Smoodock's Blog

We often criticize the Jews, because their traditions caused them to reject Jesus, their Messiah. However, I wonder at times what we would say, if we took a good look at ourselves. Consider for a moment the staggering number of Christian denominations there are,[1] which hold to different traditions that separate us, one from another. This, of course, wasn’t so, during the first century AD, even when gentiles began receiving Jesus as their Savior in relatively large numbers. The Council of Jerusalem was called (Acts 15) in order to keep the Church united, and prevent it from separating into a Jewish church and a gentile one.[2]

Today, instead of receiving our brethren just as they are, vis-à-vis just as the Lord receives all of us, we separate ourselves one from another and judge the other’s peculiar behavior, according to our own traditions, which differ from theirs. The word of God is the same, but traditions separate us. Such things are wrong. They were wrong in the first century AD, and they are wrong today.

At this time, the scribes and the Pharisees came to Jesus with a complaint. Matthew’s record of the event is brief and to the point, while Mark’s account (Mark 7:1-13) is a little more explanatory, as to how the event developed. There we are told that some of Jesus’ disciples were eating without washing their hands. We aren’t told whether this was through ignorance or was done to provoke the Jewish authorities, because apparently “all Jews” didn’t participate in the doctrine of meticulous washing before eating anything. In other words, if they were out in the marketplace, they wouldn’t eat, because they wouldn’t have an opportunity to wash, and even the washing itself was ritualistic.

“The water was poured on both hands, which must be free of anything covering them, such as gravel, mortar, &c. The hands were lifted up, so as to make the water run to the wrist, in order to ensure that the whole hand was washed, and that the water polluted by the hand did not again run down the fingers… If the water remained short of the wrist (chuts lappereq), the hands were not clean. Accordingly, the words of Mark can only mean that the Pharisees eat not ‘except they wash their hands to the wrist.”[3]

Mark’s “all Jews” (Mark 7:3) refers to the Jewish authorities, vis-à-vis the Pharisees and the other Jewish authorities behaved this way. The common people for the most part did not. Therefore, probably at least some of Jesus’ disciples didn’t normally ‘eat bread’ according to the tradition of the elders (as understood from the Oral Law, later written down and codified to form the Talmud).

So, the Pharisees and the scribes (Matthew 15:1) came to Jesus, because they found fault with his disciples, which in a round-about way reflected on him as a rabbi/teacher (Matthew 15:2).

Apparently, Jesus behaved according to the tradition of the elders, presumably in order not to unnecessarily offend folks who held them in high esteem. After all, they didn’t criticize his behavior, only that of some of his disciples. Nevertheless, once these authorities began judging the behavior of his disciples, who didn’t ceremonially wash before eating, Jesus would, later purposely begin to eat at their tables without ceremonially washing beforehand (cp. Luke 11:37-38). This, of course was done, in order to drive home the point that he makes here, vis-à-vis their traditions often contradicted the commands of God. According to the Talmud:

“Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue. The latter used to say three things: be patient in [the administration of justice], rear many disciples, and make a fence round the Torah.” [Babylonian Talmud; Avoth 1.1]

“…make a fence round the Torah” This saying is behind the “traditions of the elders.” The intent was to wrap Torah in a blanket of other commands, which, if transgressed, at least the offender didn’t transgress the word of God. His behavior was caught beforehand, corrected and sin was avoided. Although this sounds innocent enough and has a degree of logic, sinners will find a way to sin, and the Jewish authorities were no exceptions to this rule, for they were sinning by judging the innocent behavior of Jesus’ disciples. The disciples may have transgressed the tradition of the elders, but the matter was merely a fence intended to keep a person from sin. Yet, they judged the disciples’ behavior as a transgression, vis-à-vis a sin! Therefore, Jesus offered an example of how their tradition transgressed the very law it was originally intended to uphold, namely, honoring one’s parents was set aside, if a gift, which originally would go for support to relieve a person’s needy parents, was given to God/Temple support (Matthew 15:3-5).

According to Jesus, these men were nothing more than hypocrites. They claimed with high sounding rhetoric that they spent their lives in obedience to the Lord, but in practice they did no such thing. They paid the Lord nothing but lip service, because their hearts were cruel and far from what the Lord expected of them. While they say they worship God, instead they worship men, teaching men’s doctrines rather than the word of God (Matthew 15:7-9).       [EB1] 

[1] There are over 200 Christian denominations in the United States, today, and over 45000 worldwide. See Why does Christianity have so many denominations.

[2] Another break was prevented in Acts 6. This one would have separated Jew from Jew, Palestinian Jews from Hellenistic or Diaspora Jews. Unity was important in the beginning, not so much today. Separation is not practiced in the Spirit.

[3] Alfred Edersheim: Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; Book 3; chapter 31; page 339.