Matthew, Chapter 15

Matt. 15:1-20

Matt. 15:1 "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."

There was a tradition started by the elders of the people that the people were not to eat bread with unwashed hands. The Pharisees criticized the disciples because they followed not the tradition of the elders. They asked Jesus, "Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread." The Pharisees insisted that the people keep the traditions of the elders, even if the tradition was not a scriptural tradition. There are scriptural traditions, such as water baptism, communion service, preaching, singing and praying, etc. We keep these traditions because they are scriptural and because the scriptures teach us that we ought to. However, to eat with unwashed hands was not a scriptural tradition.

The Lord pointed out to the Pharisees that they had traditions that contradicted the commandments of God, yet they held to the tradition and kept not the commandments of God: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free." The tradition was if a person gave a gift to their Father and Mother, then they were free from honoring their father and mother from that point on. This of course is contrary to the commandment of God. Thus, by their tradition, they were making the commandment of God of no effect. This was dishonoring to God.

There are many customs and traditions of men contrary to the commandments of God. We are to keep the commandments of God and certainly leave off the customs or traditions of men that are contrary to the commandments of God.

The custom of washing our hands before we eat bread is not a commandment of God. The disciples were not under obligation to keep the custom of washing hands before they ate bread. While they were free to keep the custom, if they so desired, as it was not contrary to the commandment of God, they were not under obligation to keep it.

The grievousness of the Pharisees position was that they were teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. They were setting the commandments of men as being equal to or greater than the commandments of God and requiring the people to keep the commandments of men.

The Lord called the Pharisees hypocrites: "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." The Pharisees would say good things about God with their mouth and with their lips, but in their heart that devised wickedness and wicked practices. They worshipped vainly in that they taught for doctrines the commandments of men. The Lord called this vain worship. The word, vain, means empty or none effect. Even though the Pharisees taught it for worship, yet God did not receive it as worship. Wherever the doctrines and commandments of men are taught as the doctrine of God, God considers this vain worship.

The disciples told the Lord that the Pharisees were offended by what he said unto them. The Lord's response was, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." The Lord tells us that the heavenly Father had not planted the Pharisees. Certainly, they had not been planted in the kingdom of heaven. Furthermore, the Lord said that they would be rooted up or removed from the kingdom of heaven. In addition, the Lord said that the Pharisees were blind leaders of the blind. Thus, they were spiritually blind and were leading people that were spiritually blind. When the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch of error, false doctrine, and false worship. This was true of the Pharisees and the people that followed them.

The Lord taught the multitude in a parable: "And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." "Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." The Lord tells us plainly that it is not what goes into the mouth but which comes out the mouth that defiles a man. For what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and when the heart is wicked, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies come out of the heart and this defiles the man. The Lord said that to eat with unwashed hands did not defile a man.