Matthew: The Saviour and the Scribes (15:1-20)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 2 July 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

Tom and Jerry. Sherlock and Moriarty. Manchester United and Liverpool. Roger Federer and Raffa Nadal. Harry Potter and Voldemort. Often the best moments in sport, literature or entertainment, involve a classic clash between two iconic opponents. And when we turn to the Bible, we also find memorable match ups, showdowns between two sides. The Old Testament records conflicts like that of Moses and Pharoah, David and Goliath. And the New Testament tells us of similar clashes, including between Jesus and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day.

We have already seen this again and again in Matthew’s Gospel. In chapter 3, Pharisees and Sadducees challenged Jesus’ predecessor, John the Baptist. In Matthew 9, Pharisees came to ask why Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. And in Matthew 12, the Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In every part of Matthew, every single section of story in this book, Jesus is confronted by religious leaders, challenged over who he is and what he is doing. And so, our passage this evening is the latest in a long line of showdowns between the Saviour and these scribes. However, it is also an escalation in their conflict, for in 15:1 we read that these ‘Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem...’.

At this time, Jesus is in Galilee, a rural region in the north of Israel, far away from the socially sophisticated and politically important capital of Jerusalem. In British terms, it would be like him ministering in the highlands of Scotland, as far away from London both geographically and culturally as you can get. And yet here we read that a delegation of religious leaders left Jerusalem and travelled into Galilee to see him. These were not local teachers in rural synagogues, as Jesus’ previous opponents had been. No, they were among the most important teachers of the law at the time. It seems Jesus’ ministry was so successful, that even the religious establishment in the capital were having to work out what to do with this teacher in Galilee.

What draws this delegation out from Jerusalem to come and disagree with Jesus? What is at the centre of this conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees? Well, here Matthew tells us that on this occasion, they clashed over two issues. First, in 15:1-9, they disagree over The Standard of Obedience. Then, in 15:10-20, they argue about The Source of Disobedience. Those are the two parts of our passage we will consider together tonight: (1) What must we obey: is it tradition or truth? (15:1-9); (2) Why do we disobey: is it hands or heart? (15:10-20) And as we do so, we shall see that we must avoid the mistakes these Pharisees made, and so avoid clashing with Jesus.

1.     WHAT MUST WE OBEY: IS IT TRADITION OR TRUTH? (15:1-9)

The fact that this is the first issue Jesus deals with should surprise us, for it’s not what the Pharisees asked about. They confront Jesus about his disciples failing to wash their hands before meals. In 15:2, we read that they ask: [READ]. Now this wasn’t a matter of hygiene. The Pharisees aren’t telling the disciples off as a mother might tell her children off for forgetting to wash their hands after going to the toilet. No, the Pharisees aren’t concerned about sanitation. They’re concerned about sanctification. You see, in the Old Testament (Exodus 30), the priests in the tabernacle and temple were required, before they could perform any sacrifice or service, to wash their hands in the bronze basin. This symbolised the need for sinful men living in a sin-stained world to be cleaned, sanctified, before they approached a holy God. And over the years, the teachers of the law had taken these requirements and expanded them to apply not only to priests in the temple, but families in their homes. They reasoned that as we all need to be pure, we should all wash ourselves throughout the day, including our hands before we eat. And elaborate rules and regulations developed for this. During COVID, we all received advice from the Government about washing our hands. However, these Jewish traditions went far beyond that advice, spelling out in exhaustive detail how much water was needed and the specific way each hand must be washed. This tradition had been passed down from generation to generation and, by the time of Jesus, it was widely practiced by many Jews. And so, the Pharisees want to know why the disciples are ignoring it. Why are Jesus’ followers refusing to wash their hands?

