Chapter 42—Tradition
This chapter is based on
Matthew 15:1-20
;
Mark 7:1-23
.
The scribes and Pharisees, expecting to see Jesus at the Passover,
had laid a trap for Him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had ab-
sented Himself from this gathering. “Then came together unto Him
the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As He did not go to them,
they came to Him. For a time it had seemed that the people of Galilee
would receive Jesus as the Messiah, and that the power of the hierarchy
in that region would be broken. The mission of the twelve, indicat-
ing the extension of Christ’s work, and bringing the disciples more
directly into conflict with the rabbis, had excited anew the jealousy
of the leaders at Jerusalem. The spies they sent to Capernaum in the
early part of His ministry, who had tried to fix on Him the charge of
Sabbathbreaking, had been put to confusion; but the rabbis were bent
on carrying out their purpose. Now another deputation was sent to
watch His movements, and find some accusation against Him.
As before, the ground of complaint was His disregard of the tra-
ditional precepts that encumbered the law of God. These were pro-
fessedly designed to guard the observance of the law, but they were
regarded as more sacred than the law itself. When they came in colli-
sion with the commandments given from Sinai, preference was given
to the rabbinical precepts.
Among the observances most strenuously enforced was that of
ceremonial purification. A neglect of the forms to be observed be-
fore eating was accounted a heinous sin, to be punished both in this
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world and in the next; and it was regarded as a virtue to destroy the
transgressor.
The rules in regard to purification were numberless. The period
of a lifetime was scarcely sufficient for one to learn them all. The
life of those who tried to observe the rabbinical requirements was
one long struggle against ceremonial defilement, an endless round
of washings and purifications. While the people were occupied with
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