Matthew 16:17-20

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17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. ~ Matthew 16:17-20

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 16 where the Apostle Peter has just said of the Lord Jesus that He is "the Christ the Son of the Living God." This was the first time anyone other than a demon acknowledged the Lord Jesus as the Christ which is Greek for Messiah. Messiah literally means "to smear." It comes from the days when kings were smeared on the head with oil, thus, they were the anointed one. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's Anointed One, the One chosen by God to take away the penalty of mankind's sin.

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'"

After Simon Peter acknowledged the Lord Jesus as the Christ the Lord Jesus reminded him that he didn't arrive at that on his own. This was a revelation that came to Simon Peter's heart from the Heavenly Father. I find it striking that all of Simon's life experiences led him to that discovery. Preceding this moment, Simon Peter had many encounters with the Lord, most of which he knew not. When I look over my life, I realize that it took many experiences, namely, the death of my mom when I was five years old and the death of my dad when I was seventeen years old to come to the realization that the Lord Jesus Christ is the real pursuit of all of my heart's desires. It just took a lot of pain and hardship to get me to entertain the right questions and to run to the right One with those questions.

In v.18-19 of today's passage we read, "18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

While our Catholic friends believe this passage teaches that Simon Peter was the first Pope and that the church was built on his primacy, the Bible puts forth a different understanding. In the book of Acts we quickly learn that Peter was not in charge of the early church. In fact, it was James who was noted as the leader of the church at Jerusalem and Peter submitted to his leadership. Then, it is noteworthy that Peter was rebuked by Paul in the book of Galatians for racism. 

This is the first mention of the church in the New Testament. This passage includes all the markings of the church, primarily, the confession that the Lord Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." The foundation of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ and it is not built on anything other than a right view of the nature and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It is on the example and confession of Simon Peter that the Lord Jesus builds His church. No man builds the church which is made up of "born again" people not buildings. The example of humility and dependence upon the Lord Jesus as indicated in the mention of the name "Simon Peter" that drives this point home. The construction of the name "Simon Peter" illustrates that he was a changed man who was utterly dependent upon the Lord Jesus. It was out of that posture that enabled him to conclude the Lord Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the Living God."

When the Lord Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that day that He was going to build His church, He meant that His "called out ones" would assemble together throughout history, not on Simon Peter but on the conclusion Peter made about the Lord Jesus. The church is made up of those people who confess and believe the Lord Jesus to be the Christ sent by the Heavenly Father. And, even though Peter's name means "rock," God has always built His church on the Only One who is the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In 1 Corinthians 3:11 God tells us that there is "no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The church is built on the Lord Jesus Christ and everyone who confesses that He is the Christ has been made a part of the church, the family of God. The Lord Jesus granted Peter and the other disciples the keys to the kingdom. A key is a symbol of authority, if you have the key you can get into something. You can also lock something up. You have control of it or better yet, you're a steward of it. In Revelation 3:7 the Lord Jesus says, "I have the keys of David and I open what no man can shut and I shut but no one can open." 

It was Peter on the day of Pentecost who opened the doors wide as 3000 souls confessed the Lord Jesus to be their Savior.  Peter opened that door by preaching his first sermon about the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter never urged anyone to believe in him. No, he consistently pointed others to the Lord Jesus. It was Peter who went to Cornelius and opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. The key or the stewardship was given to Peter and the other disciples. The church has never been built on Peter but God used Peter as a steward to open wide the door of faith for Jews and Gentiles to enter the Open Door who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.  And, we join Peter every time we share the gospel with the unsaved and they believe. 

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ."

The Lord Jesus gave to His disciples this warning for two reasons. The first, it could have been dangerous for the disciples to do so. It could result in the crowd starting a revolt against Herod and the Romans. Also, the crowd had already tried to make the Lord Jesus a king by force. Oh, He will be the King one day, but this wasn't the time for Him to wear a crown, this was the time for Him to bear a cross. 

Second, is that He wants everyone to come to this revelation for themselves. Just as Peter and the other disciples had been led by the Holy Spirit who always works in tandem with God's Word to draw us to the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus referred to Simon Peter in v.17 as "Simon Bar-Jonah," He was reminding Peter that flesh and blood had not enabled him to see this greatest truth of all. No, It was God Himself who revealed it to him.

Matthew 16:13-16

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13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." ~ Matthew 16:13-16

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 16 where the Lord Jesus has dealt with the deceptive attack that came from the Jewish religious leaders who had come to Galilee from Jerusalem. They came due to the fact that the Lord Jesus popularity was rising so quickly that they were threatened by it. So, they traveled 95 miles in order to try to find a way to discredit the Lord Jesus in the eyes of the people. Although the Jewish religious leaders continuously tried to discredit the Lord Jesus, they were never successful. This underscores the fact that the Lord Jesus is the sinless Son of God who came to take away the penalty for our sin.

