WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
INTRODUCTION
There is no reason to doubt that this Gospel was written by Matthew. It presents the narrative of our Lord’s life from the standpoint of the pious Jew; and the evident design of the writer is to show how completely and continually our Lord fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. No other Gospel contains so many quotations from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. In it the predominant aspect of our Lord’s character and work is the Messianic. He was great David’s Greater Son. The keyword of the book is “Behold your King.” As King, His line is traced through the kingly race. As King, He proclaims the kingdom of heaven. As King, He promulgates the laws, describes the subjects, and announces the rewards of the Kingdom. When describing His own action at the last, when He sits on His throne and all nations are gathered before Him, He speaks of Himself as King, Mat_25:40. It was on His avowal of kingship that He was condemned to die. From every viewpoint this Gospel is one of the most precious documents in the world.
By F.B.Meyer
{e-Sword Note: The following material was presented at the end of Matthew in the printed edition}
Find the outline of our Bible study on The Gospel of Matthew at the link below.
Outline Of The Gospel According To Matthew
The King of the House of David
II. PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM, Matthew 4:12 to Matthew 16:12
5. Discourses and Kingdom Parables, Matthew 11:1 to Matthew 16:12
NB !Note:
The Judean ministry of Jesus, which lasted almost one year, is not discussed by Matthew. This one year period is covered in John 1;1 to the end of John 4: and fits between Mat_4:11 and Mat_4:12. Matthew takes us from the temptation directly to the Galilean ministry.
Today we will look at the following question in the outline starting with
Matthew 15:1-9
52. How did the scribes and Pharisees make the command of God of none effect by their traditions?
Traditions and Commandments
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
But he answered and said unto them,
The answer for question 52. How did the scribes and Pharisees make the command of God of none effect by their traditions?
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
|But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Comments by F.B.Meyer
on
Matthew 15:1-9
The answer for 52. How did the scribes and Pharisees make the command of God of none effect by their traditions?As presented by F.B.Meyer.
GOD’S TRUTH ABOVE MEN’S TEACHING
The legal washing of hands before eating was especially sacred in the eyes of the Pharisees. “He who does not wash His hands before eating,” says the Talmud, “is as bad as a murderer.” Jesus had no sympathy with a system that reduced religion to a slavery to outward forms. His new kingdom was in the heart, in loving sonship to God, and in faith. All outward observances had value only as expressions of the inner spirit. He waived aside their deadly pedantry and told His hearers to care above everything for the cleanliness of the heart. He did more; He accused the Pharisees of putting their commandments on a level with the divine requirements, and so rendering the whole of Israel’s worship vain. The divine authority for what is commanded is greatly weakened when it is mixed up with the purely human. A multitude of saints’ days weakens the claims of the Lord’s day. Remember that no gift to God’s service is acceptable if you neglect the claims of those who are related to you by natural ties. Morality in God’s eyes stands far above ritual.
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
E. Defilement Is From Within (15:1-20)
It is often pointed out that Matthew does not follow a chronological order during the early chapters. But from the beginning of chapter 14 to the end, events are largely given in the sequence in which they occurred.
In chapter 15 a dispensational order also emerges. First, the continued haggling and bickering of the Pharisees and scribes (vv. 1-20) anticipates Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. Second, the faith of the Canaanite woman (vv. 21-28) pictures the gospel going out to the Gentiles in this present age. And finally the healing of great crowds (vv. 29-31) and the feeding of 4,000 (vv. 32-39) point to the future millennial age with its world-wide health and prosperity.
15:1, 2 The scribes and Pharisees were unrelenting in their efforts to trap the Savior. A delegation of them came from Jerusalem, charging His disciples with uncleanness for eating with their hands unwashed, therefore violating the tradition of the elders.
In order to appreciate this incident, we must understand the references to clean and unclean, and must know what the Pharisees meant by washing. The whole conception of clean and unclean goes back to the OT. The uncleanness with which the disciples were charged was entirely a ceremonial matter. If a person touched a dead body, for instance, or if he ate certain things, he contracted ceremonial defilement—he was not ritually fit to worship God. Before he could approach God, the law of God required him to go through a cleansing ritual.