That’s the question the Pharisees ask in 15:2, and yet it is not the question that Jesus answers in 15:3. Oh yes, he will talk about handwashing in 15:10-20. However, before Jesus answers their question, he wants to ask his own. For the question of the Pharisees displays a fatal assumption, has a faulty premise, proves that they are following a different set of rules. We all realise the importance of having a shared set of rules. Imagine a rugby match, where one team follows the rules of rugby league and the other of rugby union. Or a football match between an American football team and an English football team. It just wouldn’t work! Unless we play by the same rules, it is chaos. And the same is true here. Jesus realises that he and the Pharisees are playing by a different set of rules. For the key difference between them is not their views on the washing of hands, but the Word of God. Their ultimate disagreement is not the nature of obedience, but the standard for obedience. For these Pharisees are looking to the tradition of the elders to see how they must live, whereas Jesus turns to the truth of God’s Word for his standard.

Our passage reminds us that if we are ever going to understand the Christian faith, we need to grasp hold of what Christians believe about the Bible. Perhaps you’re here tonight, and you don’t understand why we at Grace Church believe or practice something. Why do we not baptise babies (breaking the tradition of many other churches)? Or why do we believe what we do about sexuality and gender (contrary to our current culture)? If you’re asking those kinds of questions, if like these Pharisees you wonder why we break tradition or stand out in society, then see that the answer is found in what we believe about the Bible. For true Christianity begins by taking the Bible to be its authority. It is the truth of God’s Word, not the thoughts or traditions of men, that sets the standard we must obey.

That’s what Jesus explains to the Pharisees. In 15:3, he answers their question with his own question. They accuse the disciples of breaking the tradition of Israel. And so, Jesus accuses them of breaking the commands of God. In 15:4-6, he then provides proof of this, gives an example of how they have broken God’s commands. And finally, in 15:7-9, he quotes the Old Testament to show they are following in the footsteps of their hypocritical ancestors. And through all of this, Jesus shows that the Pharisees are simultaneously making two mistakes, they are making the mistake both of (1) legalism and (2) liberalism. First, they are making the mistake of legalism, for they require what God has not required, command what he has not said. That is the case in their tradition of hand washing. God never said that his people should wash their hands before their meals, and so they cannot require the disciples to do so. The mistake of legalism, is summarised so well in 15:9, where Isaiah speaks of “teaching ...merely human rules.” Or as the ESV poignantly puts it: “they are teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” That’s what legalism is: requiring what God has not required, letting our traditions to go beyond the boundaries of God’s truth.

However, secondly, these Pharisees are also making the mistake of liberalism. Not only are they saying what God has not said, but they are also ignoring what he has said. They are not just treating as doctrines the commandments of men, but they are treating as options the commandments of God. This is what Jesus accuses them of in 15:3. It is not just that they have traditions (e.g. handwashing), but they break God’s Word for the sake of those traditions. In 15:4-6, Jesus gives a clear example of this in the tradition known as ‘Korban’. That’s what this practice is called in Mark 7. It was a way to structure your will before your death, so you could avoid obligations during your life. These Pharisees held that if you made a declaration that, upon your death, all your goods would be given to the temple, devoted to God, then you were free from any obligation to support your family financially. For they argued to give money to parents during your life, meant there is less left to give God upon your death. That is the tradition of Korban. However, Jesus points out this tradition contradicts what God has said. In 15:4-6, he explains: [READ] These Pharisees made the mistakes of both legalism (e.g. adding to what God said) and liberalism (e.g. subtracting from what God said). And by doing so, they revealed that their standard of obedience was not truth, but tradition.