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?'"

After their encounter with the Jewish religious leaders, the Lord Jesus and His disciples traveled twenty-five miles to Caesarea Philippi where there were fourteen temples to different false gods. These temples were dedicated to the likes of Caesar and Baal among other false gods. There was even a temple dedicated to the god Pan, a false Greek god who was half man and half goat. Pan played a little flute called a pan flute. All of the dedicated temples reflect the fact that Caesarea Philippi, which stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon, was a city dominated by pagan worship and immorality.

The Lord Jesus deliberately took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi in order to draw the contrast between the false gods and the one true God. It was in that context that the Lord Jesus asked the disciples the most important question that we could ever entertain: "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The Lord Jesus didn't ask that question because He did not know what people said about Him.  No, He wanted to hear the disciples verbalize whom they knew Him to be. Verbalization, the act of putting thoughts and feelings into words, holds significant power for emotional regulation, improved communication, and enhanced cognitive processing. By verbalizing the fact that the Lord Jesus was God, enabled the disciples to gain clarity on whom they believed Him to be. 

The Lord Jesus used the term "Son of Man" to communicate the idea that He was God. In Daniel 7 the prophet used this term in his nighttime vision of "The Ancient of Days" a description of God Himself. The "Son of Man," according to Daniel was ushered into the presence of the Ancient of Days, and was given dominion, glory, and power. As a result, everyone served and will serve Him, and His kingdom will never end. In other words, the Son of Man is God. 

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'"

The people knew the Lord Jesus had to be from out of this world and they believed He was at least the forerunner of the Messiah. They had not finalized on the fact that He was the promised Messiah. They couldn’t deny that He was at least a prophet, and they couldn’t deny that He had marvelous supernatural power, but they had not definitively accepted that He was the Messiah. They got as close as they could without getting to the truth. Like Judas they kissed the door to heaven and yet they missed their eternity with God in heaven.

In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' 16 Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"

Simon Peter spoke on the behalf of the twelve when He identified the Lord Jesus as "The Christ the Son of the Living God." The name Simon Peter carries significant meaning, reflecting a transformation in the apostle's identity. Simon was too emotional and impulsive to be worthy of such a name as "Peter". When the Lord Jesus tried to wash his feet, Peter refused to allow his Master to stoop before him and to do so. But then the Lord Jesus said, "If I don't wash you, you have no share with me," Peter suddenly wanted a full-body bath. When soldiers came to arrest the Lord Jesus, Simon drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus the servant of the High Priest. But then, after the arrest of the Lord Jesus, all of Simon's ear-cutting bravado vanished. To avoid being arrested himself, he denied even knowing the Lord Jesus, not once, but three times. And, on the third time be said a curse word trying to disguise himself before his accusers. 

Before Simon became a follower of the Lord Jesus, he was a brash fisherman whose mouth and choices got him into a lot of trouble. After Simon became a follower of the Lord Jesus, he indeed became Peter, a bedrock believer because the Lord Jesus is still in the business of making us what we are not. It is from this posture of humility and dependence that we conclude accurately about the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus called Himself "The Son of Man" so that people would trust Him no less than they trust God the Father, indicating thus to His equality with the Father.

Matthew 16:5-12

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5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread." 8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. ~ Matthew 16:5-12

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 16 where the Lord Jesus had just fended off an attack from the religious leaders from Jerusalem. They came to Galilee after the Lord Jesus had just fed 4000 people with a few fish and seven loaves of bread. He performed miracles on the behalf of the people so that they could gain an inroad into a deeper understanding for their need to repent of their sin and enter into a personal relationship with Him. And, of course, no one can enter into a personal relationship with God until our sins are forgiven and we are "born again." 

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread."

After the Lord Jesus had fed the 4000 there were seven baskets full of the leftovers. Initially the disciples thought they had left all of the leftovers but according to Mark's account, when they arrived on the other side of the lake, they discovered they had one loaf of bread. Similar to the religious leaders from Jerusalem, the disciples primarily functioned on the physical level. They were in the presence of God Himself who had just fed four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish and they forgot the one thing that would have reminded them of the most important thing. 

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.'"

The one loaf of bread made it natural for the Lord Jesus to warn His disciples of the negative influence of the Jewish religious leaders. He drew their attention to leaven or yeast that was used to make the bread to make His point. Yeast is a biblical illustration of influence. Yeast makes dough rise by bacterial corruption. The Lord Jesus used the illustration of yeast to warn the disciples of religion or religious corruption. It was to the heart of religion's problem that the Lord went that day which is the lack of involving our hearts in the process. The disciples were in danger of doing what the religious leaders had long ago done, they failed to give their hearts to the Lord. They strove to meticulously obey God in everything but their hearts weren't engaged. The religious wrongly thought their attempts at self-improvement made them right before God. 

