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Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings came from Jerusalem to Yeshua. They asked, “Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

He answered them, “Why do you break the commandment of God because of your traditions? For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘I have given to God whatever support you might have received from me,’ does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.

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That Which Defiles(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  2. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9