The Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus for not instructing his disciples to wash their hands before they ate. The source of their criticism had nothing to do with hygiene and everything to do with Judaism [the official religious convictions of devout Israelites]. A person could be made religiously unclean by physical contact, whether accidental or intentional (consider Numbers 19:14-22 as an example). If a person [most people depended on their agricultural efforts to survive] came into contact with dead tissue accidentally, he or she religiously contaminated everything he or she contacted. To prevent such accidental occurrences, the ancient Jewish people practiced a hand washing religious ceremony prior to eating. The practice was intended to prevent possible contamination by uncleanness. Ritual cleanness was an important part of the Mosaical covenant between God and Israel (Leviticus 5:2, 3). This traditional ritual of hand washing was not commanded by God (consider the detailed instructions in Mishna, Yadaim 1:1-5). It was simply a "wise barrier" to prevent accidental occurrences of uncleanness (for the principle, see Mishna, Aboth 1:1 and 3:14). It was a practice that was observed for many, many generations by devout Israelites.
Jesus' response should be frightening. Though he did not directly address the tradition of hand washing, he illustrated how they used religious tradition to bypass specific instructions from God. One of the Ten Commandments, God's core moral instructions when Israel begin, was to honor your parents (Exodus 20:12). In this original listing, God's command for adult children to provide for elderly parents appeared just after the emphasis on honoring God by (1) not having contact with idolatry, (2) not abusing God's name, and (3) observing the Sabbath. This command did not focus on small children respecting Mom and Dad, but focused on adult children physically providing for elderly parents. In those ages, elderly parents depended on their families for Social Security, Medicare, Meals-on-Wheels, etc. If adult children ignored their elderly parents, such neglect could produce enormous human suffering.
Jewish law declared that gifts and pledges to God [God's temple] must be honored (Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21-23). Consider the type of reasoning that uses religious tradition to nullify specific instructions from God. While this cannot be proven to be their first century reasoning, it is in keeping with their use of traditional responsibility to void a specific instruction from God. (1) God is more important than a human. (2) Supporting the temple, the house of God's presence (1 Kings 9:1-3; 2 Chronicles 7:12), is more important than any human commitment. (3) Therefore, a vow to the temple must be fulfilled before one honors his parents' needs. (4) If a person cannot both fulfill his vow to the temple and his responsibility to care for his parents, he is relieved of his responsibility to care for his parents.
There is a vast difference between the commitment to be a godly person who trusts God and a person who wishes to fulfill religious obligations. There is a vast difference between seeking to be godly and seeking hell insurance. It is one thing to trust that God can show us the way to live, and quite another to look for a means to avoid divine consequences for our actions. In every age everywhere, faithless people behave like faithless people. Jesus was condemning the practice of people making a pledge to the temple in order to evade responsibility to parents. They did not have a great dedication to God--they just wanted to avoid caring for their parents.
Paraphrased, Jesus said, "What you have done may make sense to you, but your reasoning of 'what makes sense to us' ignored God's interests and priorities." The temple represented King David's idea and desire, not God's instruction (read 2 Samuel 7:1-7; 1 Kings 8:14-18). Solomon knew God could not be confined to a temple built by humans (1 Kings 8:27). Without question, God accepted the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). Many good things happened to Israel because the temple existed.
However, the temple did not factor in God's Ten Commandments. Yet, people factored in the Ten Commandments prominently. Our 'good ideas' are 'good ideas' only if they reflect and further God's priorities. To assume that something God did not specifically command was more important to God than a specific responsibility God instructed was faulty reasoning. To use the temple as an excuse to ignore a God-given responsibility to people dishonored God. By honoring the temple [in their thinking] they dishonored God. That is a frightening reality to consider! Too often the godly intents of people are not godly intents to God!
Today we typically look upon the word 'hypocrite' as a declaration that a person is insincere. Jesus' observation was not about insincerity but about being misguided in our concepts. Their concept of religious devotion encouraged them to be actors. They sincerely thought they could please God by being actors instead of being servants. Their concept of God was so poor that they thought God would be pleased if they honored His house instead of His instructions.
To receive the full force of Jesus' quotation of Isaiah 29:13, think [correctly] of an unfolding of God's actual concerns instead [incorrectly] of a dead age committed to a now dead authority. Though Isaiah wrote these words generations prior to the first century, they still typified the Pharisees and scribes who criticized Jesus for not reinforcing ancient religious rituals. They also typify people today who elevate human logic above divine revelation.
Isaiah said, "These people are committed to lip service, but not heart service. They make their acts of honoring me meaningless by choosing their reasoning as doctrine rather than My revelation."
Jesus observed it was not what entered a person's mouth that made him unclean before God, but what came out of his mouth. What we say comes from who we actually are. While we need to be concerned about rules and regulations that are consistent with God's instructions, we need to be equally concerned about who we allow God to make us. We must never forget that, to God, people are always more important than things.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 4