WEBVTT 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.519 Matthew 14, verse 34. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:21.199 After they had crossed over, they being the twelve disciples and Jesus, they came to land at Ghissineret. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:34.320 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick, and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.280 And as many who touched it were made well. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:45.759 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break down the tradition of the elders? 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.799 For they do not wash their hands when they eat. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.640 He answered them, And why do you break the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition? 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:02.560 For God commanded, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:09.920 But you say, if anyone tells his father or mother what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father and mother. 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.760 So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void or nullified the word of God. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:27.680 You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:34.719 In vain do they worship me, teaching us doctrines, the commandments of men. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:37.840 This is the word of God. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:46.079 Whenever I read this encounter, it reminds me of one of the most remarkable missionary events in church history. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:50.560 Madeira is a Portuguese island off the coast of Morocco. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:52.959 Today it's a tourist destination. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:03.280 But in the 1800s, it was the site of a massive revival that, as I mentioned, many church historians consider one of the most remarkable missionary events in church history. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.359 And since this is Pentecost Sunday, I want to draw our attention to it. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:16.960 Madeira had a Madeiran population that spoke their own language, but in the 1400s, it was colonized by Portugal. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:26.719 Many Portuguese people settled there, and so there were two populations on the islands, the Madeirans who spoke Madeira, and the Portuguese who spoke Portuguese. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.400 But they were all under the authority of the Catholic Church. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:36.879 It wasn't ruled by the government of Portugal, but by the Archbishop of Portugal to use a more modern term. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:49.360 And the Catholic Church in that time period had banned the Bible from the islands, banned Bible study, banned adult baptism, banned religious meetings that weren't part of the Catholic Church, and made Catholic Mass compulsory. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:03:04.000 There was a little British outpost on the islands that they used for, base is too strong of a word, outpost is probably the right word, that they used for getting food and supplies to soldiers and the British Navy as they sailed by. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:12.879 And the British and the Portuguese operated peaceably enough, but the rules against Bibles and baptisms were mostly aimed at the British. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:20.000 But by the 1800s, you had 400 years of Catholic rule in Madeira, and the rules had become fastidious. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:26.240 The result is that basically every Madeiran considered himself a Catholic. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.360 And yet the Bible was not in their language. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:34.080 They were only seen at church for weddings and funerals, not unlike the Portuguese. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.280 And there was no gospel presence on the island at all. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.680 But that changed in the mid-1800s. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.919 Two men, one named Robert Reed Cayley and the other William Hewiston. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.879 Cayley was a doctor, Hewiston was a pastor. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.439 They left England and came to Madeira as missionaries. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:53.840 They learned the Madeira language. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.360 They started schools all over the island and they raised up teachers. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:02.000 They started hospitals or medical clinics all over the island as well. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:06.479 They brought education, they brought health care, and they brought the Bible. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:11.120 They began translating the Bible into the Madeira language. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:17.680 Within three years, there were health centers everywhere, schools everywhere, and a thriving Madeiran church. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:22.240 It's amazing that in just such time there was such a profound gospel impact. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:33.199 Well, when word of this reached the archbishop in Portugal, he demanded that the priest or the bishop of Madeira shut down all the hospitals and expel the missionaries. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:37.279 The priest refused because he himself had been treated at the hospitals. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:52.000 When he would not shut the whole thing down, he was recalled, removed from his post, and a new bishop was placed in Madeira, who closed many of the health centers, all of the schools, and had the missionaries arrested. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.759 Heweston was, the pastor was able to flee. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:03.839 He took his wife and Cayley's wife with him, and they joined a British ship and got out of there, but Cayley himself was arrested. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:05.920 Put on trial. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.800 He was eventually released, but he didn't leave. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:10.560 When he was released, they thought he would flee the island. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.680 No, he stayed on the island, just went into the mountains, hid on the island with the Madeiran people, and the church kept growing. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.319 And that's the way it stayed for three years until Cayley made a mistake that almost cost him his life. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.720 He brought from British ships the Portuguese Bible onto the islands. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:28.879 He started churches in Portuguese. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:47.279 When the Catholic Church heard about that, they shut down the few hospitals that remained, burned the schools down, started going home to home, both the Madeirans, the Portuguese, searching for Haley and for any sign of scriptures, which again they would put on fire and they would arrest the families that had the Bibles in their homes. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:48.399 They put them on trial. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:49.680 And the trial was pretty simple. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:54.240 They would ask them to take the Catholic Mass, and if they refused, they were sentenced to death. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:56.879 The way you got out of this was to just simply take the Mass. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:58.720 Well, the evangelicals wouldn't take the Mass. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:00.639 Some of them, I'm sure, capitulated. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.120 Most of them held strong and were put in jails, again, condemned to die. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:16.879 When the British heard what was happening, they sent gunboats to the islands, and the British government wouldn't let the British soldiers invade Madeira because they didn't want to start a war with Portugal over some doctor. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:30.560 But the British gunboats just staggered themselves around the island and launched cannons over the islands at regular intervals for days to kind of warn the Portuguese that if you kill these people, there will be consequences. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.480 Eventually they were able to smuggle Cayley off the island. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:45.120 They dressed him like a woman, wrapped him in a rug, said that she had a rare infectious disease that had convulsions, and that she needed to get to the British medical ship. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:54.879 Because of the infectious nature of the disease, the Portuguese soldiers let him, her off the island, onto the boat, and he escaped. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:05.519 Once the Portuguese realized he was gone, they rounded up all of the Madarin converts to Christ and exiled them to Trinidad. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.519 And by the way, this is where the gospel presence in Trinidad came from. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.279 The first believers in Trinidad were these Madeiran exiles. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.639 IBC has sent several mission trips to Trinidad. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.720 It has a thriving Christian population in today, owing to this history. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:32.480 The Portuguese converts, as well as some of the disciples of the missionaries, they were rounded up and exiled from the islands, and the Portuguese sent them to Brazil. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:36.000 Where revival broke out in Brazil. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:42.800 It's ironic that at the time Brazil was probably numerically the largest Catholic nation in the world. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.319 And the Portuguese government planted missionaries there unknowingly. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.319 When I read the text in front of us, that story comes to mind. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:05.360 We're in a transition in the book of Matthew where Jesus is going from his ministry in Galilee, he's going to end up out of the country. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:08.399 Think of Matthew like a chess game. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.639 The first third of a chess game is where the players are just establishing themselves. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:18.399 The last third of a chess game is the end game, where you're down to just a, you know, a few players, a few pieces left. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:24.160 And that middle part where you start exchanging pieces, the middle third of the game, that's where we are in Matthew's gospel. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:27.920 The players have established their positions. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.319 You understand who Jesus is and what he teaches. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:32.480 You understand the Pharisees are against him. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.720 You understand the battle lines are going to be the Sabbath law and the oral tradition. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:38.080 That's where the lines are drawn. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.240 Now, the middle part of the game, that's where we are now. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.360 They start trading pieces. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:42.879 John the Baptist is dead. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.200 The twelve have been sent out, and they're back. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.480 The Pharisees and the Herodians are conspiring against each other. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:53.519 The Herodians are a party of allegiance to Rome, and the Pharisees are allegiance to Israel. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.720 They're partnering together to put Jesus to death. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:58.559 Bang, bang, bang, bang. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:08:59.440 Trading pieces. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.039 That's setting you up for the end game. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:02.000 We're almost there. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:07.200 Jesus, from this point, is going to go to Jerusalem one last time and then is going to leave Israel. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:15.440 He's going to go up to Lebanon, to Jordan, to Syria, and he's not going to come back to Israel until he's ready to die. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.039 That's where we are in Matthew's gospel. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.039 This is the tipping point. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:23.679 And there's no turning back. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:34.159 We see in the text that we read here this morning two different groups of people that both are supposedly worshiping God, but both are actually hating him. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:40.080 And with both groups of people, it's Jesus himself who describes their conduct as hatred towards him. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.320 From that we can deduce two approaches to worship that are vain. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.240 Vain is a word that's used in the text. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:49.440 It's used in verse 9. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:51.679 In vain do they worship me. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.559 It's similar to the concept in verse 6. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.519 They make void the word of God, they nullify the word of God and they worship in vain. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:03.919 In other words, their hearts are sincere. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:09.120 They are sincerely being religious, but they are impotent when it comes to worship. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:13.440 They are unable to actually worship God for two different reasons. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:20.480 We're not talking about Romans that are doing their own thing or Gentiles that are doing their own thing. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:25.279 We're talking about two groups of people that would consider themselves worshipers of the true God. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.879 But their worship is meaningless. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:33.840 The first approach to worship that way is to treat Jesus like a spectacle. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:44.320 Jesus and the Twelve have crossed over, verse 34 of chapter 14 says, They came to land at Gennesaret. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.559 That's on the kind of southwest quadrant of the Sea of Galilee. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:55.279 Remember when John died, Jesus started working his way around the Sea of Galilee. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:56.879 The twelve joined him. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:03.039 He took a boat and cut across the Sea of Galilee, moving from, let's say, the 10 o'clock over to the 2 o'clock position. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.519 The crowds grew following him. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:10.080 And remember, they were going into the wind, the boat was into the wind, and so the crowds were able to outrun the boat. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.000 So it was kind of a comical scene as the boat is moving around to find an isolated land. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:15.840 The crowd just kept growing. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.879 Jesus docks, heals people. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.399 As the night grew on, he then feeds everybody. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.639 Remember, this is the feeding of the 5,000. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.240 And then when it gets dark, Jesus sends everybody home. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:32.399 And so they're all at, let's say the two o'clock part of the Sea of Galilee, and he sends them home. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:38.159 There's no Jewish communities out there, so they've got to work their way back around, many of them on land. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.639 Jesus puts the 12 in a boat and sends them across. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.679 He goes up on the hill by himself, prays. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:51.519 In the middle of the night, he goes back down, walks on the water, joins the boat, and it lands down at Gennesaret. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.559 Like I said, down at like the seven or eight o'clock area. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:59.600 What you learn from John's gospel is that the crowd that was dismissed, they're working their way around. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:04.320 They know Jesus is coming across by a boat, and they're wanting to meet Jesus again. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.679 Only they're grabbing more and more sick people to be healed. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:12.000 And you learn about that here in Matthew 14, verse 35. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.240 The men recognized him and sent around all the region and brought to him who were sick. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.879 John 6 says they were also in boats. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:28.720 So once they saw that the twelve went off without Jesus, and then they saw that Jesus wasn't there and there were no other boats had been missing, they all take the boats that are there and go hunting for Jesus. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.399 So you've got Jesus being hunted on water and hunted on land. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:34.639 They all collide here in Genesthera. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.200 The crowd is huge. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:48.639 This is back to where we were in Matthew 13, where Jesus told these people in this area that if the signs done to them had been done in Sodom Gomorrah, they would have repented, but these people do not repent. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.480 And Jesus is back doing more miracles. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:00.799 The sick people are still there, verse 36, they're begging Jesus to just touch the fringe of his garment. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.200 And everyone who touched it was made well. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:04.720 Jesus is healing them. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:10.720 These people are seeking for Jesus and being healed by them, but their hearts are far from him. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.240 We know their hearts are far from them. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.159 They want the signs and miracles, but they don't want him as their Lord. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.799 They honored Jesus, but they did not humble themselves. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.159 And that's a way to pursue vain worship. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:38.879 To be drawn by Jesus, attracted to Jesus, to know that Jesus is powerful, that he can answer prayers, that he can meet your needs, and to be attracted to that without humbling yourself before him. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:48.320 These healings mark how close people were to Jesus with their hands, but how far away they were with their hearts. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:54.960 They believed he could do miracles, but they did not surrender their lives to him, and so their worship was vain. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:05.440 I was reading last week in my own devotional time, Acts chapter 14, and I noticed something that struck me in a new way there. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.720 Paul and Barnabas are in the temple to Zeus there, or outside the temple to Zeus preaching. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:17.120 And Paul sees a man who's lame in both of his feet, it says, and he locks eyes with him. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:19.919 The ESV says he stares intently at him. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.759 And then Paul heals him, and everybody sees it. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:37.919 Something I hadn't really noticed before is the crowd sees it, and they go and they get the priest of Zeus and the priest of Hermes, and they decide that Paul is Zeus and Barnabas is Hermes and start worshiping them. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:41.679 They saw the miracle. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.559 Paul tries preaching, and the preaching doesn't stop their false worship. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:51.600 They saw the miracle, they believed the miracle, and they responded to the miracle by worshiping Zeus. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.320 You know, miracles are powerful, but they are impotent to change a heart. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.559 They cannot change the heart. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.440 They have no power to change a heart. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:05.679 You can see miracles and not be saved. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.080 And that's what you're seeing here in Matthew 14. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.879 These people are overwhelmed with miracles, but they don't humble themselves. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:15.360 They view Jesus as a vending machine for manna, not the Lord of the universe. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:29.679 And if you think I'm being too harsh on them from this, just this passage, understand, this is the same scene in John 6, where Jesus is healing all of them, and then at some point just tells them, Listen, you're only here because I fed you yesterday. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:31.360 You want more food. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.799 And then he says, I'm not giving you more food today. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.399 And they all leave, remember? 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:37.360 They all leave. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.559 And Jesus looks at Peter and says, Are you going to go also? 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.639 And Peter says, Where else did he go? 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.039 You alone have the words of eternal life. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:52.080 Everybody left. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:16:00.879 Jesus looks back on this in John 15 and says it this way If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have sin. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.919 But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:05.360 Do you catch what Jesus is saying? 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.679 If they didn't see miracles, this whole thing wouldn't be credited against them as sin. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.799 But because they did see all these miracles, and they respond by hating me, hating is Jesus' word. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.120 They hated me and my father as well. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:22.639 He's not saying this about the Pharisees, he's saying this about the crowds of people who saw his healings. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.360 They've done this to fulfill the word that is written in their law. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:28.799 They hated me without a cause. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:33.039 They don't even realize it, but they're fulfilling Scripture. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:35.759 Jesus continually revealed himself to them. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.320 He's raining compassion down on them. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:40.799 There's nobody he refused to heal. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:47.200 Yet they did not respond in faith, which leads to the second way to oppose Jesus, is to treat him like an obstacle. 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:52.240 The first way is to treat him like a spectacle, like a vending machine for your needs being met. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:54.080 But the second way is to treat him like an obstacle. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.639 The second group is who we meet in chapter 15. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:01.759 Verse 1 the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:06.720 Alright, so that's not walking half of a day around the Sea of Galilee. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.960 This is traveling three days. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:11.359 They're nowhere near Jerusalem here. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:13.839 And the Pharisees did this earlier in Matthew's gospel. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:15.440 They came out to meet John the Baptist. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:17.039 That would take a day and a half. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.160 But everybody was going out to meet John the Baptist. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:31.519 Here, you've got the religious leaders of Israel traveling around the whole nation, going for three days, probably at least, to get up to Galilee to confront Jesus. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.000 Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.119 They ask in verse 2. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.160 That's the question they've been working on for three days. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.960 This should remind you of Matthew 12. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:49.359 They encountered Jesus on the Sabbath in Matthew 12 and ambushed him earlier. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:53.839 That was a different encounter, earlier, and saying, Why do your disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath? 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:55.200 Do you remember that encounter? 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.119 Jesus was healing people on the Sabbath. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.319 He healed the man with the withered hands without lifting a finger. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:01.920 That drove the Pharisees crazy. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.000 They wanted to accuse him of working on the Sabbath, but he just healed them mentally. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.799 They couldn't even accuse him of working. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:15.039 So instead they accused Jesus of letting his disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath and say, that's not lawful to do. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:19.680 Jesus rebukes them and says, in fact, that he's the Lord of the Sabbath. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.680 He can do whatever he wants to on it. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.119 Which is itself an interesting way of answering it. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.640 He doesn't engage with, is it actually okay to pluck grain on the Sabbath or not? 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:30.480 What does the Fourth Commandment actually say? 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.680 He doesn't play that game. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:35.359 He just says, the Sabbath points to the Son of God, I am the Son of God. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:38.079 My disciples can eat what they want to on it. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.000 And you remember they left that encounter deciding to put him to death. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.880 That's where they partnered with Herodians to figure out a way to destroy him. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:48.400 Well, now they're back. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:54.799 And this time they have a similar accusation, only this time they note that it's the tradition of the elders. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:57.279 They think this is strengthening their argument. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:04.880 Understand that the Pharisees have a complex system of laws and regulations. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.119 They viewed two streams of authority. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.279 The word of God as written, the law, the Torah is a stream of authority. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.880 That is interpreted by their own tradition and religious leaders. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.759 That's the oral authority or the tradition. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:25.200 It's often called the oral authority by many Jewish people, even though it is written down, but it's declared orally. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.680 It's to contrast it from the written word of God. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:38.400 So they have the written authority, the word of God, the law of the Torah, and then the spoken authority, which is their own teaching of scribes and rabbis, that have been passed down for thousands of years to them. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:43.759 And you can understand how this works. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.599 The written word of God defines clean and unclean food. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:57.440 The oral tradition explains to you how you navigate that distinction. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:02.559 So, for example, you can't eat fruit that fell on the ground. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:04.400 For lots of reasons. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.000 First of all, you don't know was it harvested on the Sabbath, for example. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:08.559 You don't know. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.759 You don't know who harvested it, you don't know when it fell, so don't eat it. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:15.200 Secondly, though, a gentile pork is unclean. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:16.720 Gentiles eat pork. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:22.000 If food lands on the ground, it could have landed on a place that a Gentile had touched or made unclean. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.720 You know, a gentile had a ham sandwich last night, walks on the grounds, and orange lands on the ground there. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.279 You don't know what happened and who was on the ground. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.279 So the fruit could be unclean, so you can't eat it. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.039 That's the the oral tradition. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:38.799 I was trying to think of an analogy to explain that, and you might find this silly, but it's helpful for me to think of it through. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.880 I think of the analogy of TSA security screening. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.920 Okay, it divides the airport from unclean to clean. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:48.960 All right? 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:54.559 And regardless of how effective the security itself is, you recognize a very clear line. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:59.839 You move from the unclean, you get through it to the clean, now there's no security. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:04.000 And I'm sure you've had the experience before or been in an airport or have heard of this happening. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:08.000 What happens if somebody makes it through security without being screened? 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.480 Well, they clear the whole terminal out. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:16.160 People are on airplanes, they take them off airplanes, they clear out everything and make everybody go through screening again. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:18.720 Because the theory is you don't know where that person went. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.960 I was at LAX once when that happened. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:28.880 Somebody went through security in Terminal 3, which leads these stairs that go up, and they even got the guy at the top of the stairs. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:38.240 But they did that, they clear out the whole terminal, screened everybody because you had an unclean person where it's supposed to be clean. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:39.759 Rant over. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.200 Back to the text. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.319 That's the oral tradition. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:49.440 All of these rules and regulations to keep the unclean from tainting the clean. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:51.599 Part of that was the washing of the hands. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:55.920 And so they had a very explicit way that you're supposed to wash hands. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.759 It wasn't saying your disciples are eating with unclean hands. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.559 Like they went to the bathroom and didn't wash their hands. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:03.440 Not that kind of thing. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:04.960 They're not fourth graders here. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.160 We're not talking about that. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:14.960 We're talking about this whole elaborate system of how you're supposed to ceremonially clean yourself, depending on what you've touched and who you've interacted with and all of this. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.880 And they're not following it. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.240 Jesus and his disciples are not following that system. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:21.599 They never have. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:26.480 They're too busy out there showing compassion to people and healing people. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.440 So they don't play those games. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:37.920 So the Pharisees ambush Jesus and ask him about that. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.519 And I want you to marvel at Jesus' response. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.480 He does not answer according to the question. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:52.720 He does not engage with what does the written law versus the oral law actually say? 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:58.160 He doesn't go down the road of, does the oral law say you pour with your right and wash your left? 00:22:58.640 --> 00:22:59.759 He doesn't do that. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:07.279 He doesn't say, you know, the oral law is actually wrong at this point because the written law about clean and unclean foods can be better interpreted this way. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.799 And he doesn't get into an argument about their actual objection. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:19.440 Again, another example of this might be somebody who says, I don't want to believe the gospel because how could all the animals fit on the ark? 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:24.640 So there's part of you that would be tempted to actually answer the question. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:36.319 To be like, okay, there's a difference between species and kinds and family, and they're on the ark according to their kinds, and this is how big the average kind is, this is how many kinds there are in the world, this is how they here's a shipping container, here's how many. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:37.519 Have you been to the ark encounter? 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.200 You could do that whole answer. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.200 But Jesus does not answer that way. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.720 Jesus goes at the heart of their question, their presupposition. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:55.920 He answers, why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.880 Why do you reject what God says for your own tradition? 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:04.640 That leads you to this point. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:11.039 They were treating Jesus like an obstacle because they were honoring traditions that were opposed to him. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:20.640 They were so fastidious in their traditions, they were willing to reject the Savior because he did not keep their own oral traditions. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.359 So Jesus goes after him. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:27.759 You're rejecting God, not me. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.559 And he gives an example. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.000 There could be a thousand examples. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.119 He chooses one. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.720 Jesus does in verse 4. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.359 God said, honor your father and your mother. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:39.200 That's the fifth commandment. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:41.359 That's the exact middle of the Ten Commandments. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:43.119 He's not picking an obscure law. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.599 He's not saying, you also have, you know, you once ate something that was unclean too. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.039 He doesn't go after them that way. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.559 He picks the heart of the law, the middle of the Ten Commandments. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:54.240 Honor your father and your mother. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.480 You ignore that, he says. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:00.480 Exodus 20 is the fifth commandment. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:10.240 Exodus 21 says, Any child who curses, or it's translated here, reviles in verse 4, his father and mother must surely die. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:15.200 In Exodus 21, a child who curses his parents should be put to death. 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.599 And let me just get ahead of this one real quick. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:21.680 This is a verse that is often misappropriated by parents. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:24.720 I may have misappropriated it a time or two myself. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:26.480 You rolled your eyes at me. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.039 You know, in the Old Testament, you would be dead right now. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:31.519 That's not what it is. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:33.359 It's an oath that you make. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:40.240 The Hebrew word here back in Exodus 21 is if a child makes an oath to condemn his parents. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.720 Like it's severing your tie from your family. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:46.799 It's a child who says, I'm no longer going to be part of my family. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.480 I'm washing my hands of my family. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.640 As far as I'm concerned, they're as good as dead. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:51.759 I'm going away from them. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.119 Which happens, you know, it's not unheard of. 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:01.759 With somewhat frequency, even in our own culture, where a kid's like, I am done with my family, I'm out. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.240 In the Old Testament, that is a capital offense. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:10.400 When you take an oath in the name of God that you are over your family, you're done with them, you could be put to death. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.680 That's how serious of a charge it is. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:15.359 So that's the law. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:21.519 Honor your parents, and if you cut ties with them, if you don't care for them anymore, then you could be executed. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.240 That's not an obscure command, it's the heart of the law, and Jesus keeps going. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:35.039 But you say, speaking to the Israelites, if anyone tells his father or mother, what you would have gained from me is given to God, he does not need to honor his father and mother. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.200 So this is a system the Jews had. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:38.000 It's called Corbin. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.839 In fact, in Mark's description of this in Mark 7, it uses the word Corbin. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:45.599 It's not here in Matthew, but it's it's what this system is called. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.319 So the law commands you to care for your parents. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:53.039 In their old age, they're too old to work, they need help, you're supposed to care for them. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:04.240 What the Jews would do, many of them, your parents ask for help and you would say, Oh, I had stuff to help you, but I have given it to God instead of you, so I have nothing left to help you with. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.880 And it's just a silly analogy, but I have the prop with me. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.960 Here's this book that we talked about earlier. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:18.559 So parents in their old age say, I need help, I need that book from you, and you have it, and it was even maybe reserved for them, but you look at it and you're like, hmm. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:25.599 And you say the word Corbin over it, you say Corbin, and then you can tell your parents, oh, what I had for you is now meant for God. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:27.519 You can't have it, I'm so sorry. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:29.200 It's given to God instead. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:34.880 And the the the ripple in this is that when you make something Corbin, it stays in your house. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.160 You don't even have to give it to the to the priests. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.759 So sorry, mom, dad, Corbin. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.759 This is I would love to give it to you, but I can't, Corbin and all. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:50.720 And then all you have to do to undo it is to say Corbin again. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.720 So now the next day, you want to read this book yourself? 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:53.359 Corbin. 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:57.920 Your parents ask for it. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:27:58.799 Corbin. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:01.039 Like that's what they were doing. 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:04.319 And I'm making it sound a little silly, but that is what they were doing. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.319 And Jesus calls them out on it. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:11.839 They travel three days to say you guys aren't washing your hands the right way, and Jesus gets back at them. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:15.359 You have a whole system to keep people from honoring the fifth commandment. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:19.440 Don't pretend like you care about clean and unclean food through hand washing. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:27.039 Prophet after prophet has gone to Israel, prophet after prophet has been killed in Israel. 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:29.680 And it's this attitude. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:35.279 They reject the prophets for the sake of their own tradition. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:43.359 For the sake of your tradition, verse six, you have made void the word of God. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.519 You've nullified the word of God. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:48.559 You act like it's so important. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:53.680 But you may as well rip out the fifth commandment from your Bibles. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:56.640 You hypocrites, verse seven. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:59.599 Hypocrite is a Greek word just brought into English, not even translated. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:01.599 And we use it as an English word today. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:03.359 Literally, it's an actor. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:07.440 And in the Greek stage plays, somebody would put on the mask to play a part. 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:09.200 It's not the real person, it's the mask. 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:10.640 Just brought right into English. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:11.759 You hypocrites. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:13.200 You put on the mask. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:18.559 You cannot be that hard-hearted and spiritually dead sincerely. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:25.279 You can't travel three days to get me to stop healing people because my disciples haven't washed their hands. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.119 I mean, are you kidding? 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:37.359 How hard-hearted would you have to be to close hospitals that are healing people because they are not participating in your religious traditions? 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.240 The lepers can die for all I care. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:48.000 Better people die from lack of health care than they nullify my traditions. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.480