seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 15:1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Yesterday the FBI is reported to have paid a visit to the home of one of our past presidents. There will be people who will be angry about this.... and there will be people who are delighted. That's kind of the way it was back in the days of Jesus and Herod. There was the established religion and government. Nothing else could be considered proper. If the law said wash your hands.... you had to wash your hands... or pay the price for sinning.
Jesus didn't follow their old laws.... He was different. Jesus, of course, was neither a capitalist, nor a republican. Jesus was just that guy who drew large crowds and talked about love and sharing.
The Pharisees were there to make sure everyone did as God told them to do. Everyone was required to pay a temple tax and offer a sacrifice before going into the Temple. There were laws about civility. God gave the humans Ten Commandments that the Pharisees and Sadducees turned into hundreds of petty little laws. The laws God gave us were for the sake of civility. Jesus was here to teach everyone real civility is based on Love and Sharing.
During the recent pandemic, people fought over wearing a mask. Back in the days of the Pharisees.... they fought over washing their hands and pooping in a secure area outside of town. Things got a little laxer a few hundred years later, in the days of the Church of England, people tossed the contents of their piss pots out the window. Jesus was in trouble because His disciples didn't wash their hands before eating.
We think we're so smart.
What would Jesus say to us now?
Matthew 15: 16 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.
