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| Scribes and Pharisees oppose JESUS |
Introduction.
Matthew continues his story of the Growing Opposition to Jesus, but he interweaves heartening evidence of real LOYALTY from those who appreciate him. The Pharisees are His principal Opponents in this section. L.M. p.387
Mat 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
Mat 15:2 Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 But He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and mother"; and, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die by death."
Mat 15:5 But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever you would gain from me, It is a gift to God;
Mat 15:6 and in no way he honors his father or his mother. And you voided the commandment of God by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Mat 15:10 And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand.
Mat 15:11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
Mat 15:12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?
Mat 15:13 But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
Mat 15:14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Mat 15:15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.
Mat 15:16 And Jesus said, Are you also still without understanding?
Mat 15:17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the waste-bowl?
Mat 15:18 But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;
Mat 15:20 these are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
The Opposition of the Scribes and Pharisees
The Tradition of the Elders
Pious Jews were very careful to keep the Law of Moses. They saw it as God’s gift to the Human race and they,, the People of God,, were entrusted with it.
The Mishnah and the Talmud show how closely they studied the Law. They were fanatical about breaking any of its Provisions. They defined and interpreted all of its meanings.
The Sabbath Day was one Law that came in for so much exaggerated interpretation. If they wanted to give a gift to the poor on the sabbath day then they could not carry the gift outside their homes so as not to commit a Transgression. This lead to so much Hypocrisy.
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| Sabbath Keepers |
Here we have a Controversy between Jesus and Some Pharisees who can come to Galilee from Jerusalem to pick an argument with Him
Mat 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
Mat 15:2 Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
Notes
Then came to Jesus ... - Mark says that they saw the disciples of Jesus eating with unwashed hands.
Mat_15:2
Transgress the tradition of the elders - The world “elders” literally means “old men.” Here it means the “ancients,” or their “ancestors.” The “tradition of the elders” meant something handed down from one to another by memory; some precept or custom not commanded in the written law, but which scribes and Pharisees held themselves bound to observe.
They supposed that when Moses was on Mount Sinai two sets of laws were delivered to him: one, they said, was recorded, and is that contained in the Old Testament; the other was handed down from father to son, and kept uncorrupted to their day. They believed that Moses, before he died, delivered this law to Joshua; he to the Judges; they to the prophets; so that it was kept pure until it was recorded in the Talmuds. In these books these pretended laws are now contained. They are exceedingly numerous and very trifling. They are, however, regarded by the Jews as more important than either Moses or the prophets. Barnes
For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
They wash not their hands - On washing of hands, before and after meat, the Jews laid great stress: they considered eating with unwashed hands to be no ordinary crime; and therefore, to induce men to do it, they feigned that an evil spirit, called Shibta שיבתא, who sits on the hands by night, has a right to sit on the food of him who eats without washing his hands, and make it hurtful to him! They consider the person who undervalues this rite to be no better than a heathen, and consequently excommunicate him. See many examples of this doctrine in Schoettgen and Lightfoot. A,Clark
Mat 15:3 But He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, "Honour your father and mother"; and, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die by death."
Mat 15:5 But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever you would gain from me, It is a gift to God;
Notes
But He answered them and said….
The adversative conjunction “but” is used by Matthew to set Jesus over against His interrogators. Note that Jesus made no attempt to defend the practice of His disciples. He probably decided that to argue over some ridiculous scribal regulation was a waste of time.
“Instead He went right to the root of the matter by drawing attention to the fact that sometimes their tradition, which was intended to help people keep the Law of God, could lead them to break the Law of God.
By concentrating on their tradition this lead them to neglect the Law of God and to engage in practices that involved breaking the Law.
Jesus concentrates his reply on them. He says in v.3 “Why do YOU…….?” They were attacking His disciples but Jesus turns His focus on them.
Where they had been concentrated on the tradition of the Elders….Jesus focuses on their breaking the Commandments of God. Because of your tradition you break the Law of God.
v. 4 - 5. What God has said must not be put on a Par with what some men say.
Honor thy father and mother - This word was taken in great latitude of meaning among the Jews: it not only meant respect and submission, but also to take care of a person, to nourish and support him, to enrich. See Num_22:17; Jdg_13:17; 1Ti_5:17. And that this was the sense of the law, as it respected parents, see Deu_27:16, and see the note on Exo_20:12.
