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Matthew 15 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
It’s the worst feeling that any human can experience in this life. It’s the realization that I wasted my life.
I can’t imagine a more horrifying reaction than those who thought they were living for God, possessed good works, stood for justice, mercy, and love and believed that they knew God only to find out that God did not know them. Those who have deceived themselves will not listen to anyone. It’s ironic how many Christians still get into deep arguments and debates with those who have hardened their heart to God considering that when Jesus himself stood before the Pharisees they refused to acknowledge their own sin.
We hate our sin. We hate to acknowledge it, let alone repent of it. It’s completely unnatural. We could go on living just as we are, in that natural state, and the majority of people would have no problem with us. In fact, most would applaud our feelings of “that’s just who I am.”
If you believe Jesus came to set the captives free, then you must believe He actually meant it. To embrace what Jesus stood for and continue down the same path makes no sense whatsoever.
This is what happened to the Pharisees.
“But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, ‘This belongs to God,’ 6 they do not need to honor their father. In this way you disregard God’s command, in order to follow your own teaching.”
Matthew 15:5-6 GNB
You disregard God’s command in order to follow your own teaching. What, specifically, was Jesus talking about here?
“Jesus was referring to a practice whereby people would dedicate their possessions to God so that they could use their finances for themselves and not for others. For example, if parents needed money, the children could excuse themselves from helping because their resources were already “dedicated” to God. This ruse kept people from honoring their parents by taking care of them in their old age.”
Nelson’s New Testament Commentary
I want to be clear. This wasn’t just a Pharisee thing. This is a human thing. There’s definitely a little Pharisee in all of us, myself included. I have been so convicted over the past year or so as to how much I justify my own actions and behaviors. We have become experts at taking bits and pieces of Scripture and mixing it with our own ideas of what is “right.” Without even knowing it, we transform into people who misrepresent God and His ways.
Jesus understood that the standard He called people to was impossible. He intentionally calls us to that standard because He knows the only way we will be able to fulfill His plan is to abandon ourselves and regenerate our dead bodies with faith birthed from His grace. Jesus was going to the cross to provide a new life for all who would lay down their own will.
Unfortunately, the Pharisees wanted to keep their old life and represent God at the same time. People today might read these verses and think, “What’s the big deal? It’s my money and I can do whatever I want with it.” But the attitude of a changed heart doesn’t see it that way. When we understand what has been done for us at the cross, we hand our lives over to the gentle authority of Christ. It’s all His.
The Pharisees couldn’t see it, and in the end, most of them didn’t want to. Are you disregarding God’s commands in order to follow your own teaching? Most likely we all are in one way or another. This is why our faith journey is a continual process of “working out our Salvation with fear and trembling.” We must continually revisit the cross and what has been done for us so that out of love and gratitude, we are able to give more of ourselves over to King Jesus.