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RUSSELL SANDERS
10-13-2021
MATTHEW 15:1-20 – LESSON 6
TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH – PART 3
The Pharisees had accused Jesus’ band of eating without the traditional hand washing. He in turn accused them of breaking one of the Ten Commandments and called them hypocrites.
He then called to all the people around and gathered a multitude for a teaching moment in the presence of the scribes and Pharisees, the elite Jewish religious leadership.
As he called to them to listen up, Jesus proceeded to preach saying in verse 11, “(It is) Not that which goeth INTO the mouth that defileth a man, but that which cometh OUT of the mouth, this (is what) defileth a man.” His disciples then told Jesus that what he said had greatly offended the scribes and Pharisees. Of course, Jesus knew that already.
The crowd dispersed as Jesus began to teach his disciples in response to their questioning. He spoke that if what they did was not planted in his heavenly Father, it would be rooted up and cast away. The Pharisees’ traditions were not of the heavenly Father. They were spiritually blind. They led others into spiritual blindness. They would all come to naught.
The pharisees had many traditions and rituals that were not founded on the scriptures. Various writings of the scribes over a period of time formed the “extra-biblical” writings called the Talmud which established these non-biblical traditions. Verses 13-14 basically indicate that the works-based traditions cannot get them to heaven. Their hearts were oriented toward works and not toward God the Father.
Verse 13 says, “Every root…shall be rooted up” was a parable which his own disciples did not understand. Tomorrow we will share Jesus’ explanation of the parable.
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