Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. (Matthew 15:13 ESV)
I want us to think about this statement by Jesus before we get into our lesson today. Jesus says that any plant that was not planted by the heavenly Father will be uprooted. I hope we immediately have some questions that we want answered. What does it look like to be planted by Father? How do we know if we have not been planted by the Father and are going to be uprooted? What causes Jesus to need to proclaim such sharp words? These are important questions since Jesus is speaking to religious people who thought they belonged to the Lord. So let’s open our copies of God’s word to Matthew 15 and look at who is planted by the heavenly Father and who is not planted by the Father and will be uprooted.
Nullifying the Word of God (15:1-9)
The first verse of Matthew 15 sets up the problem before we have even read the problem. The Pharisees and scribes have come to Jesus from Jerusalem. They have traveled about 65 miles to come to Jesus who is in the Galilee area. We do not read about the scribes or the Pharisees coming to Jesus honestly seeking him or honestly wanting to know him. Every time we read about them, they are coming to Jesus with ulterior motives. This is certainly the case here. They have traveled this distance to challenge Jesus. They come from Jerusalem and ask Jesus why his disciples break the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands when they eat.
Now where did this tradition come from? It is not written in the Law that the people of Israel had to ceremonially wash their hands for ritual cleansing before eating food. But a tradition had been created that was now binding. The Law did instruct the priests to wash at the laver in preparation for tabernacle and temple offerings (cf. Exodus 30:17-21). What seems likely is that the Pharisees took this law and applied it also to the people. Likely the thinking was that if it was good for the priests then it is also good for the common people. So the Pharisees took a law that was not given to all of Israel, made it a rule, and then applied it all people. The Pharisees are now challenging Jesus on this rule regarding his disciples who are not following this handed down tradition.
I think it is important to make a quick side point here. We have a fine way of doing the same thing today. Too often people read laws that were prescribed for the priests regarding their clothing or regarding their worship and try to apply it to us today. Too often people read laws given specifically to Israel and try to carry them forward to us today as Christians. We cannot take a law that was given to a particular set of people in the scriptures, see the wisdom of the law, and then make a rule for us that we need to follow also. We are binding something that God did not say to bind. We are making up rules and placing them on people that God did not place.
But I would like you to see Jesus’ response. Jesus is going to start with a different point. Jesus asks these religious leaders in verse 3 why they are breaking the commandment of God for the sake of their traditions. The Pharisees are upset that Jesus’ disciples are breaking rules created by humans. Jesus turns on them, wanting to know why they are willing to break the direct commands of God. You have this great concern for your rules but not the same concern God’s commandments.
In particular, Jesus says that they were breaking God’s law regarding honoring their parents and not speaking evil of their parents. Verses 5-6 reveal that the Pharisees had made a rule that got them out of having to honor their parents by financially caring for them. They made a rule that said you could dedicate your money to the temple contribution and that alleviated you from having to financially care for your parents.
The key problem is proclaimed in verses 7-9. You are being hypocrites, acting just like their ancestors did in the days of Isaiah. Jesus says that you are honoring me with your words but your heart is not near God. This is the essence of a hypocrite. You say everything that makes you look righteous but the heart is far from God. Notice the outcome in verse 9. Jesus says, “They worship me in vain.” Worship with the wrong heart is useless. Worship that does not have the heart near God has no value. It is a waste of time. It does not give God anything.
Now I want us to notice what made their heart far from God. Notice that Jesus does not say that their worship is vain because they say that love God but are committing worldly sins of the flesh. Now it would be true that our worship is vain if we say the right words but do not have a heart that loves God but loves the desires of the flesh. But this is not the point here because Jesus is talking to religious leaders who were careful to obey the law. So how were their hearts far from God? Look at the end of verse 9. They made laws out of their own human rules. This is exactly what has happened. These scribes and Pharisees have traveled all the way to Galilee just to challenge Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands according to a rule that was handed down by the elders and is not found in God’s law. They are binding what God has not bound. In doing so, Jesus says that their worship is useless. Doing this means that your heart is far from God.
Why is what the Pharisees did such a big deal? You will notice the word Jesus uses in verse 6. You have nullified the word of God. You made the word of God void. You have invalidated the word of God. Think about why this is so important. If we follow our own rules that we make, then we are no longer following what God’s word says. We are following our rules. We are nullifying the word of God because we are making our rules the same as God’s commands. Worse, when we make rules that actually are contrary what God has told us to do. Not only had the religious leaders elevated their rules to equal commandments from God, their rules had nullified God’s command to care for their parents.
