Follow the Rules                            Matthew 15:1-11

As we move through this passage, we will see three things happen. The first is the Pharisees and teachers of the law questioning Jesus; verse 2, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat.”

By examining this we can see this question isn’t really a question. The Pharisees and teachers have ironclad ideas in their heads. They aren’t questioning Jesus as much as challenging him. What they’re really saying is; “This is how we do things. This is how we’ve always done things. You’re not doing it our way.”

And the point of their challenge is telling, Jesus and his disciples have violated the “traditions” of the elders.” Here are the leaders of the faith, the ones charged with leading the populace to God, and they say the disciples have “violated the traditions of the elders.” I don’t know, but don’t you think these religious leaders should have said, “You’re violating the word of God.”

What had happened in ancient Israel was the traditions, all the man-made rules and laws had become authoritative and absolute. And in the minds of the Pharisees, these traditions could be sinned against. Clearly the Pharisees believed the traditions of men had been elevated to the status of scripture. The Pharisees had raised their traditions to the status of scripture as a means to control the nation, “You didn’t do what I say, God will punish you. You didn’t follow our rules, you need to do what I tell you to do as repentance.” Jesus and his disciples are showing ancient Israel, and all the world throughout time; man’s rules are not God’s rules.

Verse 3, “Jesus replied, ‘And why do you break the command of God for the sake of tradition?’” Here is the second of our three things; Jesus doesn’t just give an answer to their question, he almost counter attacks them. He accuses the Pharisees of breaking God’s commandment in order to keep their traditions. Jesus completely turns things around. He put it back on the Pharisees, and he points out they are the sinners for breaking God’s commands, not the disciples for breaking a tradition of the elders.

Jesus knows full well they are just going to justify their actions in their own minds, or dismiss him completely as a heretic, so he gives them an example of God’s law and the way men have made rules to circumvent it. Verse 4, “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother. Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’”

This is the fifth of the Ten Commandments, and it’s pretty straight to the point. There should be no mistaking what it means, yet Jesus points out the nation had made rules and traditions to circumvent the commandment. Verses 5 and 6, “But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother id ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to honor their father or mother with it.”

God tells us to take care of each other, including our elderly parents. Now this might not be as bad as it sounds if both parents and children agreed to live with less and give the majority to those who suffer from lacking. That’s not what Jesus is talking about. This is directed at those who take their parent’s money, those who take possession of their parent’s property for their own purpose and wellbeing and then justify it by claiming to do so in order to give aid, but only give a fraction and lift their status with the rest.

The Spirit of God’s law is clear here, we are not to take from our parents, or anybody else, just to satisfy the requirements of our obligations, or to lift us to a new and higher social standing. To love is to honor. To honor is to do as God commands. And to those who try to justify their behavior, those who justify bending the Commandments to fit their needs or to make it easier to obey by stripping away the law’s spirit, Jesus tells them in verse 6; “Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

And now we come to the third thing, Jesus addresses the crowd directly. He does this to intersect the Pharisees from going to the crowds and telling them Jesus is a fool. Verse 10, “Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.’”

At the time, everything was classified as either clean or unclean. Anything unclean was not allowed in the Temple. Diseases, contaminations, discharges, deformities, all made a person unclean, therefore they were not allowed in the Temple, and they were required to separate themselves from the rest of society. The Pharisees were unyielding in their observance of this. The Pharisees were so concerned with their outward demonstration of their observance; they failed to realize sin was the real reason for defilement. The diseases and other issues they saw as defiling were shadows, representations of the condition of our soul when sin rules our lives.

Verse 8, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” The real source of uncleanness is what’s in one’s heart.

Jesus tells us, one is not a true follower of his if one claims to love him, claims to follow him, claims to be his disciple, and keeps hate, prejudice, and selfishness within their hearts. This is why at the end of our service I say we should keep Jesus at the center of our hearts, because if Jesus is honestly at the center of your heart, hate, prejudice, and selfishness have little room left to occupy.

In this encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus is rejecting them as authentic teachers of the law. He now assumes that role for himself. Jesus wants all people to understand the law was not given by God to provide a litany of binding regulations and traditions. Jesus wants all people to understand that the spirit of God’s law was meant to develop righteousness in the faithful. Jesus wants all people to understand that this righteousness is only possible when we transform our hearts. And the only way one can be transformed in their heart, is to turn to Jesu as Lord and savior, to invite him into our hearts and lives, to accept his forgiveness.

And this, our accepting of his forgiveness, is a stumbling block the size of a boulder for some. Too many accept Christ in their hearts and are saved, and still feel such remorse, such guilt, that they don’t allow themselves to accept forgiveness, and they never feel the total joy, they never see the complete transformation of their lives that comes with Jesus.

Now we are at the part where I can get the most push back. Even true and devoted believers, at times, go through rituals and traditions in their faith. Our service, our observance of Lent, ceremonies, memorizing verses; God sees us do all these, and God sees past all of these. Jesus is saying today, all these, religious observations and traditions don’t do us any good if they are what we rely on, if they are what we hold up as demonstrations of our faithfulness. All we do means nothing if our hearts are not God’s. Verse 9 sums this up, “They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”

This encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees tells us a couple of things. We do not follow the spirit of God’s law if we create and use rituals and traditions to circumvent the law, or to make it easier to uphold. If anyone positions themselves as pious, the perfect example to pattern yourself after to be faithful, turn around. Remember this is what the Pharisees were doing, and they were the farthest from God.

It is not what we eat, it is not how we live, it is not where we worship that puts distance between ourselves and God. How we treat others, how we feel about others, that is what defiles our hearts.

And last, the heart of this passage. Our traditions and rituals may make us feel comfortable, like we belong to something. They may give us a connection with the past, but they do nothing for our relationship with God if we don’t let Christ in our hearts, if we don’t open ourselves up and allow him to transform our hearts. Our traditions are nothing but show if we live in prejudice and discourse, if we don’t live lives that reflect Christ into the world.

1 John chapter 3, verse 18, “Dear children, let us not love with words, but with actions,                and in truth.”

Amen.