Mat 15:1-6 | PNT | STEP | Christ and the Pharisees. The Woman of Canaan . SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 15: Eating with Unwashed Hands. Keeping the Traditions of Men. What Defileth a Man. The Blind Leaders of the Blind. In the Bounds of Tyre and Sidon. The Appeal of the Woman of Canaan. Great Faith and Its Results. Feeding the Four Thousand. Scribes and Pharisees . . . of Jerusalem . Representatives of these bodies, not doubt to counteract the influence of Christ. Compare . These were always bitter opposers of Jesus.

Matthew 15:1-6

Christ and the Pharisees. The Woman of Canaan. SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 15: Eating with Unwashed Hands. Keeping the Traditions of Men. What Defileth a Man. The Blind Leaders of the Blind. In the Bounds of Tyre and Sidon. The Appeal of the Woman of Canaan. Great Faith and Its Results. Feeding the Four Thousand.

Scribes and Pharisees . . . of Jerusalem. Representatives of these bodies, not doubt to counteract the influence of Christ. Compare Mr 7:1-13. These were always bitter opposers of Jesus. Why do thy disciples transgress? Not the law of Moses, but the tradition of the elders, which had as much authority with the Pharisees as the written law.

The tradition of the elders. Purported to be precepts never written in the Scriptures, but handed down from the times of Moses and the elders by oral means. These precepts were spoken of the "law upon the lip", and have been embodied in the Talmud. They were additions to the written word. See Ga 1:14.

For they wash not their hands. The orthodox Jews insisted on washing the hands before eating, not to remove the filth, but less they might have touched something ceremonially unclean. This commandment was purely traditional, but so rigidly did they insist upon observing it that the Rabbi Akiba, imprisoned by the Romans and with scarcely water to sustain life, preferred to use all provided for his ceremonial ablutions, and to die of thirst. Why do ye also transgress? The Lord does not deny their charge, but strikes at the evil by showing that their human traditions led them to break God's written law. For God commanded. See Ex 21:17.

He that curseth, etc. The Ten Commandments promised long life to those who honored father and mother (Ex 20:12 De 5:16). Here the Lord quotes the punishment of dishonoring them. (See also Le 20:9.) On nothing did Moses insist more than respect for parents. Ye say. Following tradition, you say one thing while God says in the law just the opposite. The scribes taught that a Jew by calling his possessions "Corban" (a gift to God, Mr 7:11) was absolved from the duty of caring for his parents, even though he did not afterward devote his property to sacred uses. Thus, by an artifice, the law with respect to parents could be set aside. The Talmud furnishes a curious illustration of this perversion of the command. The Mishna says: ``He that curses his father or his mother is not guilty, unless he curses them with an express mention of the name of Jehovah.'' Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect. Modern Pharisaism does the same. Church tradition leads to dogmas that set aside God's commands. The corruption of the simplicity of early Christianity is due to following human tradition.