Class Lesson March 3, 2013

Hey Gang,

This week we begin a new series on “Answering Key Questions.”

Jesus often made statements, told parables, and also used questions to teach spiritual truths and to challenge religious assumptions. I have added to the title of this series, "Forget the Church: Follow Jesus!" to make this very point - sometimes the church (religious leaders or you and me) miss the point and clear direction of truth. This is why some of Jesus' questions angered religious leaders who refused to accept truth over tradition. The next five-week study will explore questions Jesus asked and why getting the answers right is essential to growing in discipleship.

People grow through asking questions. Sometimes we don’t even know the right questions to ask, but Jesus did. Asking these questions and finding the correct answers can help us live out our relationship with God.Jesus often used questions to introduce gospel truths. 

Below is an outline of the lessons in this series: 


1. March 3   God’s Word or Tradition? - Matthew 15:1-11, 17-20

2. March 10 Commitment or Lip Service? - Luke 9:20-26, 57-62

3. March 17 Compassionate Action or Indifference? - Luke 10:25-37

4. March 24 Serve or Expect to Be Served? - Luke 22:19-30

5. March 31 Recognize Christ or Worship Another? - John 20:1-18 

What is the point of the cartoon?

Think for a moment about your favorite traditions? What would your first response be to someone wanting to change a favorite tradition that you cherish?

Life Goal: Evaluate all traditions in the light of the Bible and adjust accordingly.

Family Traditions - Good or Bad?

Make a list of some of traditions you have at home, at church or personal that you cherish.





HOME: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter

CHURCH: ___________________________

PERSONAL: _________________________

We can choose whether we will use tradition well or poorly. Name traditions families keep during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. List these above beside each heading. Tradition doesn’t automatically mean something bad, many are very good. The dividing factor is: Does it honor God or not? Choose one of your listed traditions above and name a time it could honor God and a time it could dishonor God. (Example: Eating a certain cake could have multiple generations cooking that cake together. Eating that cake could divide the group if one member has diabetes. Opening family gifts could let family members show love or it could be a way to compete with one another.)

Question: What’s more important – what you do or why you do what you do?

• God is as interested in motives as your outward actions. Motives can turn the outcome of an action.
• The standard for your motives and actions is the Bible, not human-made traditions.

I. FOLLOW SCRIPTURE – MATTHEW 15:1-6

The Tradition of the Elders

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”— 6 he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have revoked God’s word because of your tradition.”


After the Pharisees had accused the disciples of failing to wash their hands before eating, Jesus asked them about using a tradition of the elders to fail to help meet the needs of their parents, thus breaking the Fifth Commandment to honor them.

It's important to understand that there were written laws and oral laws. Within the written laws, there were ceremonial, civil, and moral laws. The ceremonial laws had to do with worship, the civil laws had to do with day-to-day relational issues and the moral laws were the Ten Commandment given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai. 


What complaint did the Pharisees and scribes make against Jesus’ disciples? Why did they care so much about hand washing?

• Jews were expected to perform a ritual hand washing before, during, and after each meal. The manner in which the water was applied had to be followed exactly. They considered it a serious sin not to do so. The ritual was not in the Bible, but it was a tradition passed down to the first-century Jews by their elders. Many of the religious leaders considered these traditions as authoritative as the law of God itself.
• This wasn’t Jesus’ first clash with Jewish religious leaders. Previously they had accused Jesus of allowing His disciples to harvest grain on the Sabbath – in their view, a violation of God’s law about keeping the Sabbath. The disciples broke off heads of wheat and ate the grain while walking through a grain field on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1-8).
• The issue was not one of hygiene but of ceremonial law, which required the washing of hands prior to eating for ceremonial cleanness.

According to Jesus, how were the scribes and Pharisees breaking God’s commandments? Why would someone place tradition over God’s command?


How seriously does God take honoring parents? What does this look like for us adults?

• God made the command to honor parents one of the Ten. He prescribed capital punishment for those who spoke evil of their parents (Exodus 20:12; 21:17).
• Corrupt priests allowed those who no longer wanted to care for their parents to take a vow of Corban, by which they dedicated to the temple resources they otherwise would have used to support their parents. They allowed this tradition to replace God’s law.

What was the tradition of the elders?

• Hundreds of rules related to the proper keeping of the Mosaic law.

The Tradition of the Elders

The five Books of the Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy, the Torah) have always been foundational to Israelite religion and Judaism. During the exile scholars tried to help people understand and apply the laws of God. Their teachings were called “traditions,” and these teachers were called “elders.” Later groups claimed these traditions were part of what God gave Moses. Because they circulated by word of mouth for many years, they were sometimes called “the oral law” in contrast to the written law in the Scriptures. The Pharisees lived by these traditions and expected others to do the same. This difference led to many of the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees.



