Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #24 - 15:1-20)
B. 15:1-20 ESSENTIAL FALSITY OF THE PHARISEE POSITION
1. 15:1-11 TRADITION MAKING VOID THE WORD OF GOD
a. 15:1-2 THE PHARISEES NIT-PICK+
TOte proSERchon-tai [4334] toIeSOU aPO Ie-ro-soLUmon Pha-riSAIoi kai gram-maTEIS, LEgon-tes,
Then come to :Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and Scribes, saying,
DiA ti hoi ma-theTAI sou pa-raBAInou-sin [3845]ten paRAdo-sin [3862]ton pres-buTEron [4245]?
2 Why do your :disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
ou gar NIPton-tai [3538] tas CHEIras HOtan ARton esTHIo-sin.
for they wash not theirhands when they eat bread.
b. 15:3 JESUS REVERSES THE SITUATION
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen auTOIS, DiA ti kai huMEIS pa-raBAIne-te [3845]
But he answered and said to them, Why do YOU also transgress
ten en-toLEN [1785]tou TheOU diA ten paRAdo-sin [3862]huMON?
the commandment of :God because of your :tradition?
c. 15:4 GOD'S WORD THROUGH MOSES
ho gar TheOS EIpen, TIma [5091] ton paTEra kai ten meTEra:
For :God said, Honor your:father and :mother:
kai, Ho ka-ko-loGON [2551]paTEra e meTEra, thaNAto [2288]te-leuTAto [5053].
and, Who reviles father or mother, let him die.
d. 15:5 THE HYPOCRISY OF THE PHARISEES
huMEIS de LEge-te, Hos an EIpeto paTRI ete meTRI,
But YOU say, Whoever shall say to his:father or :mother,
DOron [1435]ho eAN ex eMOU o-phe-leTHES [5623], ou metiMEsei ton paTEra auTOU.
That with which you might have profited by me is a gift to God, shall in no wise honor his :father.
e. 15:6 And you made void the law of :God because of your :tradition.
kai e-kuROsa-te [208]ton NOmon tou TheOU diA ten paRAdo-sin huMON.
f. 15:7-8 JESUS NAILS THEIR HYPOCRISY
hu-po-kriTAI [5273], kaLOS e-proPHEteu-sen peRI huMON E-SAIas, LEgon,
Youhypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
Ho laOS HOUtos tois CHEIleSIN [5491] me tiMA; hede karDIa auTON PORroaPEchei [568]ap' eMOU.
g. 15:9 But in vain they worship me, Teaching fordoctrines precepts of men.
MAten [3155]de SEbonTAI [4576]me, diDAskon-tes di-da-skaLIas enTALma-ta [1778]anTHROpon.
h. 15:10-11 JESUS EMPHASIZES THE PROBLEM
kai pro-ska-leSAme-nos [4341] ton OCHlon, EIpen auTOIS, A-KOUe-te, kai suNIe-te [4920]:
And he called to him the crowd, and said to them, Hear, and understand:
ou to ei-serCHOme-non eis to STOma koiNOI [2840] ton ANthro-pon;
11Not what comes into the mouth defiles the man;
alLA to ek-po-reuOme-non [1607] ek tou STOma-tos, TOUto koiNOI ton ANthro-pon.
but what goes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.
2. 15:12-14 COMMAND: LEAVE BLIND GUIDES ALONE!
a. 15:12 THE DISCIPLES' CONCERN
TOte pro-selTHONtes hoi ma-theTAI, LEgou-sin auTO,
Then come the disciples, andsay to him,
OIdas HOti hoi Pha-riSAIoi aKOUsan-tes ton LOgon, e-skan-daLISthe-san [4624]?
Do you not know that the Pharisees were stumbled, when they heard the saying?
b. 15:13 JESUS' STERN REPLY
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, PAsa phuTEIa [5451]
But he answered and said, Every planting
hen ouk ePHUteu-sen [5452] ho paTER mou ho ouRAni-os, e-kri-zoTHEse-tai [1610].
which my :heavenly :Father planted not, shall be rooted up.
c. 15:14a Leave them, they are blind guides.
Aphe-te [863]auTOUS, tuphLOI [5185]ei-sin ho-deGOI [3595].
d. 15:14b And if theblind lead the blind, both shall fall into a pit.
tuphLOS de tuphLON eAN ho-deGE, amPHOte-roi [297]eis BOthu-non [999]peSOUNtai [4098].
3. 15:15-20 INTERPRETATION OF WORDS THAT DEFILE
a. 15:15 And :Peter answered andsaid to him, Declare to us the parable.
A-po-kriTHEIS de ho PEtros EIpen auTO, PHRAson [5419]heMIN ten pa-ra-boLEN.
b. 15:16 And he said, Are you also even yet without understanding?
ho de EIpen, AkMEN kai huMEIS aSUneTOI [801]es-te?
c. 15:17 NEUTRALITY OF WHAT ENTERS THE MOUTH
ou noEIte [3539], HOti pan to ei-spo-reuOme-non [1531] eis to STOma
Do you not perceive, that all that goes into the mouth
eis ten koiLIan [2826] choREI [5562], kai eis a-pheDROna [856] ekBALle-tai [1544]?
passes into the belly, and is cast out into thedraught?
d. 15:18 DEFILEMENT: THROUGH WHAT COMES OUTOFTHE MOUTH
ta de ek-po-reuOme-na ek tou STOma-tos
But the things which go out of the mouth
ek tes karDIas eXERche-tai; ka' 'KEIna koiNOI [2840 ton ANthro-pon.
come forth out of the heart; and those defile the man.
e. 15:19-20 A LIST OF DEFILEMENT FROM THE HEART
ek gar tes karDIas eXERchon-tai di-a-lo-gisMOI [1261] po-neROI, PHOnoi [5408],
For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders,
moiCHEIai [3430], porNEIa [4202], kloPAI [2829], pseu-do-mar-tuRIai [5577], blas-pheMIai [988]:
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies:
TAU-TA es-tin ta koiNOUNta [2840] ton ANthro-pon;
20these are what defile the man;
to de a-nipTOIS [449] cherSIN [5495] phaGEIN ou koiNOI ton ANthro-pon.
but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not the man.
NOTE: Jesus is veryclear in this passage - both to the Pharisees as well as to His His disciples. Here He is pulling no punches.
The Pharisees walked into this appropriate rebuke. It was so clear and frontal, that it bothered His disciples. But He responded both to them and to the crowd so plainly - that there could be nomisunderstanding.
The Pharisees deserved this rebuke. But they were so blind and set in their ways, that they did not want anyone pointing out their hypocrisy. The “tradition of men” meant far more to them than the “Word of God.” They replaced God with man.
It is important to see that the Orthodox Jews of today by and large - still 2000 years later - have the samespirit of the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They follow the “Talmud” and its human traditions abovethe Torah, the 5 books of Moses, plus the rest of the OT. They alsofail to understand Hebrews 8:6, which puts the NT on the same level of Torah, as the OT. And they still reject Isaiah 53 as pointing to a suffering Messiah, because it conflicts with theirtheology of a reigningMessiah. Jesus indeed will come the second time as a reigning Messiah; but for the sake of Redemption, it was necessary to come first and fulfill the types and shadows of Leviticus in the 5 sacrifices outlined at its beginning.
But in Zechariah we learn that upon Christ's return - when Israel sees the wounds He received at His first coming in the house of His friends - they will deeplymourn - and thena remnant nation will be born in a day. J.A.W.