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You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men

2. (6-9) Jesus' answer: you religious leaders exalt man's tradition over God's will.

He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men; the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition."

a. You hypocrites: Why was Jesus so stern in His reply? Because the leaders were far too concerned with trivial matters like ritual washing. When they focused on these trivial traditions, they excluded everyone who didn't keep the traditions, and so they discouraged them from coming to God.

i. The Living Bible paraphrases Isaiah's quote: These people speak very prettily about the Lord but they have no love for Him at all. Their worship is a farce, for they claim God commands the people to obey their petty rules.

b. This people honors Me with their lips: Yes, they honored God with their lips; but in fact, God said of them their heart is far from Me. It is possible to have the image of being religious or spiritual, but actually be far from God. This was exactly the case with these religious leaders.

i. This is the whole idea behind the word hypocrite. The word in the ancient Greek language referred to "an actor" or "someone who wears a mask." The image they promote is more important to them than what they actually are.

ii. Would God say something similar to us?

� "They attend church, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They read their Bible, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They pray eloquently, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They contribute money, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They do ministry, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They love to sing, but their heart is far from Me"

� "They talk to others about Jesus, but their heart is far from Me"

c. Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men: This is one of the pillars of legalism. Taking a commandment or opinion of men, and teaching or promoting it as a doctrine from God is what supports legalism. It gives man's word the same weight as God's word.

i. If I say, "In my opinion, you should no longer eat hamburgers from MacDonald's" then you are free to say "That's a nice opinion, now leave me alone." But when someone says, "God says you should no longer eat hamburgers from MacDonald's" then they make it seem like you are opposing God if you don't do as they say.

ii. Not everything in the Christian life is a matter of right and wrong. Some things - many things - are simply matters of personal conscience before God. The Scriptures do not command ritual washing before meals. If you want to do it, then fine. Do it unto the Lord, and without a sense of spiritual superiority before your brothers and sisters. If don't want to do it, fine also. Don't do it unto the Lord, and don't look down upon those whose conscience compels them to do the ritual washing.

d. You reject the commandment of God: This is another pillar of legalism. It would be bad enough to add the commandments of men to the word of God. But almost without fail, the legalist or religious hypocrite goes the next step - to reject the commandment of God and to keep your tradition. In doing this, they subtract the real essence and focus of God's word.

i. "He made it perfectly clear first of all that the tradition of man misses its own aim. Men are still defiled, wash they ever so often." (Morgan)

ii. "To the spiritual mind, it is a question of unceasing wonder that men should be so ready to follow and even fearlessly contend for the authority of human traditions, while they are just as ready to ignore the plain teachings of the Word of God." (Ironside)