When Tradition Eclipses Truth: Understanding Matthew 15:3
"Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" - Matthew 15:3
In this simple yet profound question, Jesus challenges the religious establishment of his day and speaks directly to a tension that exists in spiritual communities across time. Far from being a mere historical criticism of the Pharisees, this verse invites us to examine our own religious practices and the subtle ways we might elevate human systems above divine commands.
A Clash of Priorities
When Jesus posed this question to the Pharisees, he was responding to their criticism of his disciples for not washing their hands before eating—a ritual washing that wasn't commanded in scripture but had become an important tradition. The Pharisees had approached this human tradition with such reverence that they believed breaking it constituted spiritual defilement.
Jesus, however, turned their criticism on its head. He pointed out that while they meticulously observed hand-washing traditions, they had created loopholes that allowed them to neglect caring for their elderly parents—a clear violation of God's command to honor one's father and mother.
This confrontation reveals something fundamental about human nature and our approach to faith.
The Comfort of Systems vs. The Challenge of Love
Why do religious communities so often drift toward prioritizing human traditions over divine commands? The answer lies partly in our desire for certainty, control, and measurable righteousness.
Divine commands often focus on matters of the heart—love, mercy, justice, faithfulness—which are challenging to systematize or quantify. How do you measure whether you're loving your neighbor enough? How do you create a checklist for mercy? These commands require ongoing discernment, humility, and a willingness to live with ambiguity.
Human traditions, by contrast, offer the comfort of clear boundaries and observable compliance. It's easier to verify that you've washed your hands properly than to ensure you've truly honored your parents. It's more straightforward to count charitable donations than to examine whether you've been genuinely compassionate.
This isn't to suggest that traditions are inherently problematic. In fact, they serve essential purposes:
They provide structure to spiritual practice
They carry wisdom across generations
They create shared identity within communities
They translate abstract principles into concrete actions
The danger comes when traditions shift from being means to ends—when they become substitutes for, rather than expressions of, divine commands.
The Pharisee in All of Us
It's easy to view the Pharisees as villains, but this misunderstands Jesus' critique. The Pharisees weren't insincere in their devotion; they were genuinely committed to honoring God through careful religious observance. Their tragedy was that their very zeal, expressed through human systems, gradually displaced the divine commands these systems were designed to uphold.
We fall into the same pattern whenever:
We judge spiritual maturity by external conformity rather than internal transformation
We become more concerned with maintaining religious institutions than embodying their foundational values
We use tradition to create barriers rather than bridges to God and others
We follow the letter of religious practice while neglecting its spirit
The uncomfortable truth is that the Pharisaic tendency exists in every religious tradition and in every human heart. We all find it easier to follow clear rules than to engage in the messy, challenging work of love.
Windows vs. Walls
The appropriate response to Matthew 15:3 isn't to abandon tradition altogether—that would be both impossible and unwise. Instead, Jesus invites us to ensure that our traditions remain windows that illuminate God's commands rather than walls that obscure them.
How do we do this? Several principles can guide us:
First, we must approach tradition with both respect and humility, recognizing that all human systems are provisional and imperfect. Traditions should always be subject to correction in light of core divine commands.
Second, we must regularly evaluate our traditions against what Jesus identified as the greatest commandments: loving God and loving our neighbors. Any tradition that consistently impedes these foundational loves deserves reconsideration.
Third, we should distinguish between principles and practices. Biblical principles are timeless, but the practices that express these principles may need to evolve as contexts change.
Finally, we must remember that the purpose of religious practice is transformation, not mere compliance. Rules can govern behavior, but only love can transform the heart. And it is transformation, not rule-following, that represents the heart of spiritual life.
Living in the Tension
In our individual and communal spiritual lives, we will always face the tension between divine commands and human traditions. This tension is not meant to be resolved but lived within thoughtfully. It requires ongoing vigilance, regular self-examination, and the courage to reform practices that have drifted from their divine purpose.
We might regularly ask ourselves:
Have my religious practices become ends in themselves?
Do they connect me more deeply to God and others, or do they substitute for that connection?
Am I more concerned with external conformity or internal transformation?
Do my traditions create pathways to or barriers from the divine commands they were meant to serve?
Matthew 15:3 offers neither a rejection of tradition nor an uncritical embrace of it. Instead, it invites us into what we might call "second-order faithfulness"—not just obeying commands or following traditions, but understanding and embodying their deeper purpose.
In the end, Jesus' question to the Pharisees becomes a question to all of us: Are we willing to examine our traditions, however cherished, to ensure they remain transparent to the divine commands they were meant to serve? The answer to this question may determine whether our religious practices lead us toward or away from authentic spiritual life.