We have a fine way of nullifying what God has commanded us to do today. I could come up with a lot of illustrations that I have seen and heard. I will limit my illustrations so that we have time to get to the heart of the message Jesus is proclaiming. But let me give a couple of illustrations. The scriptures plainly say that we are not to divorce and the only approved reason for divorce is for sexual immorality. Do you know how many ways people have nullified this teaching over the last 60 years? I am amazed at how people will use and twist the scriptures to nullify the scriptures.
I have heard many arguments from 1 Corinthians 7 that do this. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:10 that the married are not to divorce and if they do divorce they are to remain unmarried. But then they will read the prior verse that says to the unmarried that if you cannot exercise self-control, it is better to marry than to burn. Therefore, if you divorce and can’t exercise self-control it is okay to remarry. You have nullified the word of God! You have nullified the very next sentence with your rule that made. That is not what Paul taught to do. We take commands that say that sexual immorality is a sin, adultery is a sin, divorce is a sin, homosexuality is sin, and so forth and make those words mean something else. Jesus says our worship is useless because we are teaching our own rules and explanations as God’s commands and are nullifying the word of God. Do not let what other people say or teach nullify what God said in his word.
True Defilement (15:10-14)
So Jesus is going to get to the heart of the problem now. Look at verse 10. Jesus calls all the crowds together to make an important teaching. It is not what goes in the mouth that is defiling but what comes out of the mouth. Notice what happens in verse 12. The disciples come up to Jesus and ask if he knows that he has offended the Pharisees by saying these things.
Notice that Jesus is not apologetic about that. Jesus was not being offensive. Jesus is telling the truth of the matter and the Pharisees did not like it. People are going to be offended by the truth. But here is Jesus’ response in verse 13. “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” Think about this scene. How is the heavenly Father uprooting what he did not plant? He is uprooting through his word. Jesus’ teaching is sorting people just as he said it would. They are not planted by God because they are offended by the scriptures. They are blind guides leading blind people into a pit. Rather than being the spiritual guides for the spiritually blind and helping them see God, they are spiritually blind themselves and both are going to fall. So do not listen to them and do not follow them. Stay away from them. Leave them alone. You do not want to be at a place that is not teaching the word for word message of God. You do not want to follow a teacher that is teaching their opinions, rules, and ideas and not the line by line teaching of God. The reason is that they are going to lead you to spiritual destruction.
Not Planted By the Father (15:15-20)
Now the disciples ask for a deeper explanation of what Jesus is saying in verse 15. Jesus restates that defilement is not what enters the mouth. Those food laws and ceremonial laws were teaching something important about the need to be holy before the Lord. But true spiritual defilement does not come by eating something. True spiritual defilement comes from what comes out of the mouth. The reason is because what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. What comes from the heart defiles the person.
I want us to think about the importance of this teaching. What comes out of your heart is what is defiling. Notice that Jesus says that sins come from the heart. Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, that, false testimony, and slander all come from the heart. Jesus keeps bringing the teaching to the heart. We have seen this on many occasions in our study of this gospel. Jesus said that the pure in heart are blessed (Matthew 5:8). Jesus said that where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also (Matthew 6:31). Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Jesus said that the problem with the people is that they have dull hearts (Matthew 13:15). Now Jesus says that the people’s hearts are far from God and what comes out of the heart defiles a person.
Why is this a constant teaching of Jesus? Here is the message. It is easier to look righteous than be right in heart. It is easier to look pure to others than be pure before God. It is easier to create a set of rules we want to keep than to keep the commands that God said. The problem is that we have a heart to do what we want and act like we are serving God. The problem is we allow ourselves to maintain defiled hearts while keeping the outside looking good. I just want to give fair warning that Jesus is going to keep talking about this problem so we will also. Clearly this is a critical obstacle to faith. Clearly this is an obstacle to having hearts that are near God.
Here is how we can know that we are not planted by God: we nullify the word of God so that we can keep the defilements in our hearts. We look to get around God’s laws rather than changing our lives to match God’s laws. We make excuses for our sins and self-centeredness rather than repenting and changing for the glory of God. God wants our lives to match our words. If our lives do not match our words, then our worship is vain. If we nullify the commands of God to follow our own life rules, then our worship is useless. Do not put your life rules above God. If we do, then we are not planted by the Father and we will be uprooted. Do not have a heart to avoid what God says. Have a heart to be convicted by what God says and start the process of changing today! Saying the right words is not enough. Looking the part is not enough. Faking righteousness is not enough. A heart that is near God is what God wants. Our greatest need is purified hearts. Our goal is not superficial changes but deep internal changes. We want to help you make those changes today.