76. Voiding the Law

Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem. When they saw his disciples eating bread with defiled hands, they became critical. (Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, according to the tradition of the elders. They bathe themselves before eating when they come from the market, and hold to many other traditions: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me.
They worship me in vain,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of people.’

“You set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the traditions—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “You reject the commandment of God to keep your tradition. Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother should be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “The help you might have received from me has been dedicated to God’s use,”’ then you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother. You void the word of God by your tradition, and do many things like this.”

He called to the crowd, and said, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of someone, that going in can bring defilement; but the things which proceed out of the heart are what defiles a person. Those who have ears to hear, should listen!”

The disciples came, and said, “Do you know the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

When he had entered a house away from the crowd, his disciples asked about the parable. He said, “Don’t you understand? Whatever goes into you from outside can’t bring defilement because it doesn’t go into your heart, but into your stomach and then out of the body? All foods are clean; it is what proceeds out of your heart that brings defilement: evil thoughts, adultery, sexual sin, murder, theft, covetings, wickedness, deceit, desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. These evil things come from within, and defile you.”

Woe to you Pharisees, who tithe mint and rue and every herb, but bypass justice and the love of God! You ought to have done the former without neglecting the other. Woe to you Pharisees, who love the best seats in the synagogues, and honored greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like hidden graves people walk over without knowing.”

One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”

He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you won’t even lift one finger to carry them. Woe to you who build monuments for the prophets your fathers killed, glorifying what they did. God said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute. The blood of the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation: from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers, who took away the key of knowledge! You wouldn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering, you hindered.”

As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw things out of him.  They lay in wait for him, seeking to catch him in something he might say, in order to accuse him.

Reflection

Jesus had harsh words for those who spoke hypocritically of obeying the law while finding ways around it in their daily lives. Have you run into people who do this? Do you have favorite words of Jesus you follow closely and others you explain away or simply ignore? 

Prayer: Convict me, Lord, when I begin twisting your teachings to fit my own preferences.