During the centuries immediately preceding the time of Christ, the Hebrew term Torah (law) developed. It came to denote all of the written Scriptures – plus an unwritten (oral) tradition, which interpreted and partly supplemented the written Scriptures. This oral tradition reflected an attempt to apply the ancient written Torah to the then – contemporary world. The New Testament refers to these teachings as the “tradition of the elders.” Oral traditions supporting Old Testament books appear in elaborate commentaries called Midrashim. A topical arrangement of the oral law was organized into the Mishnah. Until these oral traditions were put in written form, they were transmitted from one generation of rabbis to another by word of mouth.



During the intertestamental period the traditions of the elders developed partly out of a need to interpret and adapt the written law to changing times. Since the Hebrews had returned from Babylonian captivity, the land of the Bible had become increasingly urbanized and it’s economy more one of commerce than agriculture. Additionally, new religious leaders, such as the scribes and Pharisees, had emerged.



The “tradition of the elders” was essentially a pharisaic term. The Pharisees placed these oral laws on an equal footing with the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Old Testament. In the eyes of the Pharisees, Jesus often sinned by disregarding the traditions of the elders. For instance, “Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ‘Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean hands?’ (Mark 7:5). Jesus replied, “Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men” (v. 8). Jesus strenuously objected that this scribal, oral law in effect placed “the tradition of men” above the intention of Scripture. In doing so, Jesus warned Christians of all generations to guard against creating new “scripture.”





Which tradition was in question here?

• Eating without washing of hands – ceremonial law. The disciples ate without first washing their hands to ensure ceremonial cleanliness. This washing was not done for health and hygiene as we do. It was a way to remain ceremonially clean. They washed their hands in a certain way and failing to do so made a person ritually unclean. The Pharisees probably would have used passages in Leviticus 11 to defend their tradition.
• When Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding in Cana – remember the six pots of water that He turned into wine? The pots of water were there for the washing of hands.
• Jesus used this occasion to ask about one of the Pharisee’s traditions. Jesus chose a tradition related to money and family.
• The Fifth Commandment is a clear call for children to honor their parents. At the very least, this includes caring for them when they grow old and dependent. Most people of that day were poor, not wealthy. They were dependent on their offspring in their old age. However, the rabbinic tradition taught that a grown child could excuse himself from giving financial aid to his parents. All that the grown child needed to do was to declare that he was dedicating his estate to the Lord, that is, to the temple. Then whenever the subject of the care of his parents came up, the errant child could say, “I cannot help because my possessions have been pledged to God.” (In Mark 7:11 this action is called “Corban.”) The word Corban means gift. All the son needed to do to avoid giving his money or possessions to meet the needs of his parents was to say to his parents, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple.” This act of pretended dedication was clearly an example of religious hypocrisy. The Pharisees, who were so judgmental about washing hands before eating, disobeyed a key part of the written Word of God.

What makes a tradition bad or good?

• The word tradition is not bad in itself. An example might be family traditions or Christmas traditions. A tradition is basically a way of living, strongly influenced by custom – “the way we’ve always done it.” Traditions help people know what to think or do in certain circumstances.
• A tradition is bad when it’s used to get us out of following a more important command of God. The Bible is the standard for evaluating a tradition. There are no good excuses for a bad tradition.
• A church member was upset at a pastor for allowing some young adults to play “worldly games” in the church building during a family night activity. The pastor asked if the young people had broken any biblical rules. The complainer said, “But Pastor, you know our church has never allowed this to happen before!”

What was wrong with the Pharisee’s tradition about a ritual hand-washing?

• It was an expression of pride and prejudice. The pride came from their belief that they were pleasing God. The prejudice was in judging those who did not keep their tradition.

What is the irony of this particular tradition?

• They had asked Jesus a loaded question about the way the disciples ate without ritually washing their hands. The questioned assumed the disciples were guilty of a great sin because they did not wash their hands. The religious leaders wanted to know why they broke the tradition of the elders. Jesus made a more serious charge by asking them why they destroyed the commandment of God by their traditions.

How would you defend traditional family values with these claims?

II. REFUSE HYPOCRISY – MATTHEW 15:7-9

7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”



Jesus condemned this brazen act of hypocrisy as an example of the sin of using a religious tradition to allow one to disobey a clear word of God.


What is hypocrisy? What is religious hypocrisy?

