The mission of the Twelve showed that Christ’s work was expanding, and so it had reignited the jealousy of the leaders at Jerusalem. The spies they had sent to Capernaum in the early part of Christ’s ministry had been no match for Jesus, but now they sent another delegation to watch His movements and find some accusation against Him.3TC 253.2

As before, the basis of their complaint was that He disregarded the traditional rules supposedly designed to help people keep from breaking the law. Among the rules they enforced most strenuously was ceremonial purification. They claimed that neglecting the forms to be observed before eating was a terrible sin.3TC 253.3

Those who tried to observe the rabbis’ requirements found life to be one long struggle against ceremonial defilement. While the people were occupied with trivial observances, their attention was turned away from the great principles of God’s law.3TC 254.1

Christ and His disciples did not observe ceremonial washings. The spies, however, did not make a direct attack on Christ, but came to Him with criticism of His disciples: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”3TC 254.2

Jesus made no attempt to defend Himself or His disciples. He proceeded to show the spirit that drove these sticklers for human ceremonies. He gave them an example of what they were repeatedly doing: “All too well you reject the commandment of God,” He said, “that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God)”; and you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother.” An undutiful child only needed to pronounce the word Corban over his property, and he could keep it for his own use during his lifetime, and after his death it was donated for the temple service. In this way, he was free to dishonor and defraud his parents, under cover of a pretended devotion to God.3TC 254.3

Jesus spoke well of the poor woman who gave her all to the temple treasury. But the priests and rabbis’ apparent zeal for God was just a show to cover a desire to exalt themselves. Even the disciples of Christ were not completely free from the yoke of inherited prejudice and rabbinical authority. By revealing the true spirit of the rabbis, Jesus was trying to free all who really wanted to serve God.3TC 254.4

“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
3TC 254.5

Christ declared that by placing their requirements above the divine laws, the rabbis were setting themselves above God. Jesus explained that defilement does not come from the outside, but from within. Purity and impurity are matters of the heart.3TC 255.1

The Rage of the Spies

The disciples noticed the spies’ rage and heard their half-muttered words of dissatisfaction and revenge. They told Christ, hoping that He would make peace with the enraged officials: “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”3TC 255.2

He answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” The customs and traditions that the rabbis valued so highly could not endure God’s testing.3TC 255.3

Every human invention that people have substituted for the commandments of God will be found worthless in that day when “God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14. Even among Christians, we can find institutions and practices that have no better foundation than the traditions of the fathers. People cling to their traditions and hate those who show them their error. In this day, when Heaven directs us to call attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we see the same hatred as people expressed in the days of Christ. The Bible says about the remnant people of God, “The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.3TC 255.4

But “every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” In place of the authority of the so-called fathers of the church, God asks us to accept the word of the eternal Father, the Lord of heaven and earth. Here alone we can find truth unmixed with error. “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”3TC 255.5

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