12 Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [ d ]offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone; they are blind guides [ e ]of blind people. And if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:12-14 (NASB)

Trumped with truth

In the last few posts Jesus responded to the Pharisees whining about His disciples breaking their traditions by telling them it’s actually them who are at fault for breaking God’s commands. Then He corrected the heart of their error – the focus needs to be spiritual, not physical. The Pharisees were a bit ticked off that He trumped them with truth. Yes, Jesus loves them as much as any other and in fact, would die for all mankind’s sins – including theirs. But He calls a spade a spade; He won’t tolerate their false religion that also leads others astray.

Farming

God is doing some agricultural farming. He pulls up every plant that He did not plant. Some believe this refers to people but since He doesn’t add, “and they will be burned”, as He does in other passages (Matthew 13:42), I don’t think so. In the context, He’s addressing their false teachings. Jesus is in the process of exposing and rooting up their false religion. But it could be He’s referring to the Pharisees themselves.

Blind guides

Now Jesus finishes them off with a right hook to the jaw – so to speak. He identifies them as blind guides. Not guides who lead blind people (or seeing-eye-dogs), but they themselves are blind AND leading blind people. To make matters worse, the Pharisees have blinded the people with their false religion.

“Jesus’ disciples, like all the Jews, held the Pharisees and teachers of the law in high regard. Since Jesus’ words had offended His critics, the disciples wanted to know why He had said them. Jesus proceeded to correct His disciples regarding the reliability of His critics’ spiritual leadership…Jesus told the disciples to leave the critics alone, even as He had said that God would leave the weeds alone that the enemy had planted in the field (13:28-29).” (planobiblechapel.org)

RЯeflection

• Extending from yesterday’s post, we should not only examine our own traditions and religious practices, but we also need to consider how they influence others. Surely we don’t want to endlessly worry about every action, but, focus on the more prominent and routine behaviors. For example, is there anything wrong with closing our eyes, clasping our hands and bowing our heads when we pray? No. But if we think it’s necessary … then silently (or vocally) condemn others that don’t, we sin.