Matthew 15:1-9 - The importance of obeging God's Word

The essence of whatever is happening in these verses can also be found in the church scene today. There are people who like to do things the same old way year after year. They don’t care if there are new revelation. They don’t even care if they are bringing in a new transformational effect on the community. Such people disregard a new level of experiences in one’s relationship with God. Like sticks in the mud they’d rather stick to old tradition. Anything new is viewed with suspicion.  

In these verses some Pharisees came from Jerusalem to Galilee to confront Jesus on why His disciples did not keep to the tradition of hand washing before they eat. This seems like a trivial issue, yet to them it warranted such an action. We need to bear in mind that Jesus is heading a new movement and brought people into a new level of relationship with God in a revolutionary way. He was revealing truth in a brand new way that brought people into fresh relationship with God. This frees them to a deeper level of fellowship and worship. People were responding to Him and large crowds were attracted to His authoritative and transforming teachings. What He was doing was viewed as dangerous by the Pharisees. Even though God was not disrespected at any point, they were looking for little tell-tale signs to discredit Him.  

In this passage Jesus did not answer the Pharisees directly. Instead He launched a counter attack that addressed the issue. Jesus told the Pharisees that in their adherence to traditions, they had nullified the Scriptures which is more important than tradition. He pointed out that they had allowed a tradition to cancel out the command to honor one’s father and mother, stipulated in the Ten Commandments. In their tradition, anyone who gave to the Temple the amount equivalent to what was required to sustain their parents through old age, they were under no obligation to keep that command.

Jesus then called them hypocrites. He suggested that they were merely play acting, like people who put on a mask. The mask was their words of piety. But behind the words they had no desire to honor God. Unwittingly, they had raised human tradition above God’s command. This short passage underscores the importance to study the Word of God. When we understand where God is coming from, we can then evaluate the demands of tradition in the light of God’s Word. Some traditions are helpful to discipline living, but we need to make sure they are in alignment with God’s Word. Hence it makes Bible study and understanding the Word absolutely important to right living.