Changing the Rules (Matthew 15:1-9)

SCRIPTURE

Matthew 15:1-9
Then 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.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ​‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ​‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

COMMENT

Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots football team, is a football rules expert. He knows how to take advantage of certain situations for the benefit of his team using those rules. He is also known for allegedly violating those rules as well. The Pharisees and scribes knew the rules. I am told they committed the first five books of the Bible to memory. Amazing. But it is one thing to know the rules, and another to know the intent of those rules.

The Pharisees and scribes were like the referees in God's economy. They interpreted the words of God. But sometimes, as is human nature, they did it to their own advantage. Jesus gives the example of forsaking the command to care for parents because they had given that money "to God." 

The Pharisees and scribes were bothered because Jesus's disciples broke the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands when they eat. Especially today, in light of the Corona Virus, this is not a bad thing and might actually offend some. But it was tradition, part of the Jewish customary law. Jesus does not really address this issue, but when questioned, turns a question on them. I think perhaps the important issue here is not what the disciples were doing, but the fact that the Pharisees were scrutinizing the behavior of others when their own behavior had issues that needed to be addressed.

This is not a small matter, as Jesus links this to a matter of worship. He says that the honor given by the Pharisees was only lip service, their heart was actually distant from God. So what does this say about those who focus on rules today, but little else? I would tend to think it says the same thing, that perhaps their heart is actually far from God. Does this mean that behavior does not matter? Of course not, but the first person who we should be scrutinizing is ourselves.