Today's Passage - Matthew 15:1-9

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 15:1-9 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat! Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is 'devoted to God,' they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'" Back in the old days, the Pharisees were upright and disciplined in their behavior, and they were well-respected. They took on leadership roles in both the religious and secular communities. Jesus, however, often rebuked them, because they replace God's will with heritage and law that were made by people. They liked to teach people to follow the law, but hinder people from coming before God; they value the details of law but overlook the fact that the entirety of the law was to draw people to love the Lord. .  In this passage, the Lord mentioned two things. First, He talked about washing the hands. To the Pharisees, washing the hands before eating became a law. They value cleanness on the outside, but overlooked the cleanness of the heart; they appeared to follow the law on the outside, but their hearts have departed from God. Not only were they like that, they also encouraged others to do the same. Therefore, the Lord rebuked them: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Second, the Lord talked about supporting the parents. In the Old Testament law, people have the responsibility of supporting their parents. So, what happens if you don't want to support your parents? Pharisees came up with a way - They allow people to put their money in the temple, so that they can tell their parents that they have already offered their money to the temple and have nothing left for their parents. The money will later be returned to those people. This way, temple always has funds to operate and those people would not commit a sin. When they were operating this way, however, they have already lost the merciful heart of God, and that's why the Lord rebuked the Pharisees so intensely. .  In your life, are you also bound by the spirit of Pharisees?  For the sake of the Lord, are you willing to put down the baggage of all your traditions and let the Lord perform the work of renewal in your heart? The church today can easily make the same mistake in our midst as the Pharisees did. May God help us to get rid of the spirit of hypocrisy. In our daily life, let us follow God's will from the bottom of our hearts; put down the old me and humbly follow the guidance of God! Pray with Pastor Tong Lord, we thank you, and we ask that your Spirit moves freely in our hearts. Let us never be bound by the spirit of Pharisees, and let us be renewed by you again and again in your love and in Christ so that we may enjoy true freedom our spirit. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

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