But the elders had added tradition to the cleansing rituals. They insisted, for instance, that before a Jew ate, he should put his hands through an elaborate cleansing process, washing not just the hands, but also the arms up to the elbows. If he had been in the marketplace, he was supposed to take a ceremonial bath. Thus, the Pharisees criticized the disciples for failing to observe the intricacies of the washings prescribed by Jewish tradition.
15:3-6 The Lord Jesus reminded His critics that they transgressed the commandment of God, not simply the tradition of the elders. The law commanded men to honor their parents, including supporting them financially if necessary. But the scribes and Pharisees (and many others) did not want to spend money for the support of their aged parents. So they devised a tradition by which to avoid their responsibility. When asked for help by father or mother, all they had to do was recite such words as these: “Any money which I have and which could be used to support you has been dedicated to God, and therefore I cannot give it to you,” and having recited this formula, they were free from financial responsibility to their parents. Following this devious tradition they had thus nullified the Word of God which commanded them to care for their parents.
15:7-9 By their crafty twisting of words they fulfilled the prophecy of Isa_29:13. They professed to honor God with their lips, but their heart was far from Him. Their worship was worthless because they were giving higher priority to the traditions of men than to the Word of God.
15:10, 11 Turning to the multitude, Jesus made a pronouncement of tremendous significance. He declared that not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but rather what comes out. We can scarcely appreciate the revolutionary character of this statement. Under the Levitical code, what went into the mouth did defile a man. The Jews were forbidden to eat the meat of any animal which did not chew the cud and have cloven hooves. They were not allowed to eat a fish unless it had scales and fins. Minute instructions were given by God as to foods that were clean or unclean.
Now the Law-giver paved the way for the abrogation of the whole system of ceremonial defilement. He said that the food which His disciples ate with unwashed hands did not defile them. But the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees—that was truly defiling.
15:12-14 When His disciples brought word that the Pharisees were offended by this denunciation, Jesus answered by comparing them to plants which had not been divinely planted. They were tares rather than wheat. They and their teachings would eventually be rooted up; that is, destroyed. Then He added, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind.” Though professing to be authorities in spiritual matters, they were blind to spiritual realities as were the people they were leading. It was inevitable that both leaders and followers would fall into a ditch.
15:15 The disciples were undoubtedly shaken by this complete reversal of all they had been taught about clean and unclean foods. It was like a parable to them, i.e., an obscure, veiled narrative. Peter verbalized their unsettlement when he asked for an explanation.
15:16, 17 The Lord first expressed wonder that they were so slow to understand, then explained that true defilement is moral, not physical. Edible foods are not intrinsically clean or unclean. In fact, no material thing is evil in itself; it is the abuse of a thing that is wrong. The food man eats enters the mouth, goes into the stomach for digestion, then the unassimilated residue is eliminated. His moral being is not affected—only his body. Today we know that “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1Ti_4:4-5). The passage is not speaking of poisonous plants, of course, but of foods designed by God for human consumption. All are good and should be eaten thankfully. If a person is allergic to some, or cannot tolerate others, he shouldn’t eat them, but in general we can eat with the assurance that God uses food to nourish us physically.
15:18 If food doesn’t defile, then what does? Jesus answered, “… those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” Here the heart is not the organ that pumps blood, but the corrupt source of human motives and desires. This part of man’s moral nature manifests itself by impure thoughts, then by depraved words, then by evil acts.
15:19, 20 Some of the things that defile a man are evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies, (this Greek word includes slander of others).
The Pharisees and scribes were extremely careful concerning the ostentatious, punctilious observance of hand-washing ceremonies. But their inner lives were polluted. They majored in minors and overlooked the matters of real importance. They could criticize the disciples’ failure to keep uninspired traditions, yet plot to kill the Son of God and be guilty of the whole catalog of sin listed in verse 19.
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