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.’ ”
It seems incredible that with all the good the Lord Jesus Christ had done and was doing, revealing Himself to be the Son of God in every way, shape, and form that the scribes and Pharisees, (who were supposed to be the religious authorities and “experts” in the law), could neither perceive this or see His Person for who truly He is, and thus would only send some of their own from Jerusalem to Jesus not to know His Person or test His doctrine; but only to try to find some fault with either the Lord Jesus Christ Himself or with His disciples. And so, having observed the disciples eating without having first washed according to their elder’s traditions (which were not requirements of God under the Law, but were only the burdensome commands of men which their forefathers imposed on them) they take great offense in seeing the Lord Jesus Christ allowing His disciples to eat bread without first washing in their prescribed manner. Now under the Law there where many things that could make a Jew ceremonially unclean, and many ceremonially rituals about ceremonially cleansing that they were to observe, however the disciples had not violated any of these things in not washing their hands but had only “violated” the scribes and Pharisees tradition for which they took great offense. And so, having observed these things they come to the Lord Jesus and upbraid Him for allowing His disciples to do so.
Vs. 3-6 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.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus will have none of their hypocritical scolding of Him or His disciples for not upholding their elder’s self-imposed traditions. Indeed, the Lord Jesus will now turn the tables on them and pointily ask them why they transgress the commandment of God because of their tradition, a tradition by which they excused themselves from honoring their parents financially under the guise of honoring God with the money that should have went to them instead, thus leaving neither God nor their parents honored. Indeed, the Lord Jesus in citing the commandment that he who curses father or mother let them be put to death shows that not only did they not honor their parents financially, (as God commands we all do), but very likely they also treated them shamefully and with contempt. Thus, through their strictly adhering to and holding up their own pathetic handwashing ritual as being foundational to their faithfully following and serving God, they were only blind to the far more weighty and important matters in the law. Therefore, the Lord Jesus cites to them God’s command that we are to both honor and revere our parents (see Exodus 20:12; Lev.19:3) as being far more important than ceremonially cleansing oneself according to the traditions of men. For it was by their own evil tradition of justifying their giving what should have gone to their parents as a “gift” to God that they had made the Command of God of no effect, for if they as the religious leaders didn’t observe it, neither than would the people who followed them. Now honoring and revering one’s father and mother is a foundational duty for us all to observe because how we treat our parents is a reflection of how we love, honor, and revere God. Something which the Lord Jesus strongly asserts to them when He cites God’s command which states, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ (Exodus 20:17). Thereby rebuking them (through the law of God) in the strongest of terms.
All which must cause us all to reflect upon any and all church “traditions”, that have been handed down to us, as to whether these have been commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ given through His Word or not. Because in adhering to and upholding any and all man made (and not God commanded) “traditions”, one might also be finding a false sense of security in doing so, in doing those ceremonially “religious” things while ignoring or even overriding the far more important and weighty commands of Christ given us in the New Testament Scriptures, both directly and through His Biblical Apostles. Because observing the “traditions of men” even if passed down from generation to generation is not to be a measure of our obeying, serving, and or honoring our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ only keeping and obeying His Word is.
The Lord Jesus in rebuking them now calls them
hypocrites for strictly adhering to their useless hand washing traditions while
ignoring the much more and exceedingly important commandment of God. For they
are those who justify their own greedy hearts and evil practices, while finding
fault with anyone who does not follow their worthless and meaningless
traditions; which profit neither them or anyone else; and yet for them
righteousness is found by observing their self-imposed traditions; an error
which is not exclusive to them; as many sects and cults and the like do
likewise. Therefore, the Lord Jesus says of them, 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.’ ” vs.8-9
And such they are, for though they may make many religious sounding prayers to God, or even sing God’s praises, but in reality, their heart is far from Him, and so in vain they worship God, because they teach and treat the doctrines of men like the commandments of God. Now as the Apostle Paul says the purpose of the commandment of God is given us so that we might have love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). The commandment of God needs then no amendment. It does not need, nor is it enhanced by one’s traditions. Indeed, as the Pharisees prove bringing in one’s traditions will only decrease the importance and relevance of the commandment of God in the hearts and minds of all those who do so, because it takes ones focus off the commandment of God and puts one’s emphasis on observing the doctrines and traditions of men. Therefore, putting one’s traditions before the commandment of God (or even alongside of the commandment of God) is only to worship God in vain, because it is only by believing the Word of God that we are saved, and in obeying it we are sanctified and instructed (Psalm 19:7-11; John 17-17-19).
