June 17 – Jesus Teaches About Justice
By Spally TaylorJune 13, 2018
Sunday School Lesson
June 17
Jesus Teaches About Justice
Devotional Reading: Mark 7:1-13
Background Scripture: Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13
1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Key Verse
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.—Matthew 15:8
Lesson Aims
After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:
- Summarize the nature of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees in today’s text.
- Explain how human traditions and institutions can hinder a person from responding to God’s message.
- Identify a behavior that is based on improper motives, and make a plan for change.
Introduction
- I Was Misquoted!
Public figures sometimes find themselves defending controversial or offensive statements. Often their defense is to say, “I was misquoted.” Of course, our experience with the media shows that they are in some cases right.
We who are not celebrities know the frustration of being misquoted. Parents hear their children twist their words to use against them. Angry spouses sometimes do the same. On the job, a worker claims to be following instructions while the boss insists that those instructions were misunderstood. Misquoting, misunderstanding, misremembering, or just ignoring other people’s words is a common cause of conflict.
When we are misquoted and misunderstood, we want to shout, “That’s not what I meant, and you should know that!” We value our words and their integrity. We become exasperated when we are misunderstood, and we become discouraged at the hard feelings that often follow.
God experiences misunderstanding as well. Some of the Bible’s sternest messages are directed at those who have received God’s Word but have misunderstood and misapplied it. They claim devotion to God, but their actions reveal more interest in their own will than in His.
Today’s lesson features one of God’s stern messages. We study it to ensure that we do not resemble the group against which it was originally directed.
- Lesson Background
Jesus was confronted often by scribes and Pharisees during His earthly ministry. Of the four Gospels, the frequency of their mention together in Matthew is fully equal to the other three Gospels combined.
Scribes were experts in the Law of Moses and the traditions about its application. In Jesus’ time, these learned men could quote large sections of Scripture and could cite the opinions of renowned experts on interpretation.
Pharisees took a distinct approach to the Law of Moses. Their movement arose about 150 years before Jesus’ birth, in response to what many saw as the corruption of the high priesthood in the temple at Jerusalem. Pharisees believed that God would restore His blessing on Israel only when Israel kept God’s law faithfully.
To ensure that people kept the law, the Pharisees developed many traditions that had the effect of building a fence around it. The idea was that if the traditions were followed, then a person wouldn’t even come close to breaking some part of God’s law. To illustrate, Pharisees might teach that to avoid taking God’s name in vain (and thus violate Exodus 20:7), one should play it safe by not uttering His name under any circumstances whatsoever.
Among these add-on traditions was a custom of washing hands before meals. Today we wash hands before eating as a means of hygiene. For the Pharisees, the custom was not an issue of physical hygiene but ceremonial religious washing. The Law of Moses required priests to wash their hands and feet before performing tabernacle duties (Exodus 30:17-21). The Pharisees seem to have built a fence around this law by expecting every faithful Israelite to perform a similar ceremonial washing before every meal; this treated meals as though they were acts of worship in the temple. To eat without having performed this ceremonial washing was to eat unclean food.
While Christians today often think of Pharisees as evil because of their opposition to Jesus, in His day they were highly respected. We should also remember that not all Pharisees opposed Jesus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who desired a private meeting with Jesus (John 3:1, 2) and later assisted in His burial (19:38-42). A number of Pharisees became Christians, though some still struggled with their understanding of the Law of Moses and its application to Christians of Gentile background (Acts 15:3-6). Most notable of the Christian Pharisees was the apostle Paul. Years after his conversion, he continued to refer to himself as a Pharisee (23:6).
How to Say It
EsaiasE-zay-us.
GentileJen-tile.
HoseaHo-zay-uh.
LeviticusLeh-vit-ih-kus.
MosesMo-zes or Mo-zez.
NicodemusNick-uh-dee–mus.
PhariseesFair-ih-seez.
- Outer Cleanliness
- Approaching Jesus (v. 1)
- Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying.
