Once again, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Jewish law. They came to him to complain because, evidently, Jesus’s disciples had not washed their hands prior to eating. Of course, washing their hands before eating was not a law from God, but it was a ritual that had been inserted into daily life by the Jewish religious leaders. It was a weighty tradition and considered to be sacred by the religious leaders, and therefore, because it had been taught by the leaders, it was considered to be part of the religious tradition of the Jews as well. It was extremely important to the people of Israel.

I can imagine that each of us would agree with the idea. It is good, and important, to wash our hands before we eat. Anytime that we touch something that is about to go into our mouths, it is probably a good idea, certainly from a hygenic perspective, to wash our hands. No doubt about it.

But that isn’t the sense in which the Pharisees and teachers of the law are coming to Jesus to register their concern and ask the question that they asked. No, instead, this is a delegation that has come out to where Jesus is teaching, having come all of the way from Jerusalem, from the capitol city itself. Jerusalem is the religious center of the Israelites, so these Pharisees and these teachers of the law have come from the top. It is as if we would have said that they have come from “headquarters” to look in on what is happening with Jesus’s ministry.

And when they arrive, what do they see? They see the disciples breaking the traditions of the elders – something that, according to their tradition and teaching, should never be done by anyone, much less by the disciples of an increasingly popular rabbi, a prominent teacher in this area of Galilee.

However, in response, Jesus pointed out to these leaders that while his disciples are breaking the traditions, they, the Pharisees and teachers of the allow, are actually teaching the people to break God’s law.

How are they doing that?

They are telling the people that, despite the commandment – directly from the 10 commandments that we are to honor our father and mother – the teachers are teaching the people that if something that they have is “devoted to God” (also referred to as “corban”), then they don’t have to give it to their parents.

So what are the practical implications of this teaching?

If someone’s parents are in need, then the children of those parents would have an obligation to help them.

However, let’s say that the children don’t want to help. Let’s imagine, instead, that they want to keep their wealth for themselves instead of giving it to their parents. It could be that this person is in need themselves. Or it could be that they just like, and want to keep, that which they should, instead, be giving away.

So the teachers of the law, the religious leaders, gave the people a workaround. If they declare their monies or their goods that they could give to their parents to instead be “corban”, if they declare it to be “devoted to God”, then they don’t have to give it to their parents. They are allowed, instead to keep it, because it is devoted to God.

Sneaky, right?

Right, but also not good…

No, and that is what Jesus is telling the Pharisees. In his reply, he is essentially saying:

You all are coming to me to complain that my disciples are breaking a tradition, something I am not teaching them to do. However, you are actually teaching the people to break God’s law. What right do you have to come to me?

And so Jesus quotes Isaiah, saying that Isaiah was actually speaking about them, about the religious leaders, prophecying about the spiritual teachers of Israel when he said:

These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.

Matthew 15:8-9

Jesus quotes Isaiah and it is recorded in Matthew 15. However, the quote comes from Isaiah 29:13. Jesus is looking back and saying that Isaiah actually is referring to the religious leaders when he spoke these words.

So I think it is worth asking: What about us today?

Do our lives look like what Jesus taught us to do? Or have we adopted cultural norms that teach us and lead us in the way that we live our lives more than does the word of God?

Do our Christian communities follow a Biblical pattern? Or do we instead prefer to follow the ways of the world?

Do our churches look and act the way that Jesus demonstrated for us? Or are we falling into our traditions and what we have preferred to adopt those traditions as a substitute for that which we call Christian community?

I pray that we wouldn’t find ourselves honoring God with our lips with our hearts far from him. And if we are leading our lives, or living within our communities and churches in a way that is far from God or far from the teaching and heart of Christ, that we would turn immediately to honor him not only with our lips, but also with our hearts and with all that God has made us to be.