Read Matthew 13:34-35; Psalm 78:1-2, Jesus and Parables

This is, at first glance, a little difficult to make the connection.  But only at first glance.  There is, in fact, an amazing connection.  In Matthew we are working through the parables Jesus told that are called “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (v11).  We have already noted the context having to do with the rejection of Jesus as Messiah and the preparation for the time between the advents.

What is Psalm 78 about?  It is, for one thing, the second longest Psalm.  It explains why God rejected Shilo and Ephraim and instead chose Jerusalem and Judah as the place where He would put His name.  Shilo was the first capital of Israel.  The tabernacle was set there and from there Joshua divided up the land among the tribes.  But in the days of Eli and Samuel the Ark of the Covenant was lost to the Philistines in battle, and it never returned to Shilo.

Matthew sees the connection between the story of Shilo and the destruction of the temple in 70AD.  This event will result in the loss of a place for the nation to come and worship, just as happened at Shilo.  Thus, as Asaph used a parable, and even equated it with a dark saying (78:2), so Jesus used parables in hiding truth from some while revealing it to others.  (Later, when we come to Matt. 21:13/Jer. 7:11, we will again see the connection between Shilo, and the destruction of the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and Jesus’ warning concerning what was coming in His day.)  Matthew’s reference to Psalm 78 makes perfect sense.

Read Matt. 15:1-11; Isa. 29:13-14, Nullifying God’s Word with Man’s

Here is, we believe, another connection that is easy to see.  Jesus is dealing with the traditions of the Jews.  We should understand that, for the Jews, these traditions carried the weight of Scripture.  Specifically, He was asked why His disciples did not follow the traditions concerning washing of hands.  Jesus’ answer is designed to show that the tradition related to hand washing was not as important as the word of God.

The Jews had strict rules about when and how the hands were to be washed.  This is not, we should be clear, an issue of hygiene.  It was a matter of what was required of a person in order to be righteous before God.  Therefore, Jesus took up another subject, one that showed how their traditions, which they thought helped to fulfill the Law of Moses, in fact required them to disobey one of the Ten Commandments.

In Isaiah 29:9-12 Isaiah is pointing out how the people of his day were blinded to the word of God.  They did not pay attention to God’s prophets.  Yet, they still came to the temple to worship.  Their worship was according to their own imaginations, their own traditions.  They were sure they were pleasing God, when in fact they had no idea how God desired to be pleased.  The contexts of Isaiah and Jesus are the same. 

We need to consider this.  Do we understand God’s word?  Are our traditions actually keeping us from obedience to our Lord?