Jesus has had many confrontations with scribes and Pharisees already in this Gospel (Matthew 9:3, 11, 34; 12:2, 14, 24). In most instances their opposition to Jesus arises as He offers controversial teaching or performs a miraculous deed that defies the religious leaders’ standards. Here the initiative comes from the opponents.
The fact that these men come from Jerusalem, the center of Israel’s religious life, suggests that Jesus has drawn the attention of the nation’s most important religious leaders. Ultimately He will go to Jerusalem and surrender himself to His enemies to be put to death. Here we see a glimpse of the opposition that will grow increasingly hostile toward Him.
What Do You Think?
How should you conduct yourself when in the presence of someone who thrives on religious controversy?
Points for Your Discussion
If the person challenges you while others are present
If the person challenges you privately
If the person challenges someone else
- Accusing the Disciples (v. 2)
- Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
The scribes and Pharisees pose a question to Jesus, one that could be taken as a serious inquiry. But the question strongly implies accusation and criticism. These leaders do not simply ask why Jesus’ disciples do not wash their hands before eating or how Jesus regards the practice of handwashing. Rather, they assert that Jesus’ followers have broken a certain tradition of the elders’the elders being godly men well versed in God’s law.
Many traditions of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time are a few generations old. Others are relatively new. All are constantly debated. But the Pharisees teach that their traditions had their origins in a law delivered by God to Moses by spoken word and passed on to experts in each successive generation by spoken word.
Effectively, then, the religious leaders are claiming that these traditions are oral law having authority equal to the written Law of Moses. Both the written law and the oral law have thus come from God. So the question posed to Jesus implies strong condemnation for violating not just a human tradition but a tradition of divine origin, a command of God.
What Do You Think?
How can we make sure that our church’s traditions serve the intent of the Word of God and not the other way around?
Points for Your Discussion
Regarding worship traditions
Regarding holiday traditions
Regarding traditional times for services
Other
- Inner Corruption
- Specific Example (vv. 3-6a)
- But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Jesus’ response indicts the scribes and Pharisees for breaking God’s law with their traditions. These traditions are wrong, Jesus says, and not simply because they claim an authority that God did not grant them. They are wrong because they lead to the actual breaking of God’s true law, as Jesus proceeds to illustrate.
What Do You Think?
Which, if either, is the bigger danger: adding to God’s commandments or disregarding them? How can we avoid both extremes?
Points for Your Discussion
In contexts dealing with personal obligation
In contexts dealing with obligations of the church as a body
Considering Revelation 22:18, 19
4a. For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother.
To demonstrate how tradition leads to the breaking of God’s true law, Jesus quotes from the written law, specifically the fifth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). To honor one’s parents means more than just showing them respect and obedience. It means that as parents grow older, their children assume responsibility for their care. Aging parents cannot simply be ignored because they no longer contribute to the livelihood of the family.
4b. And, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Leviticus 20:9 is quoted. The fact that capital punishment is the responsibility of the entire community (20:2; 24:16; etc.) places great restraint on such action; the entire community and its leaders must be convinced of the guilt and the appropriateness of the punishment. It is therefore unlikely that disrespectful children often receive this severe punishment. But the fact that the law has this instruction shows the seriousness of the command to honor father and mother.
What Do You Think?
What should honoring one’s parents look like in terms of witness to culture?
Points for Your Discussion
When we are with them in public
When they have needs
When they disappoint us
Considering Luke 14:26; Ephesians 6:1-3; 1 Timothy 5:4, 8; 1 Peter 2:12
Other
- But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me.
Jesus now cites a tradition common among the Pharisees. Sources outside the New Testament show that the Pharisees have developed a custom by which a person can make a gift to the temple of a valuable possession, but keep the use of that possession until the owner dies.
Jesus notes how this custom provides a loophole that many exploit for their own gain. The tradition of dedicating that possession as a gift to the temple means that it cannot be used for the parents’ benefit, as it belongs to the temple. But the gift remains in the custody of the giver as long as the giver lives. Therefore the giver can receive all the profit from the possession for the rest of his life.