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.'"

Previously, the people had eaten so much bread and fish they were satisfied physically. The disciples were not that much different than the people that were fed that day, they primarily based their satisfaction upon the physical. We do the same, we seek material and emotional blessing far more than we seek spiritual blessing. They were so in tune to the physical that the spiritual went unnoticed by them. This is also our problem, to be defined by the thinking of our fallen selves. The disciples did not understand the Lord Jesus because the word "leaven" was not often used among the Jews to warn of faulty doctrine which leads to faulty thinking which leads to faulty living. Like the disciples, we were born dead in our sins which means we were born dead to God. And, if we are never "born again" or made alive to God by His Spirit, we remain in our sinful condition. This is why the Lord Jesus came to remove that barrier which was created by our sin.

In v.8-11 of today's passage we read, "8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'"

We tend to be reactive. When a problem presents itself, we focus on the problem until it gets solved. When we focus on the immediate, we can easily miss out on the ultimate. The disciples fell into this trap. This is why the Lord Jesus called out their lack of understanding and then brought attention to their lack of faith. Learning to be defined by God and to think His way takes time. It requires a process whereby we continually learn that His way of thinking is diametric to the way we have always thought. Everyone has faith, the difference is the object of our faith and we will always be most defined by the object of our faith. Very often, we lack understanding like the disciples. Understanding the ways of the Lord is key and is not learned over night because His way of thinking is upside down, inside out, and backwards compared to ours. He calls us not to be served but to serve, and to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. In order to do this we must look to the Lord Jesus to satisfy our deepest longings. This is hard because the flesh will always court us to follow its way.

The process of learning to be defined by the God of the Bible is called sanctification. While our justification gets us into heaven, our sanctification gets heaven into us now. Most believe this life is about the acquisition of answers. Most believe our exclamation marks are more important than our questions. The Lord Jesus reveals in this story that our questions are more important. If our pursuit is for the truth, we will discover the secrets to life by entertaining the deeper and most of the time unwanted questions. Like the disciples, we need spiritual healing, and questions help in the process of being healed spiritually. Those who do not entertain questions are like those who have eyes, but cannot see, or, ears and cannot hear. It is strategic that in the very next passage in the parallel chapter in Mark that the Lord Jesus open the eyes of a blind man.

The disciples had witnessed the feedings of the 5,000 and the 4,000, but, they had missed the point. When the Lord Jesus fed the 5,000, there were twelve baskets of leftovers: one for each disciple. With the feeding of the 4,000, the disciples collected “seven” baskets of leftovers: the number for completeness or wholeness. We are only completed when we throw ourselves into an abandoned relationship with the Lord and we are consistently being defined by Him. The Lord Jesus strategically asked the disciples questions, giving them the chance to dive deeper with Him. This is what He does with all who follow Him. 

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

When we feed the flesh we reduce our sensitivity to the culture of God. This was the problem for the disciples and it was the problem in the book of Galatians. Paul points out there that they had started out being defined by God by walking in the Spirit. Then they reverted back to their old ways when they tried to perfect themselves in the flesh. This is what steered them into legalism. They had not figured out the answer God had given them which is the indwelling Holy Spirit who always works in tandem with the word of God to inculcate the culture of God into us. It is the Holy Spirit who through God's word leads us into the truth. And, as we learn to be taught and are led by the Holy Spirit we are found to be defined by God. This is the goal of choosing to avoid the leaven of the religious leaders of Israel who were defined by the self life which is contrary to the Lord's culture.

Matthew 16:1-4

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1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. ~ Matthew 16:1-4

Today, we transition into our study of Matthew 16 where the Lord Jesus has just fed some 4000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish that His disciples had on hand. This miracle, the feeding of the 4000 is the second largest miracle meal provided by the Lord Jesus recorded in the Gospels, second only to the feeding of the 5000 plus. There are at least 42 different miracles recorded in the four gospel accounts. These miracles performed by the Lord Jesus Christ authenticated Him as God and they demonstrated His divine authority over disease, nature, the spirit world, material things and death. 

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven."

After feeding the 4000, the Lord Jesus traveled to Magdala, the place where Mary Magdalene lived. Magdala is a little town just north of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is located very near the ancient fishing village of Dalmanutha which was a stones throw away from Magdala. Years ago, when the Sea of Galilee was low, archeologists discovered Dalmanutha submerged under the water between Magdala and Capernaum. For many years, the skeptics undermined the Bible's veracity because there seemed to be no evidence that it existed. That is, until it was uncovered by an archeological dig. Down through the years many archeological digs have been completed and to date not one has ever contradicted the claims of the Bible.

