Scripture:
Matthew 15:1-20 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
The Tradition of the Elders
Matthew 15
1 Then (A) Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, (B) 2 "Why do Your disciples (C) break the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat!" (D) [a]
3 He answered them, "And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said: [b]
Honor your father and your mother; (E) (F) and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death. (G) (H)
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.' [c] In this way, you have revoked God's word [d] because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 These people [e] honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men. " (I) (J)
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, He told them, "Listen and understand: 11 It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles (K) a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." (L)
12 Then the disciples came up and told Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?"
13 He replied, "Every plant that My heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted. (M) 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. [f] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit." (N)
15 Then Peter replied to Him, "Explain this parable to us." (O)
16 "Are even you still lacking in understanding?" He [g] asked. 17 "Don't you realize [h] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? [i] 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. (P) 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, (Q) blasphemies. (R) 20 These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man." (S)
Footnotes:
Matthew 15:2 Lit eat bread = eat a meal
Matthew 15:4 Other mss read commanded, saying
Matthew 15:6 Other mss read then he does not have to honor his father or mother
Matthew 15:6 Other mss read commandment
Matthew 15:8 Other mss add draws near to Me with their mouths, and
Matthew 15:14 Other mss add for the blind
Matthew 15:16 Other mss read Jesus
Matthew 15:17 Other mss add yet
Matthew 15:17 Lit and goes out into the toilet
Cross references:
Matthew 15:1 : Mk 7:1-23;
Matthew 15:1 : Mk 3:22; Jn 1:19;
Matthew 15:2 : Mt 10:1; 26:56; Mk 3:7; 16:20; Lk 6:13; Jn 12:16;
Matthew 15:2 : Lk 11:38; Gl 1:14; Col 2:8; Heb 11:2;
Matthew 15:4 : Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16; Eph 6:2;
Matthew 15:4 : Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16;
Matthew 15:4 : Ex 21:17; Lv 20:9;
Matthew 15:4 : Ex 21:17; Lv 20:9;
Matthew 15:9 : Is 29:13; Ezk 33:31; Col 2:22; Ti 1:14;
Matthew 15:9 : Is 29:13;
Matthew 15:11 : Mt 15:18; Mk 7:15; Ac 21:28; Heb 9:13;
Matthew 15:11 : Ac 10:14-15; 1Tm 4:3;
Matthew 15:13 : Is 60:21; 61:3; Jn 15:2; 1Co 3:9;
Matthew 15:14 : Mal 2:8; Mt 23:16;, 24; Lk 6:39;
Matthew 15:15 : Mt 13:36; Mk 7:17;
Matthew 15:18 : Mt 12:34; Jms 3:6;
Matthew 15:19 : Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; 1Tm 6:4;
Matthew 15:19 : Ex 20:13-16; Gl 5:19-21; Jms 2:4;
Matthew 15:20 : Mt 11:18; Mk 7:2;, 5; 1Co 6:9-10;
Reflection:
What makes a person unclean or unfit to offer God acceptable worship? The Jews went to great pains to ensure that their worship would conform to the instructions which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. God's call to his people was a call to holiness: "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2). In their zeal for holiness many elders developed elaborate traditions which became a burden for the people to carry out in their everyday lives. The Scribes and Pharisees were upset with Jesus because he allowed his disciples to break with their ritual traditions by eating with unclean hands. They sent a delegation all the way from Jerusalem to Galilee to bring their accusation in a face-to-face confrontation with Jesus. Jesus dealt with their accusation by going to the heart of the matter -- by looking at God's intention and purpose for the commandments. Jesus gave an example of how their use of ritual tradition excused them from fulfilling the commandment to honor one's father and mother. If someone wanted to avoid the duty of financially providing for their parents in old age or sickness they could say that their money or goods were an offering "given over to God" and thus exempt from any claim of charity or duty to help others. They broke God's law to fulfull a law of their own making. Jesus explained that they void God's command because they allowed their hearts and minds to be clouded by their own notions of religion.
Jesus accused them specifically of two things. First of hypocrisy. Like actors, who put on a show, they appear to obey God's word in their external practices while they inwardly harbor evil desires and intentions. Secondly, he accused them of abandoning God's word by substituting their own arguments and ingenious interpretations for what God requires. They listened to clever arguments rather than to God's word. Jesus refers them to the prophecy of Isaiah (29:31) where the prophet accuses the people of his day for honoring God with their lips while their hearts went astray because of disobedience to God's laws.
Jesus shocked the religious sensibilities of the Jews by declaring that nothing which "goes into the mouth defiles a person" (Matt. 15:10). This statement meant that all the ritual food laws of the Old Testament were now canceled. God gave these laws to teach his people of the old covenant the importance of offering right sacrifice and worship to God with a clean conscience. Ritual purification was intended to show people the necessity of being not just outwardly clean, but inwardly clean and holy in thought as well as in deed. Jesus points his listeners to the source of true defilement -- evil desires which come from inside a person's innermost being. Sin does not just happen. It first springs from the innermost recesses of our thoughts and intentions, from the secret desires which only the individual soul can conceive. This is precisely why Jesus came to free sinful men and women deceived by the glamor of sin and enslaved by its seductive powers.
God in his mercy freely offers us pardon, healing, and grace for overcoming sin and evil in our lives. But to receive God's mercy and help, we must admit our faults and ask for God's pardon. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9). Only God can change our hearts and make them clean and whole through the power of the Holy Spirit. Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God through his Word and Spirit first brings our sinful intentions and deeds into the light of our conscience that we may recognize them for what they are and call upon his mercy and grace for pardon and healing. Ask the Lord to cleanse you with the purifying fire of his Holy Spirit.
Prayer For The Day:
Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit cleanse my mind and my heart that I may love you purely and serve you worthily.
No comments:
Post a Comment