Brothers and sisters, we must make sure that we do not make a similar mistake. Like these Pharisees, it is possible for us to also elevate tradition over truth, whether by legalism or liberalism, adding to or subtracting from God’s Word. Instead, in everything, we should follow the same approach Charles Simeon took when preaching sermons. Who was Charles Simeon? Well he was a famous 19th century minister in Cambridge, and he made it is aim in preaching to ‘never to say more or say less than what the text says’. And we must do the same. What God says, we must say, nothing more and nothing less. What God requires, we must require, nothing more and nothing less. That’s important, in our own personal lives, as we interact with friends and family. But it is especially important in our life together as a church. Brothers and sisters, do you see that if we require others to do something in church life, or in church services, that God does not require of them, then we are exactly like these Pharisees with their handwashing: we have added to God’s Word, made the mistake of legalism. Or if we fail to require in church life or services what God requires, then we have become like these Pharisees with their tradition of korban: we have subtracted from his Word and made the mistake of liberalism. Instead, as a church, everything we do should be regulated by, submitted to the standard of God’s Word. This is what Baptists like us have practiced for centuries, and it is an idea commonly called ‘the Regulative Principle’. It means that in our life together we do no more and no less than what God requires. It means that if we point to any aspect of church life or services, and ask why we do that, our answer should always start with “Because God says”. It must never begin, “Because we say” or “we have always done....”. It must be God’s truth, and not our traditions, that shape the corporate life of the church. Why do we gather like this? Because God says in Hebrews 10:25 that we must not give up meeting together. Why do we preach sermons? Because God says in 2 Timothy 4:2 to preach the word. Why do we sing in services? Because God says in Colossians 3:16 admonish one another through psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Why do we require baptism for membership? Because God says in Acts 2:38 repent and be baptised every one of you. Every part of church life, every part of our services, must be built upon, required by God, or we have no right to require it of others. And if we do, if we fall into the errors of legalism or liberalism, if we let our traditions, whether old or new, add to or subtract from God’s truth, then like these Pharisees and like those in Isaiah’s day, our worship will be considered vain, useless, rejected by God. For the same verdict we read in 15:8-9 will apply to us: [READ].

2.     WHY DO WE DISOBEY: IS IT HANDS OR HEART? (15:10-20)

Having considered the underlying principle in 15:1-9, Jesus now turns to deal with the actual problem in 15:10. Here he finally answers the Pharisee’s question, explains why his disciples do not wash their hands. We’ve already heard that God doesn’t require it of them. However, here Jesus explains that it would also do nothing for them. For defilement is ultimately an internal rather than an external problem. It is a matter not of hands, but of the heart. That’s what Jesus means in that proverb-like parable he tells the crowd in 15:11. There we read: [READ]. If like the disciples, you don’t quite catch what Jesus means by that somewhat cryptic saying, then it is made plain when he takes time to explain it to the disciples in 15:17-20. There he unpacks the proverb for us by explaining: [READ].

Having defended the doctrine of Scripture in the first half of our passage, here Jesus describes the doctrine of sin. He explains that what defiles us, makes us impure before God, keeps us from his presence and leaves us deserving of his just judgment, is not something outside of us, but what is within us. Ultimately, whatever we put into our mouths, whether our hands are washed before we eat it or not, will pass through our digestive system and out the other side. Whereas what festers in and come forth from our hearts truly shows who we are, demonstrates that we are defiled at the very core of our beings. Jesus teaches that sin is not primarily something to be avoided out there, but to be found in here. Jesus explains that sin is like a volcano, it erupts from within us. Even if we can keep it under control for a while, appear as respectable upright religious people, like a dormant volcano, Jesus says our sin is simply bubbling beneath the surface, waiting for an opportunity to burst forth and burn both us and others.

There is a striking example of this even in our passage. For is this not what we see in the lives of these Pharisees? They came accusing the disciples of having defiled hands, and yet Jesus has shown that it is actually they who have defiled hearts. In 15:8, he explains that though they honour God with their lips, their hearts are far from him. Oh yes, they are very religious, appear to be right with God, they wash their hands in the correct way, say all the right things, and yet their hearts are far from God, and from those hearts will come murderous thoughts and evil desires, for when this teacher leaves Galilee and finally visits Jerusalem, in hatred, they will put him to death. They thought sin was only a matter of their hands, whereas Jesus actually shows that it is an issue of the heart.

