Matthew 15:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.

NIV: they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

NASB: he is not to honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

CSB: he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition.

NLT: In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.

KJV: And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

NKJV: then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

Some Pharisees from Jerusalem have accused Jesus of allowing His disciples to break one of their favorite traditions. These man-made rules were so closely followed as to have nearly the weight of divine law. Their point was to attack the validity of Jesus' role as a rabbi, as well as to continue to dismiss His claims to be the Messiah. If Jesus is not adhering to the "correct" interpretation of their laws, then they will not accept His teaching.

Jesus ignored this shallow accusation and immediately shot back with a far more serious allegation. These same critics effectively break an actual command of God thanks to obedience to their human tradition. The fifth commandment clearly implies that children ought to honor and care for their parents (Exodus 20:12). Thanks to a combination of tradition and legalism, the Pharisees allowed the people to claim they were obeying that command by declaring that valuable possessions were "devoted to God." This gave the people a loophole to avoid using those resources to take care of their parents.

Christ makes this point with force: they have exempted their people from honoring their fathers. For the sake of tradition, Jesus says, they have made void the actual revealed word of God to Israel. They attack Jesus for ignoring traditions which have nothing to do with God's commands, while enforcing traditions which overturn the actual commands themselves! What follows is an even more heated condemnation from Jesus (Matthew 15:7).

Matthew 15:1–9 describes Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem challenging Jesus. Their complaint: Christ's disciples have apparently ignored the Pharisees' practice of ritualized washing before eating. In response, Jesus asks them why they allow people to break the actual command of God about honoring one's parents. He says they have made God's Word void for the sake of their tradition. In truth, they criticize those who ignore their commands, but ignore those of God. He applies to them words from the Lord to Isaiah about the Israelites of his day, saying that these Pharisees honor the Lord with their words while their hearts are far away. They worship God in vain, teaching man-made commands as doctrines.

Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus. They are offended that His disciples break the religious leaders' tradition about ritual handwashing before meals. Jesus turns that attack upside down, pointing out that His critics honor tradition above God's actual commands! He insists that nobody is defiled by what goes in the mouth—by the literal matter itself—but by the overflow of the spirit, such as the words that come out of the mouth. He and the disciples travel out of the country. Jesus casts a demon out of the daughter of a persistent Canaanite woman. They travel to the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus feeds thousands of people from a few loaves and fishes. These last two events set up the eventual spread of the gospel beyond the people of Israel.

Matthew 15 begins with a confrontation between some Pharisees and Jesus. They ask why His disciples break the traditional practice of ritual handwashing. Pointedly, Jesus asks why they allow the obvious intent of God's commandments to be broken through their traditions. Jesus and the disciples travel out of Israel, encountering a Canaanite woman. He praises her faith and casts a demon from her daughter. They travel to the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus heals more people and feeds thousands more from another few loaves and fishes. This sets up another confrontation with religious leaders, warnings about their teachings, and predictions of Jesus' death in the next chapter.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.