During
Jesus' ministry, Christ encounters many challenges from the scribes
and Pharisees. Blatant attacks against His teachings and followers
all attempt to move people from considering following Him to focusing
on following the Pharisees and the scribes from their comfortable
positions atop the Judaic hierarchy. One of the many instances of
this blatant abuse of power and influence is found at the beginning
of the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew where the Pharisees
question Jesus in regard to why Jesus' “disciples transgress the
tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they
eat” (Mt 15:2, RSV). Jesus is about to use this moment to teach a
lesson that forever changes the understanding of the Law and how it
is to be cared for.
[15:1]
“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem [...]”
From its
beginnings, the evangelist wishes for us to understand the setting of
our location, for it has a significance. In the previous chapter,
Jesus arrives at Gennesaret, which is located on the “northwest
shore on the Sea of Galilee.”
Many gathered after His arrival, and the people brought all who were
diseased and needed to be healed. These were not the only to arrive
to visit Our Lord and hear His words. The mention of the location
points to the Pharisees went out of their way to pay Him a visit:
they made a point to come all the way from Jerusalem, a long journey,
which is estimated to be sixty miles away.
[15:2]
After
arriving the evangelist wastes no time in showing how the Pharisees
and scribes have come to question and dampen this mission.
Immediately they ask, “Why do your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not
wash their hands when they eat” (Mt 15:2).
It is important to note that “[t]he Pharisees, as a heightened
expression of piety, applied this priestly standard of purity to all
Israel, requiring even laypeople throughout the land to cleans their
hands before taking a meal.”
Simply put, this is an extra law. A law that is not from God, but
rather from man, which serves to be a rather big issue as the
discussion unfolds. Nevertheless, the intellectual battle has begun,
the leaders of Israel have questioned the author of the Law. Thus,
the teacher, the Man Who speaks with Authority will begin to teach by
questioning.
In
regard to the subject of the precepts of the extraordinary laws, St.
Thomas Aquinas had much to say. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote:
“Deuteronomy 4, 2: 'You shall not add to the word that I speak to
you, neither shall you take away from it.' Hence, by adding
traditions, they were acting contrary to the Law; not because it was
not allowed to make an ordinance, but because they were ordering that
their decrees be observed just like Lord's Law.”
This has serious ramifications, when seen in its context, the
Pharisees are adding “ordinances” that they are claiming to be
equal to the Law of the Lord. If the Law of the Lord is held equal
to the law of men serious ramifications will follow, because man and
his understanding are not equal to that of God. Therefore, this is
an early indicator that the Pharisees, in practice, lack the humility
of fully understanding the Law from its heart and, therefore, cannot
enforce and regulate its practice justly or prudently.
The
Philosopher also sheds light on why the Apostles did not wash their
hands: “It was because they were so preoccupied with the word of
God that they did not even have time: hence, due to their
preoccupation for spiritual things, they were not washing their hands
in the manner that the Jews did, as it is stated in Mark 7, because
all the Jews do not eat without often washing their hands: for that
reason, the disciples were not washing their hands according to their
ritual.”
The Apostles were worrying about things more important than the
external, the internal. With the serious focus, the Apostles ate the
words of the Word, and were being purified by His Message. The Lord,
by His Message, sanctifies those who hear and believe. Just as the
Gospel of John states, “And from his fulness have we all received,
grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses: grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:16-17).
[15:3]
“And
why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of
tradition?”
This practice of questioning is common amongst the rabbis of
Jerusalem. The unlearned carpenter from Nazareth is utilizing their
methods of discussion. Jesus is immediately showcasing His
expertise, cunning, but, most importantly, His Authority over the
Law.
[15:4]
“For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He
who speaks evil of father or mother let him surely die.'”
The Lord's words are very strong and are very familiar to the
Pharisees and scribes because it is straight from the Scriptures they
hold so dearly. Despite two clear lines distinctly being noted,
Christ is referencing four different pieces of Scripture: Exodus
20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Exodus 21:17, and Leviticus
20:9. These four verses share the same basic idea, but must be
looked at to understand the fullness of the Scriptural background.
