Scripture Daily

Context No. 585 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 15:1-9: in context

1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” 6he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”

The Pharisees come to Jesus with a complaint about ritual: his disciples do not wash their hands in the ceremonial way before eating, breaking the tradition of the elders. Jesus does not defend the hand-washing question; he goes straight past it to something far more serious, and he uses one of their own traditions to expose it. God commanded, he says, honor your father and mother. But you have devised a loophole. A person can declare the money that would have supported his aging parents to be Corban, a gift dedicated to God, and having said the pious words, he is then released from actually helping his father or mother. You have made void the command of God, Jesus says, for the sake of your tradition.

Look carefully at how the trick works, because it is more sophisticated than simple disobedience. The man is not openly refusing to honor his parents; he is using a religious act, dedicating the money to God, to get out of a clear and costly obligation God had commanded. The tradition provides a spiritual-sounding cover for neglecting a plain duty. It lets him keep his money, avoid the burden of caring for his parents, and feel devout while doing it. That is what makes Jesus so severe: these people honor God with their lips while their hearts are far away, worshiping in vain, teaching human rules as if they were God's, all in a way that conveniently cancels the hard thing God actually asked.

That is a temptation dressed in religious clothing, and I am not above it. It is possible to use religious activity, busyness, even genuine devotion, as a sophisticated way to avoid a plain, costly obedience God is asking of me, especially toward the people who depend on me. I can be so occupied with what looks spiritual that I quietly sidestep the unglamorous duty right in front of me, and tell myself it is for God. Where am I using religion, tradition, or spiritual busyness as a cover to evade a clear, costly thing God has commanded, like caring for the people he has actually given me to love?

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