Matthew 15:6

My Notes

What Does Matthew 15:6 Mean?

Jesus accuses the Pharisees of the most dangerous form of spiritual abuse: using tradition to nullify God's commandment. The specific example: the corban tradition allowed a person to declare their resources "given to God" and then refuse to support their aging parents. The commandment to honor father and mother was made void by a religious loophole.

The phrase "made the commandment of God of none effect" (akuroō — to invalidate, to make void, to deprive of authority) means the tradition actively cancelled the commandment. Not just competed with it. Voided it. The religious rule produced a legal mechanism for disobeying what God directly commanded. The tradition was the instrument of the transgression.

The accusation is the most damning Jesus delivers to the Pharisees: you use God's name to disobey God's command. The tradition isn't just an addition to the Law. It's a subtraction from it. The appearance of extra piety (I gave it to God!) masks actual impiety (I won't support my parents). Religious performance as moral evasion.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Is there a 'tradition' (religious practice, cultural expectation, institutional policy) you're using to avoid God's actual command?
• 2.Does the corban example (religious excuse for abandoning parents) have modern equivalents in your context?
• 3.How does packaging disobedience in religious language make it more dangerous than open rebellion?
• 4.Where has a religious institution you're part of created rules that 'void' what God commands?

Devotional

You use your tradition to cancel God's command. You claim extra piety while practicing actual disobedience.

Jesus exposes the most sophisticated form of spiritual abuse: using religious rules to disobey God. The Pharisees created a tradition called corban — you could dedicate your resources to the temple and then refuse to help your elderly parents. "I'd love to help, Mom, but the money is dedicated to God." The appearance of devotion. The reality of abandonment.

"Made the commandment of God of none effect" — akuroō — voided. Cancelled. The fifth commandment (honor your father and mother) was still in the Bible. Still read in the synagogue. Still taught as God's word. And the tradition made it unenforceable. The commandment existed in theory. The tradition nullified it in practice.

The genius of the corruption is its packaging: the excuse sounds godly. "I gave it to God." Who can argue with that? The tradition wraps the disobedience in religious language so successfully that the disobeyer looks like the most devout person in the room. The parents are abandoned. The temple is honored. And God's commandment lies void on the ground.

Jesus calls it what it is: your tradition is the tool you use to transgress God's command (verse 3). Not your sin. Your tradition. The religious system itself is the mechanism of the disobedience. The institution designed to promote God's will has become the instrument that prevents God's will.

This happens everywhere religious systems exist: traditions, policies, bylaws, and practices that nullify what God actually commands. The committee that prevents the compassion. The policy that overrides the Scripture. The tradition that trumps the truth. And all of it wrapped in religious language that makes the cancellation sound holy.

What tradition are you using to cancel God's commandment?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture