Trying Not To Be A Pharisee

Introduction

We cannot stress enough the importance of lessons learned in our childhood. Those most formative times of our life, the lessons can be so ingrained and so imprinted upon our psyche that we’ll never forget those valuable lessons. And so we elevate the role of mothers and fathers as teachers of their children. To teach them those valuable life long and life-changing lessons. And I think about the lessons that I learned in my youth. Some of the most valuable things that I learned about life.

Because I know you view me as being very sophisticated, practically an aristocrat. But I want to tell you about what we used to do for fun back in North Alabama. This was before the days of PlayStations and Xboxes. This was the day of barn lofts.

And you would jump. And your other friends would jump, and others that were a little more skittish, and you would embarrass and double dog dare them till they jumped, and then you would climb back up and do it all over again. But one day we did that in repetition so many times that it got kind of boring just jumping from the barn loft to the ground below until we spied the rafters up above. And so we figured out a way with some loose boards and some rotten boards, we could get a foothold and we could climb above the loft into the rafters. And we decided it would be more fun to jump from there.

One of the most valuable lessons I ever learned was not taught to me by my parents or by my teachers in school, but was taught to me by Johnny Campbell. Because he jumped first. And he missed the hay and broke his leg.

And paying the price for that. And saying, I don’t want to do that. And so when I jumped from the rafters, I made sure I landed in the hay. This morning I want to talk to you about some of the most valuable teachers we have in all of the New Testament. Some of the most valuable lessons that we can learn from these people. They’re not the apostles. They’re not the Old Testament prophets. They’re not evangelists or shepherds of local churches in the first century. I want to talk to this morning about some of the most valuable teachers that we have in the New Testament. And that’s the Pharisees. Valuable for this reason. We can look at their approach to religion. We can look at their approach to their covenant relationship with God and the way they viewed and treated the law.

And we can say, I don’t want to do what they did. In fact, we can say, I want to be better than that. That’s what Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, a statement by Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20, I think couches much of what remains in that Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus said in Matthew 5 and verse 20, for I say unto you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

And I believe so much time and attention is given to them in the gospels for that reason. So that I can look at these religious people. These people who were warning and claiming to serve their God. But did so failing miserably. And I want to learn the lesson that I don’t want to be like them. Now let’s begin. Turn with me, if you will, in Mark chapter 7 and put your finger or a bookmark there. We’re going to use Mark chapter 7, the first 23 verses as our text for this morning’s lesson, and we’ll be coming back to that throughout. And so it’ll benefit you to put a mark there as we study along this morning. Now I first want to issue the warning and see why I think the warning is so important for you and I.

Because we are religious people. We are like the Pharisees in a covenant relationship with God. We, like the Pharisees, love the law of God or the Word of God. We too demand a strict interpretation and application of that word. We are very careful to make sure that we do it just like God wants us to do it. And not to stray to the right or to the left in any way. And all of that is commendable.

But all of that carries with it certain inherent dangers. Dangers that we need to avoid. Dangers that the Pharisees sadly did not avoid. But I’m glad they are there. Because they forever stand as a warning. Just as clear a warning as Johnny was when he jumped from the rafters of that barn. And so this morning, I just want to preach to myself and let you listen.

As I look at Mark chapter 7 and try to apply the principle I think my Lord wanted me to see there when he told me that my righteousness needs to exceed their righteousness and me trying not to be a Pharisee. Let’s read Mark chapter 7, verses 1 through 23 together.

And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands. He answered and said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do. And he said to them, All too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition.

For Moses said, Honor your father and mother, and he who curses father and mother, let him be put to death. But you say, if a man says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is corbant, that is a gift from God, or a gift to God, then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do. And when he called the multitude together, he said to him to them, Hear me, every one, and understand. There’s nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him. But the things which came out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

If anyone has word ears to hear, let him hear. When he entered the house away from the crowd, his disciples ask him concerning the parable. So he said to them, Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from the outside cannot defile him? Because it does not enter his heart, but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods. And he said, What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil faults, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. We read there one of the many confrontational interactions that Jesus had with these scribes and Pharisees.

