Red Letter Bible Study--Matthew 15:1-20 (Mark 7:1-21; Luke 11:37-44)
The Pharisees and scribes call Jesus's disciples out for not washing their hands before they eat. This is a tradition implemented by the elders, but not a law. Jesus turns the question to them by saying they (the Pharisees and scribes) have broken the commandments of God by following man-made traditions instead. Jesus references Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 5:16; and Proverbs 20:20. The Pharisees have made their own amendments to the actual law to suit their own traditions and self-righteousness. Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 to them. Jesus teaches the crowd that it's not what you eat that defiles you (according to the law) but what comes out of your mouth that is unclean. Luke says that one of the scribes said that they took that as an insult.😑 But Jesus wasn't worried about them, because they weren't of God, they were blind and leading the blind. Peter admits the disciples don't really understand either. Jesus breaks it down ever further for them.
The disciples and Jesus (according to Luke) did not wash their hands before dinner, according to the traditions, but not the law. Jesus says why are you so concerned about traditions of men when you blatantly ignore God's law? But the Pharisees weren't worried about whether their hands were clean or dirty. They were trying to catch Jesus in disobedience. Jesus tells them they are nothing more than actors, pretending to care about obedience, yet only obeying their own folklore. He gives one example--God plainly said to honor your parents and not to curse them. But the Pharisees twisted and outright disobeyed the law by claiming a caveat along the lines of--"I would've honored you, mom and dad. But I did the "better" thing and gave all of my honor to God. You understand." No. That's not how God's law works. The Pharisees (and we) don't get to amend the word of God with what we want it to say, or think God would probably like our idea better, so He would accept it. God said what He meant and He meant what He said, and it's not our job to change it.
These verses change me by reminding me the importance of KNOWING God's Word. Traditions of man leave the impression of being right, for example it wasn't wrong to wash your hands before eating. But it wasn't a law of God, it was a heavy yoke of rules and regulations that God never meant for us to wear. By knowing God's Word (Yay for Bible Study plugs in scripture!!) we can KNOW what God does and doesn't expect. We can remove "jump through legalistic hoops" from our schedule, and fill it with the word of God, which frees us to honor God with a near heart; it frees us to walk and lead others with God's 20/20 vision. The traditions of men offer us a list of things we can do to make us feel better about ourselves. But in God's Word, His ACTUAL Word, is light and life.
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