Lip service ~ Cross reference of Matthew 15:7 to Isaiah 29:13

In Matthew 15 Jesus is criticized by "the Pharisees" that his disciples are eating without washing their hands. For some reason Jesus gets offended and questions them for putting more emphasis on tradition and not honoring their parents under the pretext that they do not have money because they made a vow to G-d.

He then quotes Isaiah 29:13 where people are chastised by Isaiah saying that they are not worshipping G-d with all their heart.

Let's see what Isaiah is saying and how that has anything to do with the event in Matthew 15

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All Greek Text references are from NIV and Tanakh references are from Chabad.

This post is not intended to offend anyone's faith but for those people who are Seeking the truth of THE ONE TRUE G-D of the universe to who we owe all our love, gratitude & devotion.

My encouragement to you is that you read the whole chapter of Tanakh that the Greek text quotes so you get the context and understand what G-d actually said.

G-d Bless and Seek THE Truth.

Matthew 15:7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’[c]”

Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: "Because this people has come near; with their mouth and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart they draw far away from Me, and their fear of Me has become a command of people, which has been taught.

• Not sure what washing hands before eating has to do with tradition. At a time when there were no antibiotics, people would die due to bacterial infections.
• Tanakh as early as Genesis 18 shows that people used to wash their hands and feet before eating meals.
• Isaiah 29 is not a prophecy about how the people will go after traditions and neglect the law. He is chastising the people of his generation.
• Isaiah is talking about Judah & Jerusalem and saying that they had disobeyed G-d and that he is going to punish them.
• G-d says that he has made them fall into a deep sleep of ignorance and denial and that they do not realize the mistakes they are making.
• G-d says that they are continuing to worship him without the putting all their heart and soul into it and that he does not regard such worship.
• Probably during the time of Jesus also the people were worshipping G-d without putting their heart and soul.
• Ideally Jesus should have said, I will educate my disciples of basic hygiene but you worship G-d with all your heart and soul. He calling out that Isaiah prophesied that 700 years later people will go after traditions is not right.
• Isaiah is prophesying about Judah & Jerusalem and saying that they had disobeyed G-d and he is going to punish them
• G-d says that he has made them fall into a deep sleep of ignorance and denial and that they do not realize the mistakes they are making.
• G-d says that they are continuing to worship him without the putting all their heart and soul into it and that he does not regard such worship.
• From verse 17 G-d speaks of how he will restore his knowledge among his people and they will worship him the way they are supposed to.