Matthew 15:1-9

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,

² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus responded, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully to his father or mother must be put to death.’

⁵ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

⁶ he is not to ‘honor his father ‘with it. Thus you invalidate the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

⁷ You actors! Isaiah was right when he preached about you:

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

⁹ They worship me in vain; their teachings are only rules taught by men.'”

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tradition vs. truth

Some people seem to think that God is not really interested in what you believe and teach. They think that doctrine just gets in the way of what the LORD really wants. They are convinced that God just wants us to have a relationship with him, and for that relationship to produce worship. They are convinced that what they do matters more than what they believe.

The Pharisees thought that they had a very profound relationship with the LORD. They thought that they were closer to the LORD than anybody else. Their rigid traditions fed that false understanding. What they did (or did not do) convinced them that their hearts were right toward God.

Jesus called them actors. He said their supposed relationship with God was a sham. He quoted Isaiah’s condemnation of a similar people whose religion was hypocritical. What was the basis of Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees? False doctrine! Their teachings indicated that their hearts were not right. Don’t tell me that doctrine is irrelevant.

LORD, give us a right heart-relationship with you, AND a right understanding of your word. We want both.