Biblical Discipleship Pt. 7 Discipleship Involves Confronting Sin with Truth
Having turned from the Old Testament discipleship models we are now looking at how Jesus trained His disciples.
Matthew 15:1-9 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.
We have often noted that the scribes and Pharisees were two groups of religious Jews who misled the Jewish people concerning the things of God. This section of discipleship training begins with religious men who held rabbinic teaching as equal to God's word. They came to Jesus for a confrontation.
The Pharisees were an influential religious sect within Judaism in the time of Christ and the early church. They were known for their emphasis on personal piety and their acceptance of oral traditions, in addition to the written Law. They taught that the Jews should observe all 613 laws in the law of Moses, and they included their own man made rules about cleansing.
The Pharisees gave equal authority to oral tradition, essentially claiming oral teaching of their rabbis was the same authority as inspired scripture. These traditions had the effect of adding to God’s Word, which is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19).
Mark 7:7-9 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8) For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9) And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
The Gospels contain many examples where the
Pharisees treated their traditions as equal to God’s Word (Matthew 9:14;
15:1–9; 23:5; 23:16, 23; Luke 11:42). Jesus applied the condemnation of Isaiah
29:13 to the Pharisees.
Man made rules went beyond hand washing and included how to wash a cup or a pot along with many other regulations that have no bearing on our soul or eternity. The Pharisees thought that they gained God's favor by following their man made rules and regulations.
Transgressing traditions was worse than disobeying God's Word.
Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Here is the core issue in this passage. The Jewish religious leaders were angry because Jesus and His disciples did not obey their man made oral rules and regulations. There are some large denominations today who hold the same view and place tradition on equal footing as scripture, which is tantamount to elevating what man says to a position higher than what God says.
The specific rule violation was that the disciples did not wash their hands before eating bread. Now, there is nothing wrong with good hygiene and cleanliness. What is wrong, is that they lifted a man made rule to equal authority with scripture and Jesus is going to expose their sin. Nowhere did God command that it was a sin to eat your food without washing your hands first.
The Hammer of God's Word Applied.
Matthew 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Jesus drove right at the issue of Pharisees denying the divine authority of scripture over all else. He accused them of transgressing the commandment of God and that is a serious indictment of religious externalism. However, Jesus is not done with them yet. In fact, He is just getting started.
Pharisee's Evil Sin is Exposed
Matthew 15:4-6 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.
Rather than attack their oral tradition first, Jesus held up the standard of God's law that they were guilty of violating. Jesus cited the fifth commandment to honor your father and mother (Exodus 20:12) and then he cited the death penalty for children who curse their parents (Exodus 21:17 & Leviticus 20:9).
The idea of "cursing" your parents was not restricted to verbal abuse. Rather, the word "curseth" means to make light of their needs or treating your parents with conspicuous contempt or dishonor.
How were the Pharisees guilty of cursing their parents? They used a tradition of man to avoid obeying scripture. You see why it is so important to be well grounded in God's truth in order to confront error with what God really said. This exposes their sin for all to see.
All a Jew had to do to avoid caring for their parents was to say “Corban” with the idea of using the money for God. A Jew was required to make an oath of refusal to help one’s parents, and the oath was legally binding according to their tradition. By this despicable man made contrivance, the Pharisees freed themselves from obedience to the fifth commandment.
The idea here is that a Jew could shield his assets (land, money or other possessions) from being used to take care of his parents when they needed his help. Using a man made oral tradition, the Pharisees bypassed the Word of God. Or so they thought!
Jesus hung their sin around their necks and they could not avoid the condemnation. He said "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
Christ pronounced a stinging indictment that exposed the hollow pretence of Pharisees quibbling about handwashing.
The word "commandment" means having force or authority from God. In contrast, the words "none effect" means making the commandment of God without authority, null and void. The Greek word is a legal term for cancelling a will or voiding a contract.
Thus, the moral force of God’s law is annulled by the Pharisee's man centered foolish rules and their own immoral conduct.
Discipleship means confronting hypocrisy.
Matthew 15:7-9 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.
Jesus bluntly condemned the scribes and Pharisees for what they truly were on the inside: hypocrites. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be someone else. They pretended to be scrupulous religious people on the outside but in their heart they were wicked sinners.
The Pharisees seemed to draw close to God with long prayers and religious activities. Read Matthew 5-7 because Jesus exposed their many religious errors. For example, they liked to pray on a busy corner, sit in the highest places, have a bell rung whey they put in an offering or put on a sad countenance when fasting, all so that men would see how religious they were.
Their hearts were far from God and they treasured the traditions of men instead of inspired scripture from God. It is no wonder that Jesus had harsh words of judgment for the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees.
Outwardly moral but inwardly wicked.
Matthew 23:25-28 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26) Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28) Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Later on in Christ's ministry, He confronted the sins of Judaism and the more He spoke the Word of God to them, the faster their hostility to Christ grew. They had rules for how to properly wash a dish or platter but their hearts were darkened by sin.
A "sepulchre" corresponds to a mausoleum in modern cemeteries. An above ground building was constructed to hold the remains of dead people from the same family. Then, as now, the caretakers often coated the sepulchre with whitewash to give it a nice clean appearance.
Jesus said the Pharisees were like the sepulchres, clean and white on the outside but full of dead men's bones inside. Thus they mustered an external appearance of being right with God but in their hearts they were spiritually dead.
If a Jew touched the remains of a dead person they were unclean and needed to be cleansed before returning home (See Numbers 19:8-14). The picture of uncleanness due to this specific sin was brought home to the scribes and Pharisees by Christ. They needed to be born again and to receive a new heart and new spirit from God.
Thoughts to Ponder...
80% of our Bible believing Pastors worry about conflict with church members. Jesus Christ is the model for Pastors, church members, parents and lay leaders. Jesus did not compromise the Word of God in any way and He confronted sin when He encountered it.
Pastors and parents must be ready to challenge sin in the lives of their flock or family. Today it is popular among professing Christians to say that since their conscience does not convict them about a particular sin, it must be okay to engage in it.
Sin is confronted from the pulpit and in our homes or communities by lifting up the Word of God so that people can see what God says about sin. Divine Truth is the only moral standard that matters.
Mankind is very creative at finding ways to reason around the truth of scripture but God will hold each one accountable for their stubborn unbelief.
Pastors, parents and lay leaders must hold up God's word as the standard of our faith to guide and shape our actions. Nothing else matters and nothing else can help a sinner except the truth of scripture. Expose the sin and call for repentant faith in Jesus Christ.
No one likes confrontation but sin in our church families and in our homes must be dealt with in the manner that God prescribes. Pastors, parents and parishioners must deal with any known sin issues before serving God in any way. We must confess and forsake our sins (Proverbs 28:13). The blood of Jesus will cleanse us when we do this (1 John 1:7 to 2:2).
Discipleship principles learned from this post are:
- Sin must be confronted with truth.
- All believers should be unwavering in dealing with our own sins.
- The Word of God must be read or shown to the sinner.
- Scripture exposes sin and the emptiness of self righteousness.
- The gospel tells sinners how they can become a child of the Living God.
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