Mat_15:5 But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever you would gain from me, It is a gift to God;
It is a gift - In Mark it is “corban.” The word “corban” is a Hebrew word denoting a gift.
Here it means a thing dedicated to the service of God, and therefore not to be appropriated to any other use. The Jews were in the habit of making such dedications. They devoted their property to God for sacred uses, as they pleased. In doing this they used the word קרבן qaarbaan or κορβᾶν korban, or some similar word, saying, this thing is “corban,” i. e., it is a gift to God, or is sacred to him. The law required that when a dedication of this kind was made it should be fulfilled. “Vow and pay unto the Lord your God,” Psa_76:11. See Deu_23:21. The law of God required that a son should honor his parent; i. e., among other things, that he should provide for his needs when he was old and in distress. Yet the Jewish teachers said that it was more important for a man to dedicate his property to God than to provide for the needs of his parent.
If he had once devoted his property once said it was “corban,” or a gift to God - it could not be appropriated even to the support of a parent. If a parent was needy and poor, and if he should apply to a son for assistance, and the son should reply, though in anger, “It is devoted to God; this property which you need, and by which you might be profited by me, is “corban” - I have given it to God;” the Jews said the property could not be recalled, and the son was not under obligation to aid a parent with it.
Mat 15:6 and in no way he honors his father or his mother. And you voided the commandment of God by your tradition.
Notes
And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free - that is, It is true, father - mother - that by giving to thee this, which I now present, thou mightest be profited by me; but I have gifted it to pious uses, and therefore, at whatever cost to thee, I am not now at liberty to alienate any portion of it. “And,” it is added in Mark (Mar_7:12), “ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother.” To dedicate property to God is indeed lawful and laudable, but not at the expense of filial duty.
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect — cancelled or nullified it “by your tradition.”
Mat 15:7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Notes
Hypocrites - These opponents of Jesus professed deep concern for the service of God and took issue with Jesus over the way his disciples did not follow the Traditions. These men nullified the express commandment of God by their traditions
Isaiah Prophesied about them.
Jesus makes it clear that Isaiah was right about this people. His words fit them to a tee.
"This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
“This people draws near to Me with their mouth,”
They say all the right things but they do not really mean them. It all a matter of outward show and making a good impression. Deep down in their hearts they gave God no honour.
v.9 in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Outward show and rituals are no substitute for the real and genuine worship from the heart.
Mat 15:10 And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand.
Mat 15:11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
Notes
Not that which goeth into the mouth defiles a man - This is an answer to the carping question of the Pharisees, mentioned Mat_15:2, Why do thy disciples eat with unwashed hands? To which our Lord here replies, That what goes into the mouth defiles not the man; i.e. that if, in eating with unwashed hands, any particles of dust, etc., cleaving to the hands, might happen to be taken into the mouth with the food, this did not defile, did not constitute a man a sinner; for it is on this alone the question hinges: thy disciples eat with unwashed hands; therefore they are sinners; for they transgress the tradition of the elders, i.e. the oral law, which they considered equal in authority to the written law; and, indeed, often preferred the former to the latter, so as to make it of none effect, totally to destroy its nature and design, as we have often seen in the preceding notes.
That which comes out of the mouth - That is, what springs from a corrupt unregenerate heart - a perverse will and impure passions - these defile, i.e. make him a sinner.A.C.
Mat 15:12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?
Notes
The Pharisees were offended - None so liable to take offense as formalists and hypocrites, when you attempt to take away the false props from the one, and question the sincerity of the other. Besides, a Pharisee must never be suspected of ignorance, for they are the men, and wisdom must die with them!
Mat 15:13 But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
Notes
Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
Every plant - Every plantation. So I render φυτεια, and so it is translated in the Itala version which accompanies the Greek text in the Codex Bezae, omnis plantatio, and so the word is rendered by Suidas. This gives a different turn to the text. The Pharisees, as a religious body, were now a plantation of trees, which God did not plant, water, nor own: therefore, they should be rooted up, not left to wither and die, but the fellers, and those who root up, (the Roman armies), A. Clark
Mat 15:14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Notes
Blind leaders of the Blind.
Striking expression of the ruinous effects of erroneous teaching!JFB
Mat 15:15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.
Mat 15:16 And Jesus said, Are you also still without understanding?
Mat 15:17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the waste-bowl, [Latrine]
Mat 15:18 But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;
Mat 15:20 these are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
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