• Hypocrisy is a form of play-acting or masking one’s true character. It’s being phony.
• Religious hypocrisy is when we do something outwardly that doesn’t match what is in our heart.

What’s the harm in deliberately trying to show outwardly what’s not on the inside? How could this harm the person who practices it? How does it harm those who know the person well? How does it harm even casual observers?

• Unbelievers are quick to recognize insincerity in our life. There is damage when we talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.

Why is it easier to notice someone else’s hypocrisy than it is to notice our own? Can we be hypocritical in our obedience to God and not know it, or do we always know we are doing it? How might you convince yourself something is biblical when it’s really just familiar?



Why did Jesus accuse the Pharisees of hypocrisy?

• They were trying to persuade themselves and others that they were being pious by promising to give their all to God. They used this as their reason for not helping their aged parents. Jesus saw this for what it was – hypocrisy. They used one of their traditions as a reason for disobeying a clear commandment of God. Matthew 23 is a longer list of the hypocrisies of the Pharisees. This example in chapter 15 is only one example, but it involved a serious sin. Hypocrites claim to be more religious than they are.

What Old Testament example did He use?

• Isaiah spoke God’s Word to the hypocrites of his own day, and in so doing defined hypocrites in Jesus’ day and also in our own day. These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
• People who pray and worship God must back up their prayers and worship by the quality of how they live.

How does hypocrisy defile?






III. QUIT DEFILING – MATTHEW 15:10-11, 17-20

Defilement Is from Within

10 Summoning the crowd, He told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”


17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”



Slipping into hypocrisy is easy; slipping into ugly behavior is easier. But an inner transformation can change that – when Jesus enters your life. His Spirit gives you power to choose what comes out. Jesus showed that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles people but what comes out, because it comes out of a sinful heart. Jesus then explained to the disciples why the heart is the source of sin.

Is there a difference between hypocrisy and a double standard?

 
 
What coming-from-within sins are you prone to: cruel words, evil thoughts, murderous tendencies, sexual misbehavior, theft, lying, slander and blasphemies, or what? How can God help you starve these thoughts before they become actions or before they eat you up on the inside?

Why did Jesus challenge the Pharisees on this issue?

• Since sin is internal before it becomes external, even so character must grow out of an inner change that leads to a transformed life.
• Some people define spirituality in terms of external religious activities.

Was Jesus denying any value to washing hands before eating?

• The value of Matthew 15:1-20 is that it shows that the first step toward getting religion right is an understanding of the depravity of the human heart.
• Jesus taught that the human heart is the source of sin. A new heart leads to a transformed life.

Was He approving everything taken into the body?

• Jesus wasn’t teaching that we can put anything we want into our body. Some people put harmful things into their bodies. They do this, however, because of hearts that are not right with God. Some people commit the sin of gluttony. This has its roots in inner priorities thinking only of what they want.

How does the list of evils reflect the Ten Commandments?

When the word spread that the religious leaders were challenging Jesus, curious people gathered to listen. Many may have heard Jesus stand His ground with these experts in Moses’ law. Secretly some may have cheered Him on. Jesus brushed aside the religious traditions not to win arguments, but to expose freeing truths. God’s commands, not tradition, are the path to joy. Jesus reversed what the Pharisees had said. People do not become morally defiled by eating with unwashed hands. On the contrary, what comes out of the mouth is what defiles.

Why is it easier to focus on religious activity than to actually honor God with our lives? So, why honor God?

Jesus condemned putting traditions such as ritual hand-washing above clear commandments of God, like the fifth Commandment. He challenged the critical Pharisees about this hypocrisy, the same Pharisees who had another tradition by which a son could avoid spending his money to help his aging parents by simply telling them he had dedicated his wealth to the temple.



Through these encounters with the Pharisees and scribes, with the crowd, and with His disciples, Jesus articulated two great truths.

1. Obedience to God’s Word takes first place over all human traditions. What traditions influence your actions?

2. The underlying issue is the heart. What we do outwardly or what we eat are not as important as what kind of people we are. Our hearts are sinful until we receive a new heart from Christ. We can’t help what we start to think about, but we can help the thoughts we feed. Ask God to search your heart and mind with questions like, “God, where am I twisting Scripture to match what I want rather than what You say?” “Where do I honor You with my lips, but not my heart?” “What thoughts do You want me to starve by giving them no attention?” “What thoughts do You want me to grow into actions?” What is the condition of your heart?

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, cleanse my sinful heart and help me serve You. Amen. 


 

Looking forward to seeing everyone this Sunday as we begin a new series on "Answering Key Questions."

See you Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan