Gospel
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”‘
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”
The Pharisees and scribes had man made laws that further explained, expanded, broke down each activity in life into thousands of further defining laws and claimed them as doctrine. But they had taken the word given by God and now made something more restrictive, oppressive and reduced the children of God to a life that raised the Pharisees and scribes in stature and prestige while reducing the common man to lesser beings. These laws could make life difficult instead of providing a road map to freedom in faith and truth. Which is the reason for commandments in the first place.
Jesus rejected their man-made laws often and rebuked them again and again for these laws that did not support the commandments given by God to Moses.
Jesus would give us the two greatest commandments:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.
The Ten Commandments are all contained in these two but by giving us these two we are given more. We are given the why and the spirit of the 10 to help us understand the truth and love of God.
The commandments were never meant to confine us but to show us how to be free.
Just like driving a car. There are rules that make getting to our destination easier and safer for the automobile to get there. Some rules keep us in the paved road and our car works better there. Other rules keep us from getting hurt or hurting others. Still more ensure we arrive as quickly and directly as possible.
The commandments Jesus gave us, and the Ten Commandments, help us to get to eternal life with the Father as efficiently and safely as possible.
Scripture and the church are there for that purpose alone.
We can say I am free to drive anywhere I want and end up over a cliff but that’s not freedom. Not for a car.
We can decide not to follow the commandments and end up not only in a bad place here but find we never find our eternal home in heaven.
God’s rules are made to free us to be children of God and are designed for our nature and spirit. Joy and peace and hope exist when we follow his path.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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