Since the attention of large crowds of people had been arrested by the miracles and the teachings of the Lord Jesus, His popularity was grew rapidly. As a result He became a threat to the Jewish religious leaders. This is why the Pharisees and Sadducees traveled to Galilee from Jerusalem to meet with the Lord Jesus. These two groups were not known to see eye to eye on many issues yet they traveled 90 miles together to Galilee to try to trip up the Lord. We never see these guys together in the New Testament except here. This divided group who never got together on anything and never agreed on anything paid the Lord Jesus a visit because they wanted Him nullified. Their rope of control was slipping from their hands so they came to discredit the Lord Jesus.

In v.2-3 of today's passage we read, "2 He answered and said to them, 'When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;' 3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."

According to Mark's gospel, in response to the request of the Jewish religious leaders, the Lord Jesus sighed deeply. Unlike His earlier sighs, this sigh was a deep sigh which communicated a stronger emotion over the spiritual blindness of these so called "spiritual leaders." The obstinate unbelief of these religious leaders in the face of massive evidence given throughout the Old Testament led them to operate out of willful ignorance. Like every religion, the religion of the Jewish religious leaders developed the idea that God cares only about the members of their sect and that He hates the rest of the world. They wanted to make all of Israel believe that God cares only about Jews. In fact, the Rabbis have been claiming for 2000 years that only the Jews are important and that God doesn’t care about Gentiles. 

Even though there are more than 300 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled, the Jewish religious leaders didn't believe in Him. These prophecies are specific enough that the mathematical probability of the Lord Jesus fulfilling even a handful of them, let alone all of them, is a staggeringly improbability. If we were to take enough silver dollars to cover the state of Texas two feet deep and mark one of them and tell a blindfolded man to pick the right one, the chances that he would be able to so would equal the chances that the Lord Jesus had in fulfilling just eight of the Old Testament prophecies much less 300. Despite all of the evidence that God had given them, these "religious leaders" foolishly requested from the Lord Jesus a manifestation from God the Father proving Him to be their long-promised Messiah.  

In response to the religious leaders request for another sign, the Lord Jesus reminded them that they were good at noticing the physical signs about the weather in the sky. But, even though they were good at making physical observations, they were really negligent at making spiritual observations. Their sensitivity to weather made a mockery out of their insensitivity to God and they were their own gods. They could chart the course of God's redemptive plan but they failed to recognize their Redeemer when He stood before them.

In v.4 of today's passage we read, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed."

The actual reason why the Jewish religious leaders rejected the Lord Jesus as their Messiah was due to the fact that they were corrupt. All they cared about was control, power and making money at the expense of the people. The Lord Jesus became to them a threat, a threat to their exclusive sect which they had created. They knew that if the people of Israel accepted and followed the Lord Jesus, they’d lose everything, their power, their influence, their control, their honored position. The religious leaders came up with legalistic traditions and rules, keeping the people from recognizing the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. While the religious leaders regularly missed God, the Lord Jesus consistently presented to the people the compassion and the forgiveness of God. 

The Lord Jesus dared to stand up against these Jewish religious leaders by breaking down the walls that rabbinical tradition had put up. He reminded the religious leaders of the sign given through the Old Testament prophet Jonah. Later He said, "As Jonah was in the whale for three days, I’m going to be in the ground for three days." That was the last sign that was given to them. And when that sign came and the word got back to the religious leaders of Israel that He had risen from the dead, they called the Roman soldiers in who were guarding the tomb and bribed them to lie about His resurrection. Sadly, when they totally rejected the light, they were permanently enveloped by the darkness.

Matthew 15:32-39

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32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." 33 Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" 34 Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." 35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. ~ Matthew 15:32-39

Today, we conclude our study of Matthew 15 where the Lord Jesus fed 4000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish. This is the second largest meal miracle recorded in the Gospels, second only to the feeding of the 5000. In the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 the crowd had been with the Lord Jesus for just one day. In today's passage, the crowd had been with Him for three days. 

The thrust of today's passage is captured in Lamentation 3:22-23 which reads, "22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed; His compassions do not fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." It is by God's mercies, His compassions and His faithfulness that we have hope where none should have existed due to Satan's deception in the Garden of Eden. It was there that we all came forth damned by our sin.