Now, before we go on to the application part of Mark chapter 7, let’s just remind ourselves about these Pharisees and who they were.

Sometimes we call them sects. We have the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the Essenes and the Zealots, and the most prominent of those in the New Testament record at least, is the Pharisees. The Pharisees were one group of these Jews, and they’re often associated with the scribes. Now, you didn’t have to be a scribe to be a Pharisee, you didn’t have to be a Pharisee to be a scribe, but they were closely related in the sense that they both were seen as being experts in the law. And here’s some of the characteristics of these Pharisees that we glean in reading about them in the New Testament record. They were experts in the law. They put an emphasis upon appearance and honor. Jesus criticized them for doing their good deeds just to be seen of men.

Strict adherence to certain parts of the law, while at the same time completely ignoring other parts of the law.

Things that had been handed down to them not from God, but from man, and they had elevated that oral tradition, that man-made tradition, to be on an equal plane with the law that was handed down by God, even sometimes elevating it above that. And Jesus would often label them with the negative moniker of hypocrite. They appeared to be something when in reality they were something else. Therein lies the danger. For every Christian. For every Christian who loves the Word of God and who wants strict adherence to the Word of God. Who either themselves had been taught that from some previous generation, maybe generations, or are encompassed by others who have a generational faith among them. That there’s dangers that we need to look out for. And so this morning, let’s look at three of those dangers that we see here in our text in Mark chapter 7.

1. They Found Fault Where There Was No Fault

The first thing that I want to try to avoid in my Christian life, in my loving the Lord and loving the Word of God and understanding that it’s important that we do just what He says and nothing else.

It was more than their hobby. It was their obsession. To find fault in the text? Mark chapter 7, verse 2 again. They saw some of Jesus’ disciples eat bread with unwashed hands. They found fault. Why did they find fault? Because the fault was so glaring? Because it couldn’t be avoided, that it was so egregious and so bad. No. They found fault, by the way, where there was no fault. But they found fault because they were looking for it with a magnifying glass. In fact, we don’t even have to get to verse 2 where it says they found fault to see them seeking for fault. Back up to verse 1. Very subtly it just simply says, the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to him.

That’s to Jesus, having come from Jerusalem. They had traveled from Jerusalem to Galilee. Why? Well, they came to Jesus. Why?

There were good, what we might call good physical reasons. Jesus was performing miracles and a healing. Maybe you have a loved one, or you yourself had some physical ailment, like the woman who reached out and touched the hem of his garment. Maybe you could come to Jesus to be physically healed in the first century. That would have been a good thing, wouldn’t it? Even better were those like his disciples and followers who came to him, not for what he offered them physically, but what he offered them spiritually. No man ever taught like he did, they said. So they came to him to hear the words of life. But you know that’s not why the Pharisees traveled from Jerusalem to Galilee.

Listen to some other text that state the reason why. Matthew says in Matthew 16, verse 1, they came testing him. Matthew 19 and verse 3, they came to him testing him. John 8 in verse 6, they said this to test him. And in Matthew 22 and verse 18, Jesus says, Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why do you test me, you hypocrites? And so when he says in Mark 7, verse 1, they came to him from Jerusalem, that’s not a good thing. It ought to be a good thing. But it’s not a good thing. They didn’t come to him to learn. They didn’t even come to him to receive bread and fish or some physical healing. They came to him to find fault with him. And I don’t want to be like that.

You’ll remember this story. In Luke chapter 18. Jesus tells a brief story that encapsulates the attitude of the Pharisees, maybe better than any other way we could. When he tells this story in Matthew chapter 18 and in verse 9, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and one the tax collector. You remember this story? The Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank you that I’m not like other men. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And then, of course, he goes on to talk about the more proper response of the tax collector who would not even lift his eyes to heaven and beat his chest and said, Be merciful to me, a sinner.

I don’t want to be like those Pharisees. Now we talked this morning in our class about the idea of discipline and church discipline. And yes, we have been put together in this close proximity so that we might see one another and know one another and even see the flaws in one another and to help and to improve, and even to adorn and admonish. But we need to understand that there is an absolute clear distinction between seeing someone slipping and falling and reaching out to them in a Galatians 6, verse 1, James 5, verses 19 way, and trying to restore them than in the attitude of the Pharisees who would make this road trip just to find something that they could criticize. And Jesus said, Don’t be a Pharisee.

2. They Elevated Their Tradition To The Level Of Law

Another lesson that I learned from them and want to try to avoid is that the Pharisees, as we see here in Mark chapter 7, will you turn back over there? Is that they elevated their tradition to the level of law. And again, sometimes even above the law of God. And so let’s talk about tradition. Notice Jesus said there in Mark chapter 7 and in verse 8, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. Now, in this context, they had the tradition of washing their hands before they ate. And you might say, well, that’s kind of a good tradition. Even before COVID, that was probably a good tradition. But let’s understand what he was talking about and what they were doing. They were not doing this necessarily for hygienic purposes.

You’ve got your hands dirty, and so you need to get that dirt, that germs off your hand before you touch that food that’s going to go into your mouth. Because you might get some kind of disease or bacteria that’s going to make you sick. That’s not what’s being talked about here when they say what goes into you defiles, and Jesus said, That’s not going to defile you. What’s being talked about here was a spiritual thing. The Jews would go out into the marketplace, the text says there in Mark chapter 7. Who was in the marketplace? Gentiles. And they would go out there and they would get dirty, not physically dirty, not physically contaminated with germs and bacteria, but spiritually dirty. Because they’ve been around those tax collectors and those sinners.

And I got sin all over my hand. And so I got to wash these Gentiles off of me. And so before we eat, we have to wash our hands. The text says here in a special way. To wash off all that spiritual grime. And if you don’t do that, you’re sinning. And Jesus, now, please understand me, this is a tongue-in-cheek paraphrase. Jesus said, Really? Show me the book, chapter, and verse for that. Where did God commend that? You’re condemning my disciples, but where has God said that? Now let’s talk about tradition. The word tradition that’s translated here literally just means something that’s been handed down or passed along. Sometimes, as here in Mark chapter 7, it’s used of handed down from man to man. It is sometimes used in the New Testament.

Did you note in our Bible class in the book of 1 Thessalonians, it was talked about what was handed down from God to man. And so the word sometimes can be just what God passed along to us. But most of the time, and all of the time that it’s talked in this condemning way about the Pharisees is talking about what’s been handed down from man to man, just human tradition. And so let’s talk a little bit about tradition. I think we can put tradition in three categories, human tradition in three categories. Some human traditions are just wrong because they’re wrong. They violate Scripture. The tradition of the preacher at the end of the sermon encouraging people to pray the sinner’s prayer to be saved. That tradition’s wrong just because it’s not biblical.

You don’t read about that in the New Testament. And so some tradition is just wrong because it’s just in conflict with the Word of God. Second category is sometimes tradition can become wrong when it is elevated to the status of law. I think that’s what they were doing here. Nothing wrong with washing your hands. But when you, who, by the way, are not God, want to make that a law. You’re not just guilty of elevating tradition. You’re guilty of blasphemy. Because you’re saying I’m the same as God. Maybe a couple of examples of that is demanding that a certain version or translation of the Bible be used, because that’s what we’ve always used. Nothing wrong with having a favorite translation, but demanding and saying that’s the only one.

That’s a tradition that’s rose to the level of law. Now, don’t cringe at this next example during our period of concern over health, but the idea of partaking of the Lord’s Supper and using just one cup. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, there’s sometimes, I think that would be a good thing. More people would sit up front and less people would sit in the back, wouldn’t they? But when we’re going to say we have to use one cup and we all have to drink out of that same cup, taking that tradition and making it a law, that tradition’s now become bad, hasn’t it? So some traditions are wrong just because they’re wrong. Some traditions become wrong when we elevate them to law. Then there’s a third category, and that is traditions that are good, but we must remember that they’re simply traditions.

Our order of worship. Two songs and a prayer and then a song and so that might be great. But it’s just tradition. And when we elevate our tradition to the level of the Word of God, notice what we do. Look back in our text. And let’s look at three verses here. And look at the progression. This is what we do when we elevate tradition. Verse 8, he says, for laying aside the commandment of God. That’s the first thing we do is we lay aside the commandment of God to promote our tradition. Verse 9, he said to them, All too well you reject. Now notice the dangerous progression. First we just set it aside. Then we reject it.

3. They Failed To Give Their Heart First To God

Verse 13, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you’ve handed down. And so when we begin to elevate that tradition, we begin to lower the importance of the law of God. We’ll set it aside. We’ll reject it. And then finally we’ll make it of no effect. The last way I want to avoid being a Pharisee today, in my strict adherence to the law and to the word of God, I don’t want to be a Pharisee because, as Jesus pointed out here and many other times in the New Testament, they failed to give their heart first to God. Jesus says, you understand that what goes in doesn’t defile you spiritually, because that food goes into your stomach. Now it might make you sick physically, but it’s not going to make you sick spiritually.

It doesn’t go into your heart. It doesn’t work that way. In fact, Jesus says it works the other way. What proceeds out of the heart is what corrupts the man. It’s the heart. And Pharisees, you fail to see that. You put the emphasis on the externals, even externals, that God didn’t emphasize. But you forgot step number one, and the most important step, you’ve got to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s where they failed. Every other thing they did, elevating their tradition, being more concerned about outward appearances, being hypocrites, you make the list of the Pharisees’ errors and sins, and you can draw a line from every one of them back to their failure of step number one, giving their heart to God.

Jesus would tell them in Matthew chapter 23, you want to cleanse the outside of the cup. But you need to start with cleansing the inside. And then the outside will become clean. Jesus wasn’t talking about washing dishes because washing dishes doesn’t work that way, does it? You can’t watch the inside of a cup and the outside automatically becomes clean. It doesn’t work that way with dishes, but it works that way with people, with hearts. You cleanse the inside, and the outside will take care of itself. All you need with a good heart that’s been given to God, all you need is instruction. And that heart will lead the way.

Now it’s going to be born out in action. But at the heart of repentance is just a change of heart, a change of mind. You remember James in James chapter 4 and verse 8, he says, draw near to God. That’s where it starts. It doesn’t start fix your behavior, quit doing that, start doing that. That’s important, but it starts with getting close to God. And then we’re prepared and able to properly see the law of God, the commandments of God, and the traditions of men. You remember what the psalmist said, Psalm 119 and verse 11? He says, Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Some ancient cultures, maybe even modern cultures, if you’re caught stealing, they’ll chop your hand off because you stole with your hand.

Now that might be effective punishment, I don’t know. But it misses the point, doesn’t it? It wasn’t the hand’s fault. The hand didn’t act independent of itself and grab that bag of money. It started with the heart. If we’re not careful, we can make the same spiritual mistake that those cultures do in their punishment and the same mistake that the Pharisees made. When we fail to first correct the heart and give the heart to God. And then figure out what I need to do. In order to live out a heart-filled life of love for God.

Conclusion

And so since that day, I’ve never jumped from the rafters of a barn again. And I have Johnny to thank. And every time I read the story about the Pharisees, I hope I learned the same lesson. I don’t want to do that. And so, in some cynical way, I’m thankful for the Pharisees for showing me how not to serve God. And how not to love God. And how not to set aside and reject and make of no effect the Word of God. May God help me to not be a Pharisee. But to love God the way his son loved God. Who saw people in their sin but sought to save them? Who saw the importance of the law of God that nothing else mattered? And who taught us to love our God with all our heart and with everything we have.

And then give our lives to Him in obedience. Would you do that this morning? Do you love God with all your heart? Then you’ll open up His Word and see what He tells you you need to do in order to be saved, and you’ll gladly do that because you love Him first. If we can help you in any spiritual way this morning, why not let that be known right now as together we stand and as we sing?