Neglecting the commandment of God

7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, ² and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) ⁵ The Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” ⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ ¹² you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

It was only about 1 month ago, January 23, that we read Matthew's version of these same teachings. It is good for us to read and reread the Word of God, both because we tend to learn through repition and because the Word is living and the Holy Spirit can provide new and fresh revelation from scripture, even if we have read or heard it many times. Last time we looked at how in many ways traditions make up more of what separates believers denominationally than doctrine. There is a tendency to focus on the differences in the way we do things or the way we understand things rather than focussing on the things we have in common. When we focus on differences we tend to make them larger than they actually are. Traditions and preferences are good things but we need to always remember Jesus says:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”(Matthew 22:36-40) 

Until we have succeeded in these two, the rest of our man made traditions and doctrines may actually be stumbling blocks, hindering ourselves and others from seeing and entering the kingdom of heaven.  We can become like these scribes and Pharisees, so blinded by the traditions of man that we miss the presence of God in our midst.

Even when we believe we are free from this type of thinking we need to always guard against it in our lives. We are creatures of habit. Even in the most free church gatherings people will tend to sit in the same place each week. There is nothing wrong with that unless that "tradition" becomes a stumbling block. Do we feel offended if some one takes our seat? It is really that easy for us to put preference and tradition ahead of love of God and others. Traditions and preferences, while they may have certain values attached to them are basically rooted in some form of self. We become comfortable in certain things and we hold closely to them. The truth is Jesus never promised comfort to any of us. He says:  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)    Jesus doesn't promise comfort. He promises peace in what is uncomfortable. 

The only real way for us to be free from our self centered tendencies is to completely yield to the Holy Spirit. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; (Jeremiah 17:9)  Even in Ezekial 36:26 where it says: "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh., the heart is still a heart of flesh it is the new spirit that He puts in us that we need to follow.

We can  choose to make hundreds or even thousands of decisions on our own throughout each day and probably need to repent of many of them at night, or we can make one decision, to fully yield to the Holy Spirit of whom Jesus says:

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  

One of the central points of agreement for Christians is the deity of Christ, Jesus equlity and unity with the Father. To question or deny the deity of Christ is unacceptable.  Most believers  likewise will acknowledge the Holy Spirit as the third part of the triune God. For us to choose to follow our own hearts and minds rather than yielding to the Holy Spirit is to deny the deity of the Holy Spirit. It is like saying No Lord. If we say no to Him then He is not Lord. If we choose to lead rather than be led then The Holy Spirit is not God. Jesus says this about failure to acknowledge and follow the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:30-32

³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. ³¹ “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Blasphemy or denial of the Holy Spirit is choosing to disregard truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. If we acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is one with God then we need to yield completely, setting all preference, tradition and preconceived ideas aside. Jesus says He will give us peace not comfort. The Spirit comes with fire. That too can be uncomfortable but it's better that we burn with the Holy Spirit than to burn in the sin of denial.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit of Truth and Fire, I say yes. Yes Father. Yes Lord Jesus and Yes Holy Spirit. Lead me. Guide me. I am Yours.  Amen