Truth vs. Tradition
Matthew 15:1-20
Tradition! There are all sorts of traditions in life. We have family traditions, holiday traditions, community traditions, national traditions, and church traditions. Some traditions are a good thing. They serve a useful function giving us a sense of community with others and continuity with our past. But when it comes to a relationship with God, traditions can often do more harm than good—especially when we put our traditions above the clear commands of the word of God.
Today, we come to a new chapter in our study of the Gospel of Matthew. It begins with a controversy over tradition, a confrontation between the scribes and Pharisees and Jesus. But this is not the first time we have seen Jesus in conflict with the Jewish religious leaders. Recall that in Matthew 9, when Jesus forgives the sin of a paralytic, the scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matt. 9:3). Then, when He ate at Matthew’s house, they were appalled that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 9:11). Next, when Jesus cast a demon from a mute man, the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons” (Matt. 9:34).
In Matthew 12, the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath (Matt. 12:2). When Jesus claimed He was Lord of the Sabbath and proved it by the scriptures and by healing a man with a withered hand, they “went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him” (Matt. 12:14). Again, when Jesus healed a blind and mute demon-possessed man, they accused Him of working in the power of the devil (Matt. 12:24). He utterly disproved their accusation, and said they were a “brood of vipers” who, being evil, were incapable of speaking good things. When they sought to discredit Him by demanding a miraculous sign from Him, He told them that the only sign they would receive would be “the sign of the prophet Jonah”—that is, the sign of His own resurrection after being “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). And He said they had a greater condemnation than the sinful, wicked, pagan nations of the past that repented at the teaching of God (Matt. 12:41-42).
So, you can be certain, that when the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem come to question Jesus in Matthew 15, they come with hostile intentions. They did not come to hear Him teach, wonder at His miracles, or believe in Him as the Son of God. They came to accuse and discredit Him. Matthew 15:1-20 can be outlined this way: 1) The scribes and Pharisees challenge Jesus about tradition and Jesus confronts them about God’s law (Matt. 15:1-9); then, 2) Jesus taught the crowd a principle about true defilement (Matt. 15:10-11); Finally, 3) Jesus explains this further to His disciples (Matt. 15:12-20).
This passage teaches us that religious ‘traditions’ can easily become sinful ‘transgressions’, especially when they cause us to set aside the clear commands of God’s word and become a substitute for a true relationship with God by faith.[1]
So first we see…
1. The Confrontation (Matt. 15:1-9)
A. Pharisees confront Jesus about tradition (15:1-2)
Matthew 15:1-2 says, “Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’”
It is important to understand what the Pharisees are talking about here. They accuse Jesus’ disciples of transgressing “the tradition of the elders.” The word “tradition” (παράδοσις, paradosis) literally means “giving over” or “delivering” something. Metaphorically, it came to refer to the body of precepts handed down by the scribes and rabbis. Thus, “the tradition of the elders” was a set of oral interpretations of the law passed down from one generation to the next.
Historically, from the time of Ezra and the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian captivity, the Jewish leaders and scholars developed a detailed set of rules and regulations related to the law of God. These traditions were not scripture, but they were intended to help God’s people conform to God’s commandments. The trouble was, that by the time of Jesus, these traditions they taught about the law of God became more important than the law itself. The scribes and Pharisees were experts in ‘the traditions of the elders’ and strictly devoted themselves to keeping them. Many of these traditions were later codified in the Jewish Talmud and are still observed in orthodox Judaism today.
The area of the tradition that the Pharisees were concerned about on this day was the washing of hands before eating. Their concern was not so much a matter of “personal hygiene” as it was “ceremonial cleanliness”. They took this ceremonial washing very seriously. You can understand how the Jews felt about washings from what they later wrote in the Talmud. One wrote, “Whoever eats bread without first washing his hands is as though he had sinned with a harlot. Whoever makes light of the washing of his hands will be uprooted from the world. Whoever eats bread without scouring his hands is as though he eats unclean bread” (Sot. 4b).[2] Another wrote, “A person who despises the washing of the hands before a meal is to be excommunicated” (Ber. 19a).[3]
It is important to understand that these traditions were not Scripture. There is no requirement for ceremonial washings before meals in the law of Moses. The only washings prescribed by God were for the priests in their temple service (Exodus 30:17-21, 40:12; 2 Chronicles 4:6). But the traditions of the elders went far beyond the requirements of the law of God. These were religious rules and regulations created by men, not by God.
Even though this tradition is foreign to us, the Jews in Jesus’ day knew all these rules and believed they were binding. In his parallel account, Mark explains,
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. (Mark 7:3-4).
So, it was especially offensive to the Pharisees that this upstart rabbi, Jesus, had not taught His disciples to keep those traditions and observe them carefully. This was the issue that the Pharisees used to try to discredit Jesus.
How did Jesus respond?
B. Jesus confronts the Pharisees about God’s law (15:3-9)
Jesus answered their question in the same way He often answered accusatory questions—by asking them a question in return. He said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matt. 15:3).
Never in the Gospels do we find Jesus basing His actions on the “traditions of the elders”. He never appealed to their traditions, advocated for them, or held them to be authoritative. Instead, Jesus always appealed to the authority of scripture or His own authority as the Son of God. Jesus had no problem breaking with their traditions when they were not prescribed by the word of God. That’s why He would heal people on the Sabbath and allow His disciples to pluck grain and eat it on the Sabbath even though it was against the traditions of the elders. Jesus violated their tradition but always obeyed the word of God.
Which should be more important: the tradition of the elders or God’s commandments? The Pharisees accused Jesus and His disciples of transgressing the traditions. Jesus accused them of transgressing God’s commandments. When you hold your tradition as sacred, you are in danger of putting your tradition above God’s word. That is exactly what the Pharisees did.
In Matthew 15:4-6, Jesus gives them an example of how they put their tradition before God’s word. He first told them, “For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’” (Matt. 15:4), quoting the fifth commandment (Exo. 20:12; Deut. 5:16). Then, He added the Scripture’s warning about the punishment prescribed by the law for the breaking the fifth commandment, “. . . and ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death’” (Exo. 21:17; cf. Deut. 27:16; Pro. 20:20; 30:7). This is God’s word, straight from the ten commandments given by God to Moses and the people of Israel.
Then Jesus contrasted God’s clear commandment with their man-made tradition. “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God’” (Matt. 15:5). Notice the contrast here between “God commanded” and “you say”. The first is the word of God, the second is a tradition of men.
This particular tradition taught that if someone pledged money or other material resources to the temple for the service of God, then the money had to be turned over to the temple upon their death and could not be given to anyone else. The person who made the pledge could still use the money, but they were forbidden from giving it to anyone else because it was now “Corban”—that is, a gift set apart for God (Mark 7:11). It had the appearance of being an act of great devotion to God. But practically, that’s not how it worked out. They didn’t actually give their money to God, they only pledged it to God. That way, they could keep it and use it for themselves, but they didn’t have to use it to help anyone else.
Jesus indicates the problem of this tradition, saying in Matthew 15:6, “‘then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” If a man made this kind of vow and then found out that his aging parents were in financial need, their tradition forbade him from giving anything to them (cf. Mark 7:11-12). Jesus says that by their tradition, they have transgressed the commandment of God (Matt. 15:3). They have nullified or voided the word of God by their tradition (Matt. 15:6). They followed a tradition of vowing their money, and they broke God’s commandment to honor their parents.
When a tradition is treated as a greater authority than the clear word of God, it is in danger of becoming sinful. When it actually makes you transgress the clear commandment of Scripture, then it is sinful. The Pharisees were allowing people to put their possessions under “Corban” as a way of shirking their responsibility to their parents. So, Jesus gave an example where their tradition was in direct contradiction to the commandment of God, but the Pharisees kept the tradition rather than the word of God.
They said they were followers of God, but in reality, they were just followers of tradition. What does that make them? Mathew 15:7, Jesus calls them, “Hypocrites!”
A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something they are not. By holding to their traditions, they could display an outward piety while in their hearts they transgressed God’s law.
Jesus explains their sinful condition by quoting from the prophet Isaiah:
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.’ “ (Matt. 15:7-9).
The danger of resting on religious traditions is that they become a substitute for a true relationship with God. Jesus said they “draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips.” Oh, they knew how to spout their love for God. They knew how to pray in public. They pledged their money to God, but it was all just empty words. They were all talk and outward show. Jesus said, “But their heart is far from Me.” Following religious traditions can never substitute for a true relationship with God. We may fool others with our pious words and legalistic rules, but we cannot fool God. He knows our hearts.
And not only do those traditions give us a false sense of “relationship”; but they also give us a false experience of “worship”. Jesus quotes Isaiah, “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” When we put traditions above the word of God, our worship is in vain. Our worship means nothing. It is empty ritual that does not move our hearts and cannot please God. God doesn’t want you just to go through the motions. He wants your heartfelt worship, repentance, prayer, and obedience.
One commentator said this about tradition,
Satan has no greater allies than hypocrites who go under the guise of God’s people. And hypocrites have no greater ally than tradition, because tradition can be followed mechanically and thoughtlessly, without conviction, sincerity, or purity of heart. Because traditions are made by men, they can be accomplished by men. They require no faith, no trust, no dependence on God . . . they appeal to the flesh by feeding pride and self-righteousness . . . that is why ritual, ceremony, and other religious traditions are more likely to take worshipers further from God than bring them closer. And the further a person is from God, the more vain his worship becomes.[4]
Not all tradition is bad in and of itself. Tradition can connect us with the generations past who served God faithfully. Some traditions may actually help us to know and worship God. But traditions that replace the Word of God, are not just worthless, they are evil. The word of God is our authority not the doctrines of men. We must test everything we do by the word of God. Have we allowed following tradition to become a substitute for a true relationship with God and obedience to His word?
Next week we will look at the rest of this passage, Matthew 15:10-20, as Jesus will teach a universal principle and apply it to His disciples. But what have we learned so far?
This passage teaches us that we should not judge other people by our traditions, they are not sacred. God’s commands always come before our traditions. Listen, nothing that we do in church is sacred except the worship of God according to the word of God. The type of music; the number of services; the times we start and end; the order of service; using a hymnal or a screen; pews or chairs; piano, organ, or band; how we dress; when we stand or sit; how we give our offerings; how often we observe the Lord’s Supper; and many more traditions—none of them is sacred. Worship can look and feel different in different churches and cultures as long as we are worshiping in Spirit and truth according to the word of God. God’s commands always come before man-made rules, regulations, and rituals.
God is not impressed with empty worship traditions. Listen to what the Lord said to His people in Jerusalem in Isaiah 1,
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:11-17).
How many times do we follow religious traditions in worship that we think God is pleased with, or that we think bring us into His favor, when in reality, the Lord can’t endure them because we observe them with sinful hearts and filthy hands that have never been washed cleaned by the blood of Jesus?
Isaiah goes on to write words from the Lord inviting His people to salvation,
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20).
The only way for your sins to be washed away is by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for you. Jesus saves—nothing else. John writes in Revelation that “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth …” has “… loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:5-6).
The old hymn asks,
Have you come to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
The church cannot save you. Religious ceremonies cannot save you. Tradition cannot save you. Trying hard to be good cannot save you. Your sins have separated you from the Holy God who loves you. Your debt to God is greater than you could ever pay. The wages of sin is death. But Jesus Christ came to save. He paid your debt in full with His precious blood. Come to Jesus. Believe He is Lord, that He died for your sins and was raised for your justification. He will save you, justify you, cleanse you, and make you His own.
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[1] Greg Allen, Traditions and Transgressions, https://bethanybible.org/archive/2007/032507.htm
[2] Cited in A. Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, New American Edition (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1949), p. 241.
[3] Ibid.
[4] John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary: Matthew, Moody Publishers, Chicago, 1987, p. 455.
