The Heart of the Matter (Matthew 15:1-20)

We are often told to be careful because we do not know who is watching us. This is true in all walks of life. After all, when we drive along the road there may be a man with a speed checker around the corner about to tell us the truth. Children often think their parents have more than two eyes because they seem to observe lots of things that the children try to hide.

Jesus told his disciples that they too were under observation spiritually. In the Sermon on the Mount he told them that their heavenly Father watched what they did in secret when they prayed and fasted or gave alms. The Gospel writers often mention that Jesus looked at his disciples when they were engaged in different activities. And we know that it is impossible to be an example without others looking at us. So, there are good ways of being observed.

There are also sinful ways of being observed and we have an example of such in this passage. Representatives of the more conservative religious group in Israel – that is the Pharisees – had been watching the disciples of Jesus and had spotted something to point out to Jesus. The disciples were not keeping the tradition of the elders regarding washing their hands when they ate.

The traditions of the elders

What were the tradition of the elders? The Pharisees said that there were two kinds of laws given by God. One kind was the law given to Moses at Mount Sinai and those requirements are found in the Pentateuch. The other kind was oral law, which was a set of requirements handed down from previous generations. Eventually those laws would be written down, but that was done after the time of Jesus. When they were written down, there was a whole volume concerned with the practice of washing hands. Those oral requirements were given the same status as the laws given by God.

Where did this tradition about washing hands come from? While one cannot be certain, it is reasonable to assume it commenced for two reasons. The first was that individuals did not want to have contaminated hands in a ritualistic sense and the second was that they wanted others to know that their hands were not contaminated. After all, if your dinner companion was unsure about your hands he might be frightened that he would be contaminated by you. Eventually, this tradition became a display of religious pride.

Some features of traditions

One way of looking at this incident is to automatically assume that we would not be in the company of the Pharisees and scribes. Usually, the problem is always with the others, whoever they are. Yet it is impossible to live without having practices that we prefer to engage in.

We know that the Bible does not speak about everything. We are not given a detailed list of what we should do all the time. So we are going to have some practices that become our personal tradition because we may find them useful. It all depends on what we do with our practices because although they may be harmless to us they could become harmful to others if we convince them that such practices are required by God. That is a path to self-righteousness.

An obvious problem with traditions is that no one has only one tradition. Instead, each person will have numerous traditions. The Pharisees had hundreds that they thought were important and they insisted that their followers practice such traditions. They had so many, it would take a long time to check whether they had kept all of them as required.

We can see from this incident another feature of traditions and that is the power it can give over others. The disciples sensed that the Pharisees disapproved of what Jesus had said and it looks as if the disciples were expecting trouble from them. After all, the power was expressed through getting people to go along with their ideas. Jesus regarded those ideas as bondage, and we know that bondage is a wrong use of power.

What did Jesus say to the Pharisees?

The Pharisees had traditions that covered all kinds of situations in human life and one of them was connected to a practice known as Corban. A person may choose to dedicate something to God and give it to his service at some stage. This was a voluntary vow, which God had not commanded anyone to make. As far as the person was concerned, the item now belonged to God, even although it was still in the person’s possession.

Then the individual discovered that his parents were in need. Instead of using the devoted item to meet the needs of his parents, which would have been in line with obedience to the fifth commandment, he merely informed them that he could not do so because the item belonged to God. Of course, he had the authority of the Pharisees to back him up. The individual was saying that obedience to a manmade law had priority over obedience to God’s law. The outcome was that God’s law was disobeyed.

What did this reveal about the Pharisees in the time of Jesus? He gives his explanation in verses 7-9. The first detail is that Jesus regards such people as hypocrites. What does it mean to be a hypocrite? In everyday life, the word is used of someone who does not believe in what he is doing. That does not seem to be how Jesus understood a hypocrite. Instead, a hypocrite was someone who replaced God’s requirements with those of someone else and imagined he was pleasing God.

The second detail is that Jesus said such an attitude was nothing new. It had been happening in the time of Isaiah centuries before. This meant that what God’s Word stated back then was relevant to them. They were like those whom Isaiah had rebuked for their religious priorities.

A third detail is that such a choice revealed that there was something wrong with their hearts. The Pharisees would have been startled to know that their clean hands indicated an unclean heart, that their words of devotion indicated that they were not close to God, and that their worship was futile. While outward ritual is important in the sense that we need to do something, nevertheless if all it does is cover up an unclean heart, it is sinful behaviour.

The problem identified by Jesus

It is obvious that Jesus did not regard this outlook of the Pharisees as trivial. Instead he warned both the crowd and the disciples about what those religious leaders were teaching. He predicted that his Father would yet deal with those who taught wrong things as the Pharisees did. They were like weeds in the Lord’s garden and were about to be removed in the way a gardener gets rid of weeds. Moreover, they were like blind guides who instead of helping people to see did the opposite. The result would be spiritual damage when leader and follower fell into a deep pit.

As far as his teaching was concerned, Jesus taught the opposite of what the Pharisees said. Of course, we know that Jesus was not speaking about personal hygiene here when he says that one can eat with unwashed hands. What he means is that a manmade law cannot replace or cure a defiled heart. Keeping the tradition externally was meaningless. It was not even of value if the person’s heart was right.

What did Jesus want his disciples to do with the Pharisees and their teachings? Jesus had one requirement and that was that his followers should avoid them entirely. Listening to them would lead to spiritual blindness and danger. Jesus says we should avoid anyone whose teachings lead us to disobey God’s Word.

The illustration that Jesus uses is one that reminds us where sin comes from. All sin comes from within humans. We are often prone to lay the blame on situations or on the devil. Yet the fact is that every sin that marks our world is there because humans somewhere chose to behave in that way.

Moreover, we can see that sins include silent thoughts as well as outward actions. It is important for us to note what goes through our minds. Imagine if somehow our thoughts were to appear on a screen for everyone to read. What would be our response? After all, God can read them. We could be ashamed, or we might just be embarrassed. Yet one can be embarrassed because he was caught and not because he was guilty. But it is appropriate to be ashamed of our sinful thoughts. Yet there is more to it than that.

We can see from his description that Jesus is like a surgeon dealing with a severe problem that a person has and who wants to get to the roots to deal with it. Jesus is not merely contrasting inward sins and outward sins. Instead he says that both inward and outward sins come from deep within a person. Personal sin is not a surface issue, a little influence that affects us trivially. Instead, it is a power that affects everything we are. My sin is not an extension of who I am. Instead, it is who I am. I am a sinner. I go astray. I will love to go astray if my heart is not changed. And it is not changed by manmade laws. Human commandments never made anyone holy.

Response

How do we respond to this description of human hearts? We should answer this question by confessing that what is needed is not personal reformation but divine regeneration as far as individuals are concerned. It is not enough to stop doing a few external activities. Instead, the Lord must change the heart.

What should be our response to our personal sinfulness? The answer is repentance. Jesus on numerous occasions made it very clear that his message included the demand for repentance and that without it a person could not enter the kingdom of God. What is repentance? We can use the letters of the word ‘repent’ and say six things about it.

First, repentance includes regret for our sins against God. Second, repentance appreciates the enlightenment received through the gospel – it is stimulated by the contents of the gospel. Third, repentance has a longing for pardon from the God who has been offended. Fourth, repentance dismisses all excuses – there is no attempt to mitigate one’s sins and make them less serious than they are. Fifth, repentance is needed now – there should be no delay. Sixth, repentance is accompanied by trust in Jesus.

A person’s spirituality should deal with spiritual realities. Christian spirituality focuses on one’s relationship with the God of grace through the work of the Holy Spirit leading to ongoing fellowship with the Father and with Jesus, the Saviour. That should be our priority and not meaningless traditions that are of no value in living a spiritual life. We should beware the example of the Pharisees.