Exodus chapter twenty, verse twelve, commands honoring of mother and
father in order “that your days may be long in the land which the
LORD your God gives you” (Ex 20:12). This verse flows continuously
from the original ideas found as early as Abraham that one who
follows the ways of the Lord shall be blessed. Deuteronomy
reiterates the main idea of the previous verse, while adding “and
that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God
gives you” (Dt 5:16). The reiteration serves to remind the people
of the seriousness and sacredness of these words, which do not come
from man, but from YHWH. Additionally, this idea being mentioned in
two books is no coincidence, and brings to mind the idea of a
nation/Kingdom that had once been established and was anticipated to
be reestablished by all in Israel. Recalling infidelity to the Law,
Jesus calls further on the curses of not obeying the precepts. The
Pharisees and scribes recall the lessons that when a man who breaks
the covenant between God and His people will incur struggles and an
end: death (cf. Ex 21:17). This is only furthered by a memory of
“one who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death; he
has cursed his father or his mother, his blood is upon him” (Lev
20:9). Leviticus is taking it further to recall that it is not
permitted to work dark magic wishing the demise of their family.
Thus, Jesus is calling the Pharisees and scribes out in regard to
fidelity in both word and deed, and the bait has been hooked, with
all eyes and ears attentively awaiting the next words.
With the
suspense built, Jesus moves on to state, “But you
say, 'If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have
gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father'” (Mt
15:5). Jesus has drawn
the intellectual sword and thrust it through the Pharisees and
scribes' complacent guarding of the Law. Jesus is bearing witness to
a teaching that the scribes passively promoted, “By dedicating his
property to God, i.e., to the temple, a man could avoid having to
help his parents, without actually giving up what he had. The
scribes held such a vow to be valid without necessarily approving it”
(Mt. 15:5, footnote). The Book of Proverbs, also, sheds a great deal
of light on this matter stating: “He who robs his father or his
mother and says, 'That is no transgression,' is the companion of a
man who destroys” (Proverbs 28:24). This, clearly, is avoiding the
fourth commandment. Simultaneously, the teaching shares a serious
case of adverse selection and moral hazard on the part of the scribes
and Pharisees. Of course, Jesus does not waste much time.
Jesus
ushers in His closing remarks to the scribes and Pharisees before He
teaches to the crowds and disciples saying, “So,
for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God”
(Mt. 15:6). The
beginning of the closing statement. An accusation from the Author of
the Law has been issued. Christ indicates that the “word of God,”
which can also be translated as “the law of God,” has been left,
forgotten, and absconded by those who claim to hold it so dearly to
their heart. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks to matters
of the law by saying, “The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be
the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law
in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears
engraved on tables of stone but 'upon the heart' of the Servant who
becomes 'a covenant to the people,' because he will faithfully bring
forth justice.'”
Thus, Jesus has the Law written on His Heart, and the Apostles have
followed Him and trusted Him in all things. Therefore, the Apostles
have followed the Law by following the Living Law, Christ.
Closing,
Jesus points out how the Pharisees and scribes have fulfilled a
prophecy in a way that no good Jew would want to. Jesus exclaims:
“You
hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: 'This
people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in
vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men'”
(Mt 15:7-9). The
term hypocrite, widely misunderstood, has a clear, precise, burn to
it as Jesus shouts in passion. The Lord is declaring them to be “Men
[…] who entered into the theater, and had one personality and
pretended to have another by using masks. Therefore, these men are
hypocrites, who outwardly pretend to be something different than they
are inwardly; hence, they were inwardly intending profit, and
outwardly they were inducing men to offer gifts to God.”
This bold assertion not only communicates a question of individual
fidelity to the Law, but outright puts a question of whether or not
their motives are really centered on God. Jesus is removing the
darkness over the people's eyes and showing how the Pharisees and
scribes are using a holy structure for personal gain. Which points to
the heart of the problem that St. Thomas points out “the more greed
there is, the less charity there is (cf. Jer 12:2).”
