Tradition vs. Truth
Matt. 15:1-9 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 "Why do Your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3 He
answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4
For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let
him be put to death.' 5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have
received from me is a gift to God" — 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the
commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
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"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.'"
A. Jesus’ return to populated areas was a return to conflict and trouble!
1. As He was once again surrounded by crowds of people, and once again doing miracles and healing, a
group of scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to question Him. They were from “the Vatican,”
so to speak, the capital, where all the religious leaders and theological schools were.
2. They’d heard of the fame of this itinerant rabbi, and didn’t like what they were hearing. He didn’t place
importance on what they thought was important. In their view, He wasn’t promoting true religion.
3. They were not pleased to discover that His disciples didn’t observe the traditions of the elders. Tradition
comes from a Latin word meaning to pass down, to transmit from one person to another.
4. Tradition per se is neither good nor bad. Traditions that celebrate good values, noble causes and such, are
good. Any tradition based on something false, ungodly or improper is not good.
5. This tradition to wash before eating wasn’t just about hygiene as we might think. It went far beyond that.
It was a very involved ritual that had to be done in a certain way, not just once, but even between courses
of the meal! Many went so far as to say the traditions of the elders were more important than the Law of
God, and observing them was essential for salvation! To disregard the traditions of the elders was a very
serious error, and all the religious Jews knew this!
6. But Jesus never observed these traditions or insisted that His disciples do so. He completely disregarded
what they thought absolutely non-negotiable! He stood for truth, not human tradition, not for a second!
7. The Taliban are religious students of Afghanistan/Pakistan. Before our invasion, they controlled the
population and forced everyone to abide by the religious rules. In Saudi Arabia, there are religious police
who go around enforcing the Islamic laws and traditions. In modern America, we may have a hard time
relating to this sort of thing. But when you think of these scribes and Pharisees, think Taliban, or Saudi
religious police, and you’ll better understand the situation Jesus confronted.
B. How did these traditions and all this religiosity come about?
1. Israel had a long history of disobeying God’s Covenant. They had come to the point where they’d
actually been evicted from their homeland because of it, and exiled to far-away Babylon.
2. While there, many repented of the idolatry and sin that had gotten them to that place, and purposed to be
faithful to God from then on. But when they returned from exile, they were exposed to many corrupting
influences to become more like the world. In reaction to this, there was a movement toward greater piety.
Out of this backdrop came the Hasidim or “pious ones” from which eventually came the scribes and
Pharisees. Pharisee comes from a word that means “separate.” The Pharisees wished to remain separate
from worldly influences. They worried about pollution, the pollution of ungodliness.
3. They studied the Law of God very intently, interpreting and expanding on it. They also believed that God
had given to Moses, not just written laws, but an oral law, which he had passed down to faithful leaders
who’d passed it on to others. This was now the tradition of the elders, and it was every bit as important to
them as the written law. In fact, some saw it as more important!
4. The result of all this was a huge body of laws, interpretations, and traditions that really cluttered up the
spiritual landscape, and the traditions of men had taken the place of the commandments of God.
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5. Though the original motivation of the Pharisees may have been good, like all things human, the
movement had gotten sadly off-track and become corrupted.
6. Most of the Pharisees could no longer see the forest for the trees. They’d forgotten the purpose for it all!
The purpose of the law was to guide them to relationship with God by showing His standards and how
they fell short of them, bringing them to depend upon Him for their righteousness. Relationship with
God was the forest, and the “trees” were the laws and principles meant to bring them to Him.
7. Somehow, these scribes and Pharisees had gotten so focused on the laws of the Lord that they forgot the
Lord of the laws! They weren’t all bad (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Gamaliel), but the movement
as a whole had gradually developed a completely wrong emphasis or focus.
C. Jesus came to bring people back to God, not back to religion.
1. He taught the importance of worshipping God in spirit and truth. (Jn. 4:24) He said the most important
law was to love God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love people as we love ourselves.
2. What He taught and lived was a completely different “system” than what the scribes and Pharisees
promoted, and these two “systems” were absolutely incompatible and at odds with each other.
3. Because of that, He didn’t yield to them one iota. He didn’t compromise with them or pander to them, or
try to see the good of what they stood for. He didn’t accept them as people working for the same goals.
4. His discernment was crystal clear. Their religion was not promoting God’s Kingdom and His will on
earth. It was actually of the other side, and was harming people, keeping them from God. Jesus would
not stand for anything of that sort, any more than He stood for the turning of His Father’s house into a
den of thieves! He went straight to the point and confronted these men and their serious errors.
5. He never denied their accusation; He just came back with one of His own: “You want to know why my
guys transgress the tradition of the elders? I want to know why yours’ transgress the commandment of
God! How could you have gotten to the place where you think your ideas more important than God’s?”
6. God’s Word clearly said to honor fathers and mothers. This meant with words and attitudes, but also in
concrete ways, like helping them financially. Since parents provided for their children growing up,
children should honor them by helping in any way they could later in life. If parents needed money or
something their children had, it was the children’s duty to give it to them (an ancient insurance policy!)
7. God had made this very, very clear. It was one of the 10 Commandments, carved in stone. It was the first
commandment with a promise attached (a long, prosperous life). It was also so serious in the eyes of God
that it carried the death penalty for disobedience!
8. Yet, knowing this, the Jews had developed a tradition that provided an easy out from this commandment!
If your parents asked you for help and you didn’t want to give it to them, you could say that the money,
the property or possession they were asking for was dedicated to God.
9. Wow, doesn’t that sound pious? You’re so spiritual, you’ve dedicated your property or money to God, so
now, you can’t help your poor mom and dad, because God comes first. Aren’t you so religious?!
10. In actual fact however, this tradition was really just a way to excuse selfishness! You could say you’d
dedicated something your parents needed to God just to get out of helping them, then later, take back
what you’d vowed, and keep it for yourself! It was just a spiritual loophole to escape your duty!
D. The ways of the Pharisees were directly opposed to God’s, yet they didn’t see it!
1. Imagine how you’d feel, if you gave orders to your children or employees, and someone came along and
said, “What he/she told you isn’t really important – just ignore that and do this instead”!
2. This was the fifth commandment of God, and it was so important to Him that it carried the death penalty
for disobedience, yet the Pharisees made a way to disregard it, supposedly for religious service!
3. Mark 7 says you could pronounce it “Corban,” a gift consecrated to God. That way, a son’s gift to God
became more important than his obedience to God! God had said what was important. These people
disregarded that, and said something else was more important, thus nullifying God’s command!
4. Jesus called them hypocrites! A hypocrite is a pretender, an actor who gives the appearance of piety and
religion, of living to please God, but it’s only an outward appearance, not an inward reality.
5. Some 7 centuries before, the prophet Isaiah had rebuked his people for hypocrisy, emphasizing outward
form instead of inward substance, and after all they’d been through, here they were again! We human
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beings seem to constantly repeat the same errors! We so often seem to prefer outward expressions of
religion or religiosity to real commitment and obedience!
6. It’s easier for us to speak words of faith and affection toward God than it is to be obedient from the heart.
The Jews slipped away from true to false worship throughout their history. But the Christian Church also
went from true holiness and zeal for God to outward observance within only a couple centuries, and lots
of that continues today. Why is it that so often, we seem to prefer rituals to reality?
7. Jesus said in Lu. 6:46 that it’s not those who call Him, “Lord, Lord,” but those who do what He says that
will make it into the heavenly Kingdom. Ja. 1:22 says it’s not those who just hear the word, but those
who are doers of it that will be blessed. It’s not the man who says he’s a Christian who builds his house
on the rock, but the one who hears what the Lord says and does it whose house will stand.
8. In Is. 1:10-20 and Amos 5, God says He hates religious services and ceremonies when peoples’ hearts
are not really committed to Him, where there’s no sincerity. God seeks for worshippers who will worship
in spirit and truth. He seeks for people who will love Him truly, from their hearts, not just with their
nice-sounding words, speeches, and ceremonies.
9. That’s why James also says that faith without works is dead. True faith in God, true worship of Him,
will always be expressed in a life conformed to His will in obedience. Otherwise, it is useless and vain!
10. The scribes and Pharisees had all these rituals and ceremonies, all these rules. They thought they were
so pious and holy. But in reality, they taught their own system of righteousness, their own way to
approach God. Instead of doing what He required, they just wanted to look religious in front of others.
11. They actually offended God; they didn’t live to please Him, and they preferred it that way! But Jesus
would not let them get away with it. He exposed their hypocrisy, and they eventually killed Him for it!
Matt. 15:10-1410 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 Not
what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 12 Then His
disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"
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But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let
them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."
E. Jesus publically contradicted and corrected the wrong teaching to which Israel was so accustomed.
1. Even though it would cause Him grief, He taught the way of God in truth. It wasn’t the outward rituals
and traditions that counted with God. No, God has always looked at the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7)
2. It wasn’t outward things like what you ate or whether or not you washed a certain way that made you
clean before God. The real defilement or pollution is inward, in our fallen, sinful nature. What’s in our
hearts comes out when we speak and defiles us. That’s why Jesus came, to die for our sins and give us a
new heart that could live in obedience to Him, motivated by love, empowered by His Spirit.
