misunderstand what the Lord Jesus had said about what defiles the man, and Peter took it upon himself to ask for an explanation.
The perplexity of the disciples is not surprising: living in a religious culture where the ritual of the law, joined with traditional rites, were of vital importance, they had difficulty in understanding this new conception of purity that the Lord Jesus was instilling. Mark notes that, in this explanation, the Lord Jesus qualifies all food as "purified". (Mark 7:19).
Even now, there is a crowd of people who feel that to please God it is enough to go through a ceremony and practice varied rituals to purify the outside. The Lord Jesus seemed surprised that His disciples had not readily understood what He had stated, in spite of all the teaching He had already given them. They were still very immature.
He also expects us to use our intellect or perception to understand the teaching found in His Word. Sometimes we are held back by traditional notions and refuse to give sufficient attention to what the text actually is telling us. As the disciples on that occasion, we think, “it is written that way, but there must be a different interpretation so that the teaching may fit in with what I know it should be". God does not use "mysteries" in His word - the Holy Spirit inspired its authors to say what God wants us to know - no more, no less.
The words we say come from the heart, so they are a proof of character. "Heart" means personality, not only the source of emotions. Evil thoughts are revealed in evil words and actions. These defile a man, not what he eats.
R David Jones
Previous
Next
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 honour 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.' "
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand:
11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"
13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."
15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."
16 So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?
17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."
Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 to 20