As clearly seen, the prophecy is a message of the hypocrisy of the
scribes' teaching about avoiding honoring one's father or mother, as
well as taking the law into their own hands. As a master of the
word, He points out that their words mean nothing, as stated in
earlier pieces of Scripture for they do not follow the precepts of
the Lord, and their heart is not after YHWH's, but rather is after
their own precepts: “the precepts of men.” By these laws, they
claim their ordinances to be equal with that of God's. This calls to
mind Job's admonition stating, “I will not level God with man”
(Job 32:21). Later this is solidified in the Acts of the Apostles
which states, “We ought to obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).
Thus, their worship and all things, while not living the covenant,
is in vain. As supported by the Book of Sirach, which states, “The
Most High is not pleased with the offerings of the ungodly; and he is
not propitiated for sins by a multitude of sacrifices” (Sir.
34:19).
N.
T. Wright expounds on the idea of the heart saying, “Jesus, in the
course of cryptically subverting the Jewish food laws, explains that
what really matters is not physical substances that pass into
someone's body, but thoughts and intentions that emerge from (what we
would call) the personality. This distinction between outward act
and attitude of heart was quite frequent in the Hebrew Bible, and
there is no reason at all why Jesus should not have used the idea and
indeed made it central to this part of his agenda [… This makes]
him a good Jew, recognizing that YHWH desires to recreate human
beings as wholes.”
Therefore, Jesus' lesson stands as a proof of His position as an
authority of the Scriptures. This moment serves as a very important
moment between Christ, the Pharisees, and the scribes. The scribes
and Pharisees traveled a long way to ask a question, which was
intended to cause Christ's stumble, but rather led to the
self-inflicted wound of hypocrisy.
This passage serves as a very serious and necessary reminder that
precepts of the Lord must be learned, practiced, but truly lived.
Christ looks for those who desire to find the truth in practicum,
while also sharing a heart to know the Law. Ultimately, Christ is
looking for disciples who are so caught up in Him and His message
that they might forget to follow little practices, but are still at
the feet of the Master consumed by His Life and willing to transform
their lives to live like Christ. Of course, this is found in daily
life. As N. T. Wright points out, the good Christian, like the good
Jew must always be searching for holistic human growth, and not
simply the outward appearance. Additionally, Christians must
carefully examine their lives in regards to legalism and find a
healthy balance of a true, Christian life of works amplified by love
with integrity.
In
regard to the Church teachings immediately relevant is the Church
teaching on honoring our father and mother according to the fourth
commandment. The Church teaches, “Adult children should give their
parents material and moral support whenever they find themselves in
situations of distress, sickness, loneliness, or old age.”
Of course, when one practices living like Christ, Christ points
towards caring for His mother, even at His death. Therefore, it is
not something that is lost, but finds new life in a Christian's
heart.
Thus,
despite Christ's many challenges from the scribes and Pharisees,
Jesus topples the oppositions' argument and, consequently, begins to
establish His Authority as the Messiah. In the fifteenth chapter of
the Gospel of Matthew where the Pharisees question Jesus in regard to
why Jesus' “disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For
they do not wash their hands when they eat” (Mt 15:2, RSV). Jesus,
in His Infinite Wisdom, transformed an attempted intellectual ambush
into a moment of evangelization and a call to a conversion of heart.
With the visit from the Pharisees and scribes, the Messiah not only
spread His Message further, but also taught a oneness of heart, mind,
and soul conformed to the precepts of the Lord and not of man. Thus,
Christ teaches the purpose of the Law: the unity of the personal and
Divine hearts, minds, and souls. Furthermore, Christ provides an
example in the Apostles, who although may have been distracted away
from the custom of washing the hands, were truly immersing themselves
in the Word of God, which all are called to do.
Bibliography
Page
Aquinas,
St. Thomas. Commentary
on the Gospel of Saint Matthew.
2012. (accessed March 10, 2014).
Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
Washington, D.C.: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, (accessed January 20,
2014).
Compendium.
Washington, D.C.: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, (accessed January 20,
2014).
Mitch,
Curtis, and Edward Sri. The
Gospel of Matthew.
Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010. (accessed January 20, 2014).