Christian, do you see sin that way? Do you understand that sin is less about what you do, and more about what you desire? Primarily not a matter of the hands, but of the heart? Oh yes, we can sin with our hands, but that is only ever the symptom of the disease, the source lies in our hearts. It is our desires that drive our deeds. It is the internal that determines the external. Friend, overeating isn’t the problem, greed is. Pornography isn’t the problem, lust is. Harsh words aren’t the problem, anger is. Sin always begins in our hearts, before it ever spreads to our hands. That is why, the writer of Proverbs instructs us in 4:23: ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ Brothers and sisters, are you guarding your heart? Rejecting bitter thoughts [...]? Driving away covetous desires [...]? Shutting out lingering lust [...]? Are you stopping sin from settling in your heart? For if you don’t, if you don’t guard your heart, you can be sure that sin will grow and grow until it bursts forth like a volcano. Christian, do not be fooled, if you give your heart to sin, you can be sure your hands will one day follow.

Maybe you are here tonight, and you don’t see yourself this way. Oh yes, Jesus says in 15:19 that evil comes out of our hearts. But when you look at your own heart, you don’t see much there. You consider yourself to be a fairly religious person. Maybe you’ve grown up in a Christian family, you come along to church, try to read the Bible and live a good life. Of course, no one is perfect, but you don’t feel like murder or adultery lingers in your heart. Well, if that is you tonight, our text shows you that being religious or spiritual does not mean you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus. Afterall, the Pharisees devoted their whole life to religion, knew Scripture inside and out, lived to a moral standard far above what we could attain, and yet they constantly came into conflict with Christ, turned out to be his greatest opponents rather than most faithful disciples. They thought they were morally pure, after all their hands were so clean, and yet sin lay unseen and unaddressed in their hearts.

Could that be you tonight? Could you be far more sinful, in far greater need of forgiveness and mercy, than you currently realise? Could your heart be harbouring the very things that Jesus speaks of here: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander? One way to work out what lies within your heart is to ask yourself this question: What would you do if you could do whatever your heart desired with no consequences? If you could do whatever you wanted, no legal, physical, spiritual, or relational consequences to you or anyone else, what would you do? What would you say or do to a family member who has hurt you, or to a colleague who mistreats you? What would you do with that person you fantasise about or follow with your eyes on the street? What would you take for yourself: what car, house, latest piece of technology would your claim for your own? If we are truly honest, if we look into our hearts long and deep enough, we will find evil that should horrify us, sin that should silence any notion that we are morally pure. For even if our hands seem to be clean, our hearts are not.

These Pharisees thought it was their hands that needed to be washed, when in fact it was really their hearts. And that day they were actually talking to the very one who could do that, could cleanse their hearts from sin. At the start, we said that this clash between these two iconic opponents, Jesus and the religious leaders, was not just the latest in a long line of encounters, but an escalation in the ongoing conflict. The arrival of this delegation from Jerusalem demonstrated that the religious establishment in the capital city had begun to sit up and take notice of Jesus. And throughout the rest of Matthew, they will continue to challenge and oppose him. So much so, that by the time he arrives in Jerusalem, leaves the safety of Galilee and travels into their territory, they are threatened and offended by him, that they conspire to put him to death. Like a volcano, slander, false testimony and murder erupts from their hearts, and the most religious people imaginable commit the most sinful act imaginable, for they crucify the Son of God on the cross. And yet, all this took place not only to reveal sin in our hearts, but to remove it. For on the cross, Jesus bought with his own blood, new hearts for his people. He procured that promise we read from Ezekiel 36 at the start of our service. For if we trust in Jesus as our Saviour, we are cleansed from all impurity by his death and given a new heart through his Spirit. Friend, tonight Jesus tells you that there are evil thoughts in your heart, the seeds of murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. And yet if you take him as your Lord and Saviour, he will give you a new heart, a heart that gradually through the work of his spirit, begins to display those fruit of the spirit we began learning about in Galatians 5 this morning: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.