Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?
- KJV But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
- NKJV He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
- NASB And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
- NLT Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus turns the Pharisees' criticism back on them, charging that their man-made traditions actually lead them to break God's commandments. It matters because it exposes the danger of elevating human rules above God's word.
Overview
The Pharisees had accused Jesus' disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders by not ceremonially washing their hands. Jesus answers their challenge with a sharper counter-charge: their traditions cause them to transgress the actual commandments of God. He establishes a principle that runs through this whole passage—Scripture, not human custom, is the final authority. Christ himself perfectly honored the Father's commandments where the religious leaders failed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Col 2:23Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
- Titus 1:14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
- Mark 7:6–8Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
- Col 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Mark 7:13Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
- Matt 7:3–5Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 15:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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