Commentary
Vs. 1-2
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.”It seems incredible that with all the good the Lord Jesus Christ had done and was doing, revealing Himself to be the Son of God in every way, shape, and form that the scribes and Pharisees, (who were supposed to be the religious authorities and “experts” in the law), could neither perceive this or see His Person for who truly He is, and thus would only send some of their own from Jerusalem to Jesus not to know His Person or test His doctrine; but only to try to find some fault with either the Lord Jesus Christ Himself or with His disciples. And so, having observed the disciples eating without having first washed according to their elder’s traditions (which were not requirements of God under the Law, but were only the burdensome commands of men which their forefathers imposed on them) they take great offense in seeing the Lord Jesus Christ allowing His disciples to eat bread without first washing in their prescribed manner. Now under the Law there where many things that could make a Jew ceremonially unclean, and many ceremonially rituals about ceremonially cleansing that they were to observe, however the disciples had not violated any of these things in not washing their hands but had only “violated” the scribes and Pharisees tradition for which they took great offense. And so, having observed these things they come to the Lord Jesus and upbraid Him for allowing His disciples to do so.
Vs. 3-6 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.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus will have none of their hypocritical scolding of Him or His disciples for not upholding their elder’s self-imposed traditions. Indeed, the Lord Jesus will now turn the tables on them and pointily ask them why they transgress the commandment of God because of their tradition, a tradition by which they excused themselves from honoring their parents financially under the guise of honoring God with the money that should have went to them instead, thus leaving neither God nor their parents honored. Indeed, the Lord Jesus in citing the commandment that he who curses father or mother let them be put to death shows that not only did they not honor their parents financially, (as God commands we all do), but very likely they also treated them shamefully and with contempt. Thus, through their strictly adhering to and holding up their own pathetic handwashing ritual as being foundational to their faithfully following and serving God, they were only blind to the far more weighty and important matters in the law. Therefore, the Lord Jesus cites to them God’s command that we are to both honor and revere our parents (see Exodus 20:12; Lev.19:3) as being far more important than ceremonially cleansing oneself according to the traditions of men. For it was by their own evil tradition of justifying their giving what should have gone to their parents as a “gift” to God that they had made the Command of God of no effect, for if they as the religious leaders didn’t observe it, neither than would the people who followed them. Now honoring and revering one’s father and mother is a foundational duty for us all to observe because how we treat our parents is a reflection of how we love, honor, and revere God. Something which the Lord Jesus strongly asserts to them when He cites God’s command which states, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ (Exodus 20:17). Thereby rebuking them (through the law of God) in the strongest of terms.
All which must cause us all to reflect upon any and all church “traditions”, that have been handed down to us, as to whether these have been commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ given through His Word or not. Because in adhering to and upholding any and all man made (and not God commanded) “traditions”, one might also be finding a false sense of security in doing so, in doing those ceremonially “religious” things while ignoring or even overriding the far more important and weighty commands of Christ given us in the New Testament Scriptures, both directly and through His Biblical Apostles. Because observing the “traditions of men” even if passed down from generation to generation is not to be a measure of our obeying, serving, and or honoring our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ only keeping and obeying His Word is.
Vs. 7-9
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.’ ”
And such they are, for though they may make many religious sounding prayers to God, or even sing God’s praises, but in reality, their heart is far from Him, and so in vain they worship God, because they teach and treat the doctrines of men like the commandments of God. Now as the Apostle Paul says the purpose of the commandment of God is given us so that we might have love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). The commandment of God needs then no amendment. It does not need, nor is it enhanced by one’s traditions. Indeed, as the Pharisees prove bringing in one’s traditions will only decrease the importance and relevance of the commandment of God in the hearts and minds of all those who do so, because it takes ones focus off the commandment of God and puts one’s emphasis on observing the doctrines and traditions of men. Therefore, putting one’s traditions before the commandment of God (or even alongside of the commandment of God) is only to worship God in vain, because it is only by believing the Word of God that we are saved, and in obeying it we are sanctified and instructed (Psalm 19:7-11; John 17-17-19).
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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