6a. And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
By following this tradition of providing a gift to the temple, a person appears to be very godly and generous. Sacrificing a valuable possession to support the worship of God seems a fine thing to do. But it can come at the price of disobeying God’s direct command to love and care for one’s parents. How can a person claim to honor God while dishonoring the parents through whom God brought that person into the world?
- Sad Result (vv. 6b-9)
6b. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
To make God’s commandment of none effect is to make it empty and null. Of course, the handwashing tradition that has allegedly been violated by Jesus’ disciples seems much less serious. It comes at little personal cost and seems to do very little harm. Those who follow it may appear to be honoring God by treating their ordinary meals like acts of worship in the temple.
But all of these traditions distract God’s people from the real focus of their devotion. Such traditions make the law hard, but righteousness easy. Additional rules are hard to remember and follow. But if a person does follow them, that person is deemed righteous.
God’s law to Israel, on the other hand, is a constant reminder of the people’s unrighteousness. The laws are simple, but Israel has continually abandoned them. The law points out that failure, leaving only one alternative: turning to God in repentance and seeking His merciful forgiveness.
The traditions of the elders interrupt that process. Only by confronting the law itself can the law’s purpose be fulfilled and the people of God receive the blessing they falsely seek by keeping human traditions.
Our Traditions or His Touch?
Mildred was very upset. Her sense of the dignity of worship had been disrupted. After 40 years of sitting in one spot in the sanctuary, she moved to the other side of the aisle. Why? Wayne, a newcomer, had the annoying habit of loudly saying “Amen!” or “Praise the Lord!” while the minister was preaching. Wayne would also raise his hands during worship time, and he was known to jump to his feet on occasion and shout “Hallelujah!”
“That kind of thing has never been done in this church before,” said Mildred, “and it is totally unnecessary! The man is just trying to draw attention to himself!”
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Wayne was just an excited Christian. The preacher appreciated his affirmations. He knew that at least one person was listening! But the conflict continued to grow in Mildred’s mind.
One Sunday, she finally had had enough. She confronted Wayne in the foyer. “I’ll have you know that in the New Testament it is not reported one time that Jesus ever jumped to His feet and shouted ‘Hallelujah!’ If He didn’t do it, then we shouldn’t either!”
Wayne reflected briefly, then simply replied, “What you say may be true. Perhaps Jesus never did leap up and shout ‘Hallelujah!’ But I’ll tell you another truth, Mildred. Every person who was ever touched by Jesus certainly did!”
Wayne worshipped as he did only because he could feel the Master’s hand on him. Maybe it is time to break with some of the traditions of the church in favor of the touch of His hand.
—C. T.
- Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying.
Jesus’ use of the term hypocrites for the Pharisees has become so well known that to say “hypocrite” or “Pharisee” is, for many, to say the same thing. The term hypocrite prior to Jesus was used for actors on the Greek stage. Actors pretend to be someone they are not. Jesus uses the term to criticize the Pharisees and scribes for their pretending to honor God with their traditions while using the traditions to disobey God’s commands.
What Do You Think?
Is the familiar question “What would Jesus do?” a proper guide for determining whether to call someone a hypocrite? Why, or why not?
Points for Your Discussion
When others are present
In private
Jesus uses the word hypocrites to introduce a quotation from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (Esaias). By saying that Isaiah had prophesied well about these scribes and Pharisees, Jesus is saying that the prophet’s words apply just as much to Jesus’ contemporaries as they did to the people of Isaiah’s time centuries earlier. What had happened among God’s people in Isaiah’s day is now happening again during Jesus’ ministry.
- This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Jesus’ quotation comes from Isaiah 29. There the prophet was addressing God’s people at a time when Israel was under grave threat from a foreign power. Isaiah warned that because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God would allow pagan nations to take the people captive, exiling them from the land of promise. The chapter begins with a stark warning of invasion and destruction to come.
Then in Isaiah 29:13, where this quotation is found, the prophet gives the reason for the coming judgment. Israel, this people who were called as God’s people, outwardly made a great show of their devotion to God. But inwardly they were far from God. They lived as if God could be bribed with offerings and sacrifices while remaining unaware of the thoughts and motives that lay behind the acts of devotion. As another prophet said, God desires not sacrifice but mercy (Hosea 6:6), a text that Jesus also quotes to His opponents (Matthew 9:13; 12:7; lesson 1).
