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Sermon Notes for May 30, 2004
Interesting Conversations With Jesus
Summer Series
“Taking An Honest Look
At Your True Spirituality”
Matthew 15:1-20
Recently there were two world leaders. The first one experimented with drugs while he was in college, had a mistress, he loved a good cigar and fine brandy, and was famous for getting drunk at parties, even while he was in office. The second one was a vegetarian, a nonsmoker, only drank beer in moderation, and was faithful to his girlfriend. The United States Congress bestowed the first one with the greatest honor it had at its disposal, while we all revile the second one to this day. The first one was Winston Churchill, and the second one was Adolf Hitler.
Introduction
A. What The TYPICAL PERSON Believes About The Christian Life.
1. “After all is said and done, I hope that I have done enough.”
a. me as a non-believer
b. “Hopefully, God will give me a break.”
2. Religions:
a. Catholics
1. Popes
2. Cardinals
3. Bishops
4. rules, regulations
b. Muslims
1. pray to Mecca each day
2. travel to Mecca once in a lifetime
c. Hindus – (William Barclay) To a high-caste Indian, anyone not belonging to his own caste is unclean; if that person becomes a Christian, he is still more seriously unclean. Premanand tells us what happened to himself. He became a Christian. His family rejected him. Sometimes he used to come back to see his mother, who was broken hearted at what she considered his apostasy, but still loved him dearly. Premanand says: “As soon as my father came to know that I was visiting my mother in the daytime while he was away at the office, he ordered the door-keeper, a stalwart up-country man, Ram Rup . . . not to allow me to enter the house.” Ram Rup was persuaded to slacken his vigilance. “At last my mother won over Ram Rup, the door-keeper, and I was allowed to enter her presence. The prejudice was so great that even the menial Hindu servants of the house would not wash the plates on which I was fed by my mother. Sometimes my aunt would purify the place and the seat on which I had sat by sprinkling Ganges water, or water mixed with cow dung.” Premanand was unclean, and everything he touched became unclean.
d. Jews
B. What JESUS Believes About The Christian Life.
1. It’s not something that you do:
a. regulations, requirements
b. religion, church
2. It’s something that you are.
I. The CRITICISM Of The Pharisees.
A. The CUSTOMS Of The Jews.
1. The past of the Pharisees.
a. the northern Kingdom, Israel, was carried off into captivity in 722 BC by Assyria and never returned as a people
b. while the Southern Kingdom, Judah, was likewise taken off into captivity in 587 BC by Babylon, where the Jews stayed for 70 years before returning to Israel
1. before they were taken into captivity, they could read and speak
Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament
2. but during the exile, they picked up the language of Babylon,
Aramaic
3. they lost, to a large degree, their ability to read and speak
Hebrew
a. the religious leaders would remain in the original
language - but the people as a whole couldn’t
b. the people would then become dependent upon the
religious leaders to interpret the Scriptures for them
4. in addition to this problem, the religious leaders began to
interpret the law from their own perspective
a. the Jews believed that not only was there a written law
given at Sinai to Moses, but an oral one as well
1. laws were “added to” the written law
2. this “oral law” was compiled into written form
a. called the Talmud or Mishnah
b. contents:
1. six orders – each with a special
class of subjects
2. the orders were divided into 63
tractates
a. the tractates were
subdivided
b. with 525 chapters -
consisting of 4,187 verses
3. these laws would all be added to
the original law of God
b. when you combined the written and the oral law, it was
overwhelming!
2. The purpose of the Pharisees.
a. the reason for the existence of the Pharisees was:
1. to make sure that the law was properly understood and obeyed
2. to train future Pharisees
3. to “build a wall” around the law so that it would be protected
b. the result of the Pharisees
1. they became a type of “spiritual sheriff” for the Jewish nation
2. it was their job to make sure God’s people were acceptable to
God by obeying the Law perfectly
B. The CONFUSION Of The Jews.
1. The confusion of the Jews.
a. for some 400 years, no one had challenged the belief structure of the Pharisees
1. they were the most venerated people in all of the Jewish world
2. they were treated like professional athletes in our society
b. and then Jesus came with a total attack on their teachings and traditions
1. they were shocked that He was challenging their authority
2. and they knew that if Jesus were right, it would mean the end
of their influence and existence as spiritual leaders of the Jews
2. The confrontation of Jesus.
a. not only did Jesus not believe as they did –
b. Jesus literally confronted them – publicly and privately
II. The CONDEMNATION Of Jesus.
A. The JEW’S VIEW Of Their Customs.
Vs. 1-2 - Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
1. In this particular instance, the Jews were challenging Jesus about their laws –
a. apparently a group of the Pharisees were sent from Jerusalem to Galilee to confront Jesus
b. because the disciples of Jesus were not following the “tradition of the elders” in truly cleansing their hands before a meal
1. Alfred Edersheim, in The Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah, outlines the most elaborate of these washings. Water
jars were kept ready to be used before a meal. The minimum
amount of water to be used was a quarter of a log, which is
defined as enough to fill one and a half egg-shells. The water
was first poured on both hands, held with the fingers pointed
upwards, and must run up the arm as far as the wrist. It must
drop off from the wrist, for the water was now itself unclean,
having touched the unclean hands, and, if it ran down the
fingers again, it would again render them unclean. The process
was repeated with the hands held in the opposite direction, with
the fingers pointing down; and then finally each hand was
cleansed by being rubbed with the fist of the other. A really
strict Jew would do all this, not only before a meal, but also
between each of the courses.
2. this cleansing was not merely based on washing one’s hands
before a meal
a. Jewish law said that if you touched anything unclean
during the day that you had to cleanse your hands
b. if a rat touched a pot filled with water, that pot was
unclean and then anyone who touched and drank from the pot would also be unclean.
c. if a Jew touched a Gentile, he would have to be
cleansed
2. The Jews were so very sure of their position that they sent a group from Jerusalem to make this point to Jesus!
a. they had no doubt that they were right
b. and so, Jesus, was wrong
B. JESUS’ VIEW Of The Jew’s Customs.
1. The Pharisees disobeyed the very commands of God they desired to uphold.
a. first of all, there was nothing at all in the Word of God to show how one was to wash his hands
1. the Pharisees simply “created” these laws of cleansing
2. and they required that everyone obey them
b. consider some of the other “added Jewish laws” regarding work on a Sabbath Day
1. On the Sabbath Day the standard measure for forbidden food
(something that could be carried) was the size of an olive, just
as that for carrying burdens was the weight of a fig. If a man
had swallowed forbidden food of the size of half an olive,
rejected it (spit it out), and again ate of the size of half an olive,
he would be guilty, because the palate had altogether tasted
food to the size of a whole olive; but if one had deposited in
another locality a burden of the weight of half a fig, and
removed it again, it involved no guilt, because the burden was
altogether only of half a fig.
2. Among many other questions raised was this: whether a
parent might take his child in his arms on a Sabbath Day.
In the supposed case that a child might happen to have a stone
in its hands, could involve the labor of carrying that stone!
3. On a Sabbath Day, a radish may be dipped into salt, but not
left in it too long, since this would be to make a pickle.
c. in this text, Jesus referred to a Jewish law where they had actually disobeyed the actual 5th Commandment!
1. the 5th Commandment said: “Honor your father and mother”
2. the Jews, however, found a way around the 5th Commandment
a. for instance, if a Jew’s aging parents requested financial
help from their children
b. the “wise Jew” had already given all of his money to
God, something he called “the pledge of corban”
c. so that he could go to his parents and say, “That money
is not mine. I have already given it to God. It is
Corban.”
3. because the Jew had simply made “the promise” – Corban - he
did not have to give the money. “The promise” allowed him to
refuse his parents although he may never eventually give that
money physically to God, thus disobeying the very
commandment that God gave to honor one’s parents!
2. They actually denied the reality of their hearts.
a. the very thing that drove Jesus crazy was the OBVIOUS
1. “How can you say that you have honored your father and
mother when you have actually used your own law to disobey
that very commandment?”
2. WHERE IS YOUR:
a. SHAME?
b. HONOR?
c. HEART?
b. HOW CAN YOU BE SUCH A HYPOCRITE?
1. look at what you are doing!
2. your parents have a need – that is THE PURPOSE of the
commandment!
3. don’t you want to help your parents? WHERE IS YOUR
HEART?
III. The CORRECTION Of Jesus.
A. The LITERAL View Of The Jews.
1. The Jews looked at the law “literally.”
a. as long as they physically and literally kept the laws of God, they were righteous
1. as long as they did not literally kill someone, they did not break
the 6th Commandment
2. as long as they did not commit physical adultery, they did not
break the 7th Commandment
3. as long as they did not steal, they did not break the 8th
Commandment
b. in a sense, a Pharisee could say that he had a “good day” when he did not literally and physically break any of the commandments
1. that’s all that mattered
2. it was clear-cut; plain and simple
c. John MacArthur – “Hypocrites have no greater ally than tradition, because traditions can be followed mechanically and thoughtlessly; without conviction, sincerity or purity of heart.”
2. It was “cold-hearted” obedience and that’s all that mattered.
B. The SPIRITUAL View Of Jesus.
1. From Jesus’ perspective, IT WAS AND IS ALL ABOUT THE HEART!
a. it was NOT simply about mere obedience
b. HOW COULD IT NOT BE ABOUT THE HEART?
2. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE HEART.
a. Genesis 6:5 – “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”
b. Deut. 10:12-13 – “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
c. I Sam. 16:7 - But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
d. Psalm 15:1-2 – “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart.”
e. Jeremiah 31:33 - "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
C. The SINFUL View of Man.
Vs. 16-20 - "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"