Tradition vs. the Heart

1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^a and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^b 5But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’^c ” (Matthew 15:1-9)

Thoughts: The Pharisees sought Jesus out to accuse Him.  They were looking for something wrong. The washing of hands was not a soap and water thing, but a tradition-- a rule added to the laws of the Bible.  Jesus was saying such things are not necessary.  It is not the exterior things that make someone clean, but getting the heart right.  In some ways, this was Jesus' main message- get your heart right.  He also pointed out they had some traditions that watered down the very law they sought to uphold.
As father's day comes up, perhaps it is good to note that Jesus upheld the commandment to honor father and mother here.  The Jews were saying you could give a gift to the Lord's work (the ultimate father), then you didn't have to support your parents when they were in need.  One great core Biblical tradition is to honor our parents (one of the top ten).  
    If our hearts are far from God, it doesn't matter what we say.  Our worship is fake if we don't have listening ears to God.  We need, with all our heart, to seek God's will and then fulfill it.  

Prayer: Lord, draw my heart ever closer to you.  Open my blindness to your will, and melt the hardness of my heart.  Keep me from being deaf to you by my own cultural traditions.