7:5-8
The religious leaders asked why Jesus’ disciples need not adhere to the tradition of the elders. This gave Jesus the opening to mount His attack on them, to point out their hypocrisy. And Jesus did so by quoting from Isaiah 29:13. The Jews seemed to be blind to the fact that most of the Old Testament indictments were targeted on Israel herself. Israel’s biggest problem was herself, her sin was the most important issue. And the same holds true today. Land is not the big issue for Israel, her rejection of God is the big issue.
The leaders, the Pharisees in particular, claimed to be honouring God, but their hearts were far from God. And we should remember that “heart” as used in the Bible includes our mind and will, as well as our emotions. They had elevated the “commandments of men”, for that is what the teachings on hand washing were, as though they were doctrines of God. We are just as capable of doing that today as they were then. These teachings may seem good, may even have good motives behind them, but they will end up replacing the commandments of God. Note the use of the term commandments. Jesus is about commandments. We talk often as if He is just about “love” and forgiveness, any proper reading of the Bible will show that this is not so.
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