Lip Service?
Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), also known as Mother Teresa, is legendary for her generous work with orphans, the poor, and the terminally ill. She was constantly on the move, helping wherever she could. She fought tirelessly for the underprivileged. She raised the funds necessary to expand a growing ministry. The prize money accompanying her Nobel Peace Prize went directly to caring for the poor of Calcutta.
The world saw what she was doing and beat a path to her door. While others were asking what should be done about those poor folks in Calcutta, Teresa was doing it. Her ministry was not large at first. She took in one child off the streets—then another, and another, and another.
We do a lot of talking about what needs to happen in our churches and in our world. We call that lip service. Every hand would be raised if the average congregation were asked, “Who believes in evangelism?” But very few hands would be raised if the follow-up question was “How many are personally involved in evangelism?”
The outcome would likely be the same for visiting the sick and the widows. Or for praying. Or for biblical giving. It’s not hard to see the trend here. Every person will quickly confess with his or her mouth those principles known to be true. But how many Christians actually practice the truths they say they believe?
—C. T.
- But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
The quotation of Isaiah continues, and now we see how appropriate this text is for addressing the issue at hand. In Jesus’ time, the religious leaders have elevated traditions of their own making to an importance that supersedes even the most obvious and important of God’s commandments. Those traditions provide an outward veneer of religiosity that leaves people insensitive to their need to seek and rely on God’s mercy in their weakness and failure. What may have started out as a good means to an end has become a bad end in and of itself.
The result is that for both Isaiah’s audience and Jesus’ opponents, their worship of God is vain; that is, empty and meaningless. God has no use for acts of devotion that are merely outward. True devotion to God comes from the heart, in response to God’s grace. It then expresses itself in sincere obedience to God’s commands and in demonstrating that same grace on a daily, consistent basis.
Conclusion
- Devoted to What?
As Jesus continued His teaching on this occasion, He told His disciples that what comes out of a person makes the person clean or unclean, not the food that goes into a person (Matthew 15:10, 11). This teaching became vitally important to the church after Jesus’ resurrection.
As the gospel was shared with Gentiles, who did not keep Israel’s laws of clean and unclean foods (let alone the handwashing tradition), the church struggled to maintain unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Jesus’ teaching reminded everyone that obedience to the God who had given His Spirit to the Gentiles meant uniting with them in fellowship around the dinner table (compare Galatians 2:12, 13). All people and all foods had become clean (Mark 7:18, 19; Acts 10:9-16, 28).
Jesus’ encounters with the scribes and Pharisees continued after the incident in today’s text. As Jesus’ death approached, He delivered a stinging rebuke of them (Matthew 23:1-36). They made a show of their devotion because they cared more about people’s opinions than about honoring God. They looked righteous on the outside, but inside was spiritual filth. Most of all, the Pharisees prevented others from finding God’s blessing in Jesus. By extolling themselves and their traditions, they drew people away from the one whom God had sent to make them clean inside and out. Because they claimed to be teachers of God’s people but in fact worked against God’s purpose, Jesus criticized them severely.
Jesus saw in His time what Isaiah had seen in his: people who claimed to be faithful to God but whose primary devotion was to human traditions and institutions. That should make us realize how easy it is to do the same in any time and place. It is easy to point the finger of condemnation at others whom we believe to be hypocrites. But we do well to realize that the same may be true of us. Our true devotion may be not to God but to human traditions—forms of worship, rules of behavior, or teachings of our favorite preachers.
That misplaced devotion may prevent us from reckoning with our need for God’s cleansing, to be made truly clean not by what people see on the outside but by what Christ does to us on the inside. Only after we are cleansed within can God’s love flow out of us to a world that badly needs it.
- Prayer
Our Father, we confess that we often rely on our own ideas instead of Your grace. Cleanse us by the blood of Christ on the inside, so that our outward deeds may reflect Your true nature and will. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
- Thought to Remember
Make sure your traditions neither add to nor subtract from God’s Word.
