Jesus and the Pharisees
By Brent Beasley,
TBC Intern

Recently I was again reading the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 15:1-20. This was a head-on clash between Jesus and the leaders of the orthodox Jewish religion.

The Pharisees approached Jesus and questioned why his disciples did not wash their hands before eating. He responded harshly to his questioners. He accused them of honoring God on the outside but not on the inside—with their hearts. Jesus rebuked them: “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

Then, Jesus made his famous statement, “Listen and understand. What goes into a person’s mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean.” (v.11) He finished with more sharp words for the Pharisees, calling them “blind guides.”

As usual, the disciples didn’t get it the first time, so Peter asked for an explanation. Jesus spelled it out for them. He explained that it is the things that proceed from one’s heart, not a man-made list of “thou shalt nots,” that defile a person.

Unfortunately, the Pharisees were too caught up in judging people by the external religious system they had created. The Pharisaic system of what was clean and unclean had mushroomed into a maze of rules and regulations. To observe these laws had be-come the essence of religion.

As I read this passage, I was reminded that we all have a tendency to do what the Pharisees did. It is much easier to observe external rules and regulations—and to check up on those who do not—than to surrender your heart to God.

William Barclay writes, “To Jesus, religion was a thing which had its seat in the heart; it was a thing which issued in compassion and kindness, which are above and beyond the law.” (The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2, 117)

To the Pharisees, to eat pig’s flesh had become just as great a sin as to lack love for one’s neighbor. Washing your hands properly was just as important as “doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) The Pharisaical approach to religion conjured up some familiar images for me. I began to wonder, “What if Jesus, who was a teacher in his day, walked the earth today as a religious teacher? Even more intriguing, what if He were not just any teacher but a teacher in a Southern Baptist seminary?”

I wonder if He might have trouble holding on to His job.

I bet He’d get hauled before the trustees rather quickly and there would be a scene similar to the one just described above. He might not be questioned about hand washing, but He might be asked: “Why are you not teaching what we tell you?” “Why are your students not following our interpretation of the Baptist Faith and Message?” “Why are you allowing differing interpretations of the Bible among your students?” “Why are some of your students even allowing women deacons in their churches?”

I wonder if Jesus would respond as he did to the Pharisees of his day: “Look. It is not theological or political uniformity that makes a person pure. It is not your level of compliance to a man-made religious checklist. It is what proceeds from the heart that matters.”

April 1997