3. The Jews had gotten to the point where their dietary laws were more important than love, holiness,
sincerity, and obedience to God. They washed outwardly, but inside they were corrupt and ungodly.
F. That’s why the way of the Lord was so very offensive to the scribes and Pharisees!
1. His teachings contradicted theirs, which made them feel demeaned in front of the people and diminished
their authority. They also felt threatened, because they knew that if people accepted what Jesus taught,
their very position and importance in Judaism was in jeopardy.
2. Their pride caused them to feel offended. They were proud of their religion. It made them better than the
common people. They were the pious, disciplined ones. Their religion made them more important than
others. It made them holier. That pride needed to be offended! These people needed to change direction!
3. Jesus made it very plain that the whole religious movement of the scribes and Pharisees was not of God!
He had not “planted” them! They were some of the tares sown among wheat mentioned in an earlier
parable. Their ideas and ways were not of God – they had been “sown” by the enemy!
4. Their destiny was to be uprooted! They were going to be judged and cut off. They were on the wrong
track, and everything they’d been trying so hard to build up was in vain, destined for destruction!
5. The scribes and Pharisees saw themselves as guides to the blind. They thought they knew God’s truth
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and were appointed to teach it to others. Paul speaks of this in Ro. 2:17-24.
6. Jesus said yes, they were indeed guides to the blind, but the problem was, they were blind guides! They
wanted to lead. They thought they knew what was best, and what direction the people needed to go.
7. But they were deceived! They had been high jacked! It’s so shocking to realize a person or group can
think themselves right with God, yet be 180o off course!
8. It reminds me of Rev. 3, the word of the Lord to the Laodicean church. They thought they were rich,
increased with goods, and in need of nothing, but Jesus said they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind
and naked! The worst condition to be in is to think you’re doing well when you’re not! Pride blinds!!
9. Jesus said leave them. Stay away from them. They’re blind leaders of the blind, destined to fall into the
ditch, destined to be uprooted and destroyed, along with all who follow them!
Matt. 15:15-20 15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us." 16 So Jesus said, "Are you
also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the
stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they
defile a 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 unwashed hands does not defile a man."
G. Still further explanation was needed! Human beings look at the outside. We don’t see the heart!
1. Peter still didn’t get it, and he wouldn’t for several more years! Jesus expressed frustration. They should
all have understood! God had been teaching this for centuries, yet still, His people didn’t understand!
2. The heart is what counts. That is, the inward self, who we really are inside, not who we pretend to be
outwardly. God is very much interested in cleanliness, but He wants us to be clean inside. He wants us to
be righteous and holy, as He is holy. Then we can truly be in relationship with Him as His people.
3. David came to understand this. In Ps. 51, he recognized God didn’t want just a religious sacrifice or
service. He wanted repentance from the heart. He wanted a clean heart, consecrated to Him.
4. Many don’t realize that the food regulations of the OT were mainly about setting Israel apart as a special,
holy people. Sure, some of them had to do with health issues too. But mostly, they were about being
obedient and set apart to God. Outward rules and dietary laws could never purify the inside of a person.
5. God’s focus has always been the heart. The Pharisees were missing the whole point. They focused on the
foods and the washings and all of that, while inwardly, they were prideful, unloving, and ungodly.
6. What they ate could never pollute their hearts. But what they thought and dwelt upon could! If the inside
is unclean, and we’re thinking evil thoughts, hating, lusting, wanting what isn’t ours, lying, speaking
things against God or acting as if we were our own gods, those are the things that can defile!
7. Outward religion can never cleanse the heart. It can never truly please God. So true worship can never
consist of just religious ceremonies, rituals, and traditions. It’s the heart that God is after!
8. God is looking for truth, not tradition. He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. No one
can truly worship God unless they have submitted their heart to Him. A heart that is submitted to God
and in relationship with God will be a cleansed heart, because no one can be in relationship with God and
walking in sin at the same time.
9. Pollution is a bad thing. Cleanliness is what God desires. But the most dangerous pollution isn’t in the
atmosphere, it’s in the heart of man. That pollution can never be removed by traditions and rituals. It can
only be cleansed by repentance and faith in Jesus!
Are there any traditions we have that keep us from relationship with God? Let’s get rid of them once and for all!
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