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Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin Matthew 15; Mark 7 |
SOME
SCRIBES AND PHARISEES came to confront Yeshua and His talmidim (disciples).
They asked, "Why do your talmidim transgress the tradition of the
elders?" [1] They had seen that "some of His talmidim
were eating bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed hands." [2] Mark's Gospel goes on to describe the
ceremonial washing of hands, cups, pots, and pans. "Then the Pharisees and
Scribes asked Him, 'Why do your talmidim not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread
with unwashed hands?' "
Yeshua
was not opposed to washing of hands or cleanliness. However, what the Pharisees
(P'rushim) were referring to was the ceremonial,
ritual cleaning of hands. When we are in Israel, we usually see two-handled
pitchers of water located next to sinks in the restaurants, as well as in some
of the rest rooms. These two-handled pitchers are for the ceremonial washing of
hands. First you pour water into the pitcher. Then you grab one of the handles
with your right hand, and pour water over your left hand. Then you take hold of
the other handle with your left hand, and pour water over your right hand. As
you pour the water, you say a b'rachah
(blessing): "Barukh Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh HaOlam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tsivanu al n'tilat yadayim (Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified
us with your commandments, and has commanded us regarding the washing of the
hands)."
The
purpose of this isn't really about physical cleanliness, but ceremonial
cleanliness. If your hands were really dirty, you would first wash with soap
and water, or at least rub your hands together under flow-ing
water. Then if you wanted, you could do the ceremonial washing of water.
I
don't believe Yeshua is opposed to Jewish tra-ditions,
or the traditions of any other nationality, pro-vided that the traditions do
not contradict the mitzvot (commandments) of the Scriptures, or if the
tradition is exalted to a position above God's commandments. For instance,
Yeshua would have no problems with Italians eating spaghetti, although He would
have problems with the Italian pork sausage that so often accompanies
spaghetti. And Yeshua would also have no problems with Jewish traditions, which
often are based in some way on Torah. Most Jewish traditions are not
anti-Biblical. And it would be very wrong for Jews or anyone else to force
people to obey religious traditions that are not Biblical.
Yeshua
responded fairly harshly to the criticism from the Scribes and Pharisees. He
said, "Rightly did Isaiah (29:13) prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is
written, 'This people honors Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men,' such as the washing of
pots and cups and many other things such as you do. Neglecting the commandment
of God, you hold to the tradition of men... Full well do you reject the
commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.
For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whosoever
curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, If a man says to his father or mother, 'Anything
of mine that might have helped you is Korban (that is to say, dedicated to God).'
Thus you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, making
the word of God of none effect by your tradition, which you have handed down,
and you do many other things such as that." [3]
Please
note that Yeshua was upholding the commandments of God, and condemning the
man-made traditions when they caused people to break the mitzvot
(commandments) given to us by God. There is nothing to indicate that Yeshua was
giving permission to eat pork chops! This would have been voiding the Word of God.
I believe that pigs would be happy to know that they would not be eaten by
Yeshua and His Talmidim. God commanded us to abstain from eating dogs and cats,
mice and rats, pigs and bats. If you don't believe me, check out Leviticus 11
and Deuteronomy 14. Why? Well, we know today that there are health benefits
when we abstain from eating the critters on the "unkosher"
list. However, that is not the reason that God gives for this list of permitted
and forbidden meats. YHWH said, "Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and you
shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any
manner of creeping things that creep upon the face of the earth." [4] Most Bible-believers want to be holy, and
avoiding the "un-kosher" animals on your dinner table is a good place
to start. Even if someday pig meat was found to be a health food (no chance of
that!), I would still avoid pork, because this is what God told us to do.
“Neglecting the commandment of God, you
hold to the tradition of men..." Yeshua criticized his fellow Jews for
exalting man-made traditions about the Word of God. Most Christians claim to be
Bible-believers. They would do well to examine the Word of God to ensure that
their traditions do not take away from the Word of God. For instance, we have
the Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23. Most of Christianity has thrown out
these beautiful holidays celebrating God's grace and goodness to us, with their
wonderful Messianic symbolism and prophetic fulfillments, and replaced them
with holidays adapted from the pagans. For instance, Easter was originally a
pagan holiday honoring the pagan goddess Ishtar who came down from heaven to
earth in a giant egg. The egg hatched, and out popped Ishtar, hence, the
"Easter eggs." Since Ishtar was a fertility goddess, rabbits are
associated with this ancient pagan holiday, hence the "Easter bunny"!
After
Christians decided many centuries ago that they didn't want anything to do with
"Jewish" holidays (even though they are the Biblical
holidays), they decided to take the pagan holidays and "Christianize"
them. Christmas also has pagan origins. As a new Believer in the late 1970s, I
was upset with Xmas trees. I was among those who said, "Put Christ
back into Christmas." Imagine my shock when I found out that Christ
wasn't originally in "Christmas," and that it was originally a
pagan holiday! Even The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 727, admits that
"The well-known solar feast of Natalis
Solis Invicti - the Nativity of the Unconquered
Sun - celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for
our December date"! And of course Sunday was the day to worship the
Sun god, which later replaced the Biblical Sabbath.
Getting
back to the Gospel account of Mark, we find that the "multitude"
again came to Yeshua, and Yeshua gave this important teaching: "There is
nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things
which proceed out of the man are what defile the man." Yeshua's talmidim
were confused, wondering that this meant. Yeshua told them, "Do you not
understand that whatsoever goes into the man from the outside cannot defile
him, because it goes into his stomach and is eliminated." [5] Please keep in mind that Yeshua was not
sitting down to a ham dinner. He and His disciples were merely eating bread
without the ceremonial washing of hands! Therefore, some of the Pharisees were
saying that the food was no longer kosher because their hands were not ritually
clean when they shoved it into their mouths.
In
Mark 7:19, we find the following addendum, which is in parentheses in the NAS:
("Thus He declared all foods clean.") This is enclosed in
parentheses because it isn't found in all ancient manuscripts. However, let us
assume that Yeshua actually spoke those words. When you see a dog or a cat, do
you consider these critters to be food? Of course not! However, in some
cultures, if you order a hot dog, you might get Fido or Spot, as some cultures
consider your pets to be food. A good Jew like Yeshua would never consider pigs
or lobsters to be "food." These animals are scavengers, designed to
clean up this planet, as God's environmental engineers. But food? Not for us!
Then
Yeshua said, "That which proceeds out of a man, this is what defiles a
man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from
within, and defile the man."
All
of these sins begin with our thoughts, with the issues of the heart. "The heart
is deceitful and wicked. Who can know it?" [6] It begins with our thoughts, and eventually
manifests itself in our actions. When someone says, "I do what my heart
tells me to do," it is best to stay far away from that person. It is like
the person who says, "I only do what the voices in my head tell me to
do." Our hearts are wicked. This is why we need the written Word of God.
Left to our own devices, we are likely to flounder and fail miserably. The
Scriptures must be our final authority for righteousness.