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The Pharisees gathered around Jesus. So did some of the teachers of the law. All of them had come from Jerusalem. 2 They saw some of his disciples eating food with “unclean” hands. That means they were not washed.
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The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them pure. That’s what the elders teach. 4 When they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.
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So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. “Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?” they asked. “Why do they eat their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
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He replied, “Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said, ” ‘These people honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.
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Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.’ —(Isaiah 29:13)
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You have let go of God’s commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up [human traditions].”
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Jesus then said to them, “You have a fine way of
setting aside God’s commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings [traditions]. 10 Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’—(Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) He also said, ‘If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to
death.’—(Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9)11 But you allow people to say to their parents, ‘Any help you might have received from us is Corban.’ (Corban means ‘a gift set apart for God.’ ) 12 So you no longer let them do anything for their parents. 13You make the word of God useless by putting your own teachings [traditions] in its place. And you do many things like that.”
The Pharisees were very strict in keeping the law and the many traditions they had attached to it, and they were quick to condemn anyone whom they thought was not keeping it to the letter. Washing of hands is really good – especially this
flu season – as is washing of containers and utensils used for food. However, following those rules did not, and will not, gain you “points” with God, much less a place in heaven.
The exaggerated emphasis the Pharisees placed on
following their rules and traditions made them ignore the Word of God and the fact that, above anything else, what He really wanted form them was a their love and a personal relationship with them. (Deut. 6:5 & 10:12)
God sees the heart and He alone knows the truth
of our words and intentions.
God is insulted by our “worship” when it does not come from a loving heart. He does not care about our ceremonies, our sacrifices and offerings, or anything we could do to “worship” Him unless our hearts are completely surrendered to Him and cleansed of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Ignoring the Word of God (the Bible) to follow
our own traditions is like spitting in God’s face! It is like saying to God, “We know better than you,” and then expect Him to be happy with us.
This is an example of a way people pretended to
honor God while actually disobeying Him.
When we try to “earn” God’s favor by following
traditions that are based on men’s ideas, while ignoring God’s Word in the Bible, we are offending Him and “earning” His displeasure. If we want to please Him we have to do things His way, when He says, and in the way He says. Doing otherwise –no matter how good it may seem to us– is to actually disobey Him, and that is sin. That’s why you have to study the Bible!
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Again Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen to me, everyone. Understand this. 15-16 Nothing outside of you can make you ‘unclean’ by going into you. It is what comes out of you that makes you ‘unclean.’ “
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Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching.
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“Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see? Nothing that enters people from the outside can make them ‘unclean.’ 19 It doesn’t go into the heart. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods “clean.”
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He went on to say, “What comes out of people makes them ‘unclean.’ 21Evil thoughts come from the inside, from people’s hearts. So do sexual sins,
stealing and murder. Adultery, 22greed, hate and
cheating come from people’s hearts too. So do
desires that are not pure, and wanting what
belongs to others [envy]. And so do telling lies about others and being proud[arrogance] and being
foolish. 23 All those evil things come from inside a person. They make him ‘unclean.’ “
He is not speaking of physical cleanliness here. He is talking about spiritual matters.
What comes out of us – out of our hearts and
minds – is what makes us “dirty” spiritually.
You are not made “holy” or “saint” by what you
eat or not eat.
What makes the difference is what you let into your heart and mind. Are you allowing God’s Word into your mind? Have you allowed Jesus into your heart?
We count some bad deeds as sin because we only
see the actions of people. However, God sees the root of the sin in our thoughts and intentions long before we actually commit the sinful action. For example, long before you kill someone you have hate or envy or desire for revenge in your heart. All these things are sins in themselves. Our
deepest thoughts and intentions are all before God, as are the words we speak and the actions we perform.
“Washing” the outside through following rules or
making sacrifices or keeping traditions or
ceremonies can do nothing to cleanse the heart and mind of a person.
The only way to be cleansed from all sin is by surrendering yourself to Jesus Christ and asking His forgiveness. Only His blood can take away sin. Only He can make you clean before a Holy God.