Matthew
15 : 1 – 6, Then the scribes and Pharisees
who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when
they eat bread." He answered and said to them, "Why do you also
transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded,
saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother,
let him be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever
profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" -- then he need
not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of
no effect by your tradition. NKJV
Where did the Pharisees come from? They are a sect of Jews,
who were wealthy and who saw themselves as better than their fellow countrymen.
The Hebrew word for Pharisee means: separatists
or to be separated. They sought the accolades of man more than God. The
entirety of their worship was the outward expression of certain customs and
practices. The earliest record that I have found dates the emergence of this
sect of Jews and their customs as far back as 150 years before the birth of
Christ.
By the time Jesus had arrived on the scene, this group
of self-righteous men had found prominence in the eyes of both the Roman and
Jewish leaders. Through their vain form of worship of God, they had greatly
influenced the Jews and led them astray from the true meaning of God’s Laws.
They took upon themselves the role of interpreting and enforcing the Laws of
Moses which they felt were applicable to their own philosophies. Today, we would
call it “picking and choosing” the parts of God’s Word that we desire to keep
and being dismissive of the rest. It was amid all of this confusion that God
sent Jesus to begin to preach “THE TRUTH” to His people.
God, through Jesus was calling His people back to
Himself to worship Him in Spirit and in TRUTH, so He could, once again, bless
them. As Jesus went about preaching the truth, many times He would reference
the “false beliefs and teachings” of the Pharisees and the scribes.
Throughout the gospels, you can read where Jesus would
dispute the teachings and the traditions of the elders, Pharisees, and scribes
by preaching the truth according to the Law of Moses and the faith of their
father Abraham. As Jesus’ influence grew among the Jews and especially among
the poor, the Pharisees watched as their power and influence began to erode.
This “threat” caused them to begin to devise plots where they could trap Jesus
in His own words.
However, when their feeble attempts to discredit Jesus
failed, they sought ways that they might destroy Him and bring an end to His
earthly ministry. The people of Jesus’ day who listened to His teachings were
set free, not only from their sins against God, but were also set free from
demonic possession and oppression.
Consequently, the people experienced the freedom that obeying
the truth can provide. Through these encounters with the power of the
living God, Israel began to be torn between the traditions of man and the truth
of God. Today, that same battle is still being raged in the world, the battle
between religion and the truth. Jesus tells us in John 8, if we will continue
in His teachings, we will come to know, or recognize the truth, and the truth
that we know will set us free from bondage. God desires for His people to be
free to worship Him with their whole hearts… not according to man’s
traditions.
You Shall Know the Truth,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Pastor Asa Dockery
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