In v.32 of today's passage we read, "Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'"

The God of the Bible is a God of great compassion. His heart is always engaged with us. He suffers with us. He feels our pain, and more than that, to us He seeks to reveal pain's usefulness. When we face an uncertain future or when we find ourselves in the midst of certain problems, it's important for us to pause and to reflect on what we know about the character of God. It keeps us rooted. It keeps us grounded. It keeps us centered in the faith. Otherwise, our circumstances cloud our reasoning and we find ourselves without the joy and the hope needed to buoy us in this world of torrential waters. This is where the mercies and the compassions and the faithfulness of the Lord pull back the clouds, enabling us to see anew.

From Genesis to Revelation there are 31,173 verses. In those 31,173 verses,  there are 7,487 promises that God has made to man reminding us of His mercies, His compassions and His faithfulness. When we stand on God's promises something happens, something with eternal value. We discover that our faith in His promises invite His peace into our souls and we get to the point that we conclude that everything will be alright. This happens because even though God doesn't promise us a life free of trials, He promises to make sense of our trials. He does this through the exercising of our faith through our trials. When exercised faith pounds the doors of heaven, a certainty comes that when we call, He will answer, that when we ask, we will receive, that when we knock, the door will be opened.

In v.33 of today's passage we read, "Then His disciples said to Him, 'Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?'"

The feeding of the 4000 was a different miracle than the feeding of the 5000. In this miracle the people were told to sit on the ground, and there was no mention of grass. In the feeding of the 5000, there were five loaves and two fish. In the feeding of the 4000, there were seven loaves of bread and a few fish. In the feeding of the 5000, there were twelve baskets of bread and fish leftover. In the feeding of the 4000, there were seven baskets of leftovers. In the feeding of the 5000, the twelve baskets were the smaller lunch baskets, whereas, in this account, there were seven large baskets. Also, the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 took place in Galilee, whereas, this miracle took place in "the Decapolis." At the feeding of the 5000, the Lord Jesus fed the Jewish crowd. Here, He fed a Gentile crowd. 

In response to the compassionate statement of the Lord Jesus that the people had gone three days without food, the disciples questioned how they could possibly feed so many people. We are so much like the disciples, we forget so quickly. It had not been that long before this that He fed the 5000 with less. The disciples were not only forgetful, they failed to learn. I am grateful for this because I am no different than they. I find it quite helpful to remember that when God wants to do something wonderful in my life, He couches His performance with some kind of a difficulty in my life. But, while in the middle of the trial I often short circuit my learning because I find it hard to rest during the trial. I find that most often I am consumed with getting the trial over. It is good to remember that when God wants to do something really wonderful in our lives, He very often starts with an impossibility.

In v.34-36 of today's passage we read, "34 Jesus said to them, 'How many loaves do you have?' And they said, 'Seven, and a few little fish.' 35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.'" 

The Lord Jesus knew how much food the disciples had but He wanted to accentuate the number for a specific reason. So, He took the seven loaves of bread and a "few" small fish and He turned them into a meal with seven large baskets of leftovers. There was a basket of leftovers for each original loaf that was given. We often fall into thinking that God’s blessing is for only our own benefit. We often take what God has blessed us with and hoard it. When we do this, we actually give safe haven in our souls to the enemy. 

The blessings God shares with us are given so that we can bless others. The Lord Jesus didn’t multiply the disciples snack into a huge meal for only the disciples. Instead, He did it to feed not only the disciples, but the whole crowd. Our natural tendency is to hoard our blessings and/or use them only for ourselves, but God has given an example of extravagant generosity. When we give Him the little we have, He can multiply it into so much that there are baskets full of leftovers. 

In v.37-39 of today's passage we read, "37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala."

Through this miracle the Lord Jesus demonstrated His heart for needy people. Interestingly, in every single phase of the Lord's ministry He ended with a feeding. When He was finished ministering in Galilee, He finished it with the feeding of the 5000. When He was finished ministering to the Gentiles, the second phase of His ministry, He finished it with this feeding of the 4000. When He was finished with His Judean ministry, just before the cross, He ended it with a third feeding, the Last Supper. When we look at the Cross of Christ, we see God’s faithfulness reminding us that not even the instinct to spare His own Son would turn God back from keeping His word to us.

Throughout my life my problems have always served me to be useful roadsigns pointing me to God. There have been times when I have responded to these roadsigns quicker than with others, but I have learned that when I respond to them, they propel me deeper into a more meaningful relationship with God. Most trials seem on the surface to present themselves to us as obstacles that prevent us from advancing in our walk with Him. But, our trials are not obstacles, they provide fuel for the deepening our dependency upon God. Our trials build into our lives passion, perseverance, and a deeper dependency upon the Lord that goes far beyond what we could think or imagine. More often than not, God answers our prayer for greater wholeness, not by providing better circumstances, but by providing trials which aid our hearts ability to see Him. This is what true faith is: a heart positioned to see Him most vividly.

Matthew 15:29-31

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29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. ~ Matthew 15:29-31

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 15. The Lord Jesus began His earthly ministry in the northern region of Israel, and, for two years plus He ministered in that region. As it is today, Galilee was a rural area then, and the people are far more common and less educated. Before leaving that area for Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus traveled over the border to the north and west of Israel and entered into Gentile territory once again even though He had been rejected there before. 

In v.29 of today's passage we read, "Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there."

According to Mark's gospel, the Lord Jesus went to the Decapolis or the Ten Greek Towns which were occupied by Romans. As a result, the culture there was defined accordingly. Needless to say there weren't many who were mindful of God who lived in that area. Earlier, when the Lord Jesus was in that area, the people asked Him to leave because they thought Him to be a threat to their way of life. The Lord Jesus complied and departed to the area of Capernaum. 

On this occasion when the Lord Jesus returned to that eastern shore area, the locals brought to Him many who were quite ill. In that group according to Mark's gospel was a deaf mute man. This desperate man, and all the rest who were brought to the Lord Jesus, was an illustration of how desperation can serve us best. Desperate people do desperate things. These people undoubtedly had tried everything else to remedy their problems. They were obviously dangling from their last rope. Like them, it was out of my desperation that I cried out to the Lord. It was the death of my parents that led me to the point of being desperate enough to cry out to the Lord for help. And boy, am I glad I did. As a side note, Abraham, the first Jew, was a Gentile before he became a Jew. It was God's culture or definitions of things that brought about the difference. And, by the way, the word "Jew" comes from the word Judah which means "Thank you!"

In v.30 of today's passage we read, "Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them."

The once skeptical people in the Decapolis brought many ill people to the Lord Jesus who healed them. According to Mark there was one man whom the Lord Jesus healed by placing His fingers in his ears. Since the man was deaf, he could not hear, but, he could feel. The Lord put His fingers in this man's ears so that he could feel the touch of God who was addressing his ear problem. And, since speech is tied to our ability to hear, the Lord Jesus then touched the man's tongue. He spat, perhaps into His hand, and then He touched the man's tongue. To somebody who was so helpless, the touch of the Messiah was a great encouragement, and, it bolstered the man's faith in the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus looked in the man's eyes, He saw the look of faith. It was at that point that the man was immediately healed. Faith is the required ingredient to receiving anything from God. With the physical healing, the Lord Jesus awakened the man's faith and caused him to believe in Him. His faith was a product of his healing.

According to Mark, at that moment the Lord Jesus looked up to heaven, revealing the source of His power. God's power, when accessed, is always accessed through submission to the Father's will. The Lord Jesus spoke, not to the man’s ears, but to his heart. This is what He does for all who call on Him for help. In fact, He continues to speaks to our hearts daily. This is the key to abiding in Him. And, He has been known to use some rather unusual means to make an audience out of our hearts. Just after I had graduated from high school, I didn’t know God, so I didn’t know how to listen to Him or how to speak with Him. As you know, in May of 1981, my father became very sick to the point of death. Just three days before his death in October of the same year, the Lord Jesus met me right where I was. That day, He clearly spoke to my heart which was garrisoned by my grief. As a result, that day I cried out to Him and it was then that He became my Savior.

Although my emotional blockages hindered my ability to understand, over time the Lord communicated with me in a way that I could understand. Somehow, He enabled me to know that His intentions for me were all good and that I could trust Him. Like the many that He healed that day on that mountain at the Decapolis, I sensed His deep sigh many times. He probed the deep places of my heart, where the pains of life had left many scars. He confronted that deep, searing pain, that was in me due to loss of both of my parents at a young age. He performed His work of enabling my heart to see and hear Him for myself mostly through my pain. 

In v.31 of today's passage we read, "So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel."

The people marveled that day as the Lord Jesus healed so many. Like the multitude, the eyes of our hearts are drawn to Him through the many healings. That is where our faith must rest. Sadly, as Henry David Thoreau pointed out so long ago, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Just like these desperate people, the Lord Jesus came looking for us to offer to us what we could not produce for ourselves. If we are desperate enough, when we come to faith in Him, we will become living symbols of what the Lord can do in and through our willing hearts. This was not only what we needed, this is what this desperate world needs. Like you and me, they need His undying love to set them free from the way of the enemy who is out to destroy them. And, once the Lord does this work in their hearts, they will be granted His heart to see the lost who are desperate to be set free from the evil ties that bind them.

Matthew 15:21-28

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21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs." 27 And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table." 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. ~ Matthew 15:21-28

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 15 where the Lord Jesus has been sparing with the Jewish religious leaders who had come from Jerusalem to Galilee in order to discredit Him in the eyes of the people there. The popularity of the Lord Jesus was so great that the Jewish religious leaders made the 90 mile trip in order to quell it. We try to control that which threatens us and this was the motivation of the religious leaders who had what most thought was the best life but their eternity with God was blocked by their greed. Protecting their comfort on this earth so blinded these religious leaders that they missed God when He walked right into their lives.

In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.'"  

After dealing with the religious leaders, the Lord Jesus traveled with His disciples about thirty-five miles to the Mediterranean Sea town of Tyre. Earlier in this chapter, the observant to the law religious leaders of Israel accused the Lord Jesus of violating the Word of God. Interestingly, these "leaders" adherence to the "Law of Moses" and all of their additions to it resulted in them being smug and more separate from the people who needed the truth most. The Lord Jesus took the disciples to Tyre to illustrate in terms of race what He had just taught in terms of food. All foods are clean, and all peoples are clean, in the sense of being acceptable by God. There are no longer any distinctions among foods, as being defiling or undefiling, just as there are no distinctions among people.

As the Lord Jesus and His disciples entered Tyre, the crowd, according to Mark's gospel, was so great that He had to slip away into a house to escape them. In that home in Tyre there "just so happened to be" a desperate Gentile woman who asked the Lord Jesus to cast a demon from her very possessed daughter. Her desperation gave room to potential hope enabling her to bring her desperate need to the Lord. Her faith had brought her to possible rejection, but she was so desperate. The risk she ran was great in the eyes of all in that day. Women were not supposed to approach a man whom she did not know. This kind of faith, though, is the key to what life is truly all about: encountering God and telling others about Him.

This woman was an unnamed Canaanite, one of the people groups that were condemned in the Old Testament by God. Of course, we were all condemned by our rebelliousness before God, but this woman had a double dose of rejection from God. Even though she was a Gentile, a non-Jew she knew to address the Lord Jesus as "the Son of David!" By using this Jewish covenant designation, she made her appeal on the promises that God had made to the people of Israel. In addition, by using this designation of the Lord Jesus, she acknowledged Him as Israel's Messiah, something the religious leaders of Israel didn't do. Unlike the Jewish religious leaders, this lady was being defined by God.

In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, 'Send her away, for she cries out after us.' 24 But He answered and said, 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'"

Initially, after the Lord Jesus had paid no attention to the woman, the disciples came and urged Him to send her away because she had become annoying. This happened so that her faith would be challenged and subsequently made real for all to see, including her. Most people run from the trials that come in life, but trials hone our ability to see and embrace God with our hearts. By embracing our trials rather than running from them, we make room for a context to be formed where we are granted by God a growing depth in our walk with Him. Most never get to this place with God. Most, like the religious leaders from Jerusalem love their comfort way too much to do such a thing.

In response to the obnoxious and persistent faith of this desperate woman, the Lord Jesus said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." In saying this He was simply stating that He was sent to reach His own people, the Jews with the Gospel. But, as John 1:11 points out, "He came unto His own and His own rejected Him." Most of the people of Israel, due to their unbelief, did not recognize the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. He did not match their definition of what they thought the Messiah should be. This has always been our problem, we always prefer our definition of something over God's. In this case Israel misdefined their Messiah. 

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, help me!'"

This Gentile woman was unfazed by that which the Lord Jesus had said. She was persistent. She didn't give up easily. She utilized a direct approach with the Lord Jesus because she knew that He was her only hope. She knew that if the Lord Jesus didn't help her, her demon-possessed daughter would not make it. 

In v.26 of today's passage we read, "But He answered and said, 'It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.'"

The Lord Jesus employed an illustration that this woman clearly understood. The context of this analogy was the dinner table. And, the Lord Jesus used the Greek word for dog here that was less offensive than another He could have used. He used the word that described the pets that one would have in the home, not the scavengers out in the allies. The Lord Jesus used this illustration to deliberately push whatever faith this woman had in Him to the edge. This desperate lady was like the family dog that feeds on crumbs that have fallen from the table. The Lord Jesus is always on the lookout for such faith. He saw this woman's desperation and her subsequent faith that made this miracle come to pass.

In v.27 of today's passage we read, "And she said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.'"

The Jews often called Gentiles "scavenger dogs" which was a complete insult. But, the Lord Jesus used the other term which served to draw out the woman's faith. Her response was, "I know my place, I'm not under the covenant that the Jewish people are under, I don't have the right to ask for the choice morsels, like the covenant people of the Jews, I just want the leftovers. Just throw me the scraps. Please, show me mercy." 

Previously, when Peter was caught in the storm, he took his eyes off of the Lord Jesus and began to sink. When this woman was caught in a very different storm, she stayed focused on the Lord Jesus, and fell to her knees before Him. That’s the kind of faith that the Lord finds to be great. This happened on the heels of the Lord Jesus exposing the utter mindlessness of the religious leaders who were bent upon earning God's favor. Here, the observant Jew was given yet another example that he was no longer to be defined by his religious activities which drew out their hearts away from Him to self. Like this Gentile lady in Tyre, we must adopt a pure heart in the God of the Bible who sent His Son who gave His life to win our hearts. Spirituality is much more than carefully observed rituals. It is a wild search for God in the arena of our desperation mixed with the unexpected and the uncomfortable. Out of this grows faith. 

In v.28 of today's passage we read, "Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour."

The faith of this significant gentile woman was much greater than most in the Bible. When she arrived at her home, she found her daughter lying quietly in her bed. And the demon was no longer in her. That very hour, a despised Gentile became a grateful recipient of the grace of God. Great desperation plus persistent faith equaled wholeness. We are never quite convinced that the Lord Jesus is all we need until He is all we have.

Matthew 15:15-20

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15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us." 16 So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." ~ Matthew 15:15-20

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 15 where the Lord Jesus had just told His disciples that the problem with religion is that it emphasizes the externals to the detriment of the heart. He taught when we lay up treasures in heaven our hearts will look heavenward. The Lord Jesus, in the eyes of the disciples, had insulted the Jewish religious leaders with a parable they didn't quite understand. This is why they came to Him with the question in the previous verses. This is what prompted Peter to ask the Lord Jesus to explain the parable.

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Then Peter answered and said to Him, 'Explain this parable to us.'"

As previously mentioned, the Jewish religious leaders had traveled 90 miles from Jerusalem to undermine the Lord Jesus. After they tried to discredit the Lord Jesus, He isolated the loophole that they had created. These religious leaders had come up with a ceremonial man-made law that religious Jewish people observed. They ceremonially washed their hands to signify that they were clean before they ate. They didn't use soap and water to really clean their hands, they just went through the motions to signify that they were clean. 

This practice was all about religious rules and appearances, not about actually being clean. Their loophole enabled them in certain circumstances to avoid obeying the fifth commandment of Moses to honor their father and mother. God expects adult children to take care of their elderly and aging parents. But, according to the religious leaders, if someone didn’t want to support their parents, they could donate the money to the temple instead. This was nothing but greed on all sides. When we have fallen in love with our sin, we will hate the light without even knowing it.

The Lord Jesus used this example to show that the Jewish religious leaders were wrong in their love for their sin for it undermined the word of God. The reason they came from Jerusalem was to undermine the Lord Jesus and their words revealed the wickedness in their hearts. The disciples thought the Lord Jesus had insulted the religious leaders and due to their incorrect understanding of what was really going on, they didn't understand the parable the Lord Jesus had subsequently employed in His response. This explains Peter's need for explanation. 

In v.16-19 of today's passage we read, "16 So Jesus said, 'Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.'"

Peter didn't understand defilement of the heart. He didn't understand that it is out of a sinful heart that all sin proceeds. He didn't quite get the idea that it is the sinful heart that gives birth to the outward behavior that is unacceptable. Peter didn't understand that we are not defiled by our diet. He didn't get that real filth comes from a wicked heart that we all share. Our hearts are given either to springs of living water or poisoned wells. Evidently, Peter had forgotten that it was the Jewish prophet Jeremiah who wrote in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above everything, desperately wicked.  Who can know it?" 

This list of sins in today's passage is not exhaustive, as if these are the only sins that come out of the fallen human heart. Like most lists given in the Bible, this list is suggestive. It simply gives examples. The Lord Jesus identified seven deadly sins which reveal that our sinful behavior comes from our sinful hearts, and that is what makes us unclean before God. We sinned not because someone forced us to sin or we had no choice but to sin. It was not even because we weren’t smart enough to understand what we were doing. We sinned not because we just couldn’t help ourselves or because our parents did something to us to make us sin. We sinned and we sin because we have an evil heart. 

The problem the Jewish religious leaders had was with the self. The self had become their final arbiter of truth. And, when that happens we will always be at odds with God because the flesh or the self is always contrary to the Holy Spirit. We fail to remember that mankind was given to evil the moment we took of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It was then that we stopped being defined by God. When we were "born again" we entered into the battle for our heart. This battle takes place daily and will continue until we are removed from this earth through death or the Rapture. Therefore, we must be wise to recognize that if we are not daily giving our heart to God we risk the fate of the self-life which always brings with it various forms of death. 

Our society loves to blame others for our sin. We turn sin into syndromes. We turn disobedience into disorders. We turn lusts into addictions. We turn alcoholism into a disease on the order of cancer. But at some point, we need to take personal responsibility for our sins. At some point, we need to come to the point where we admit that we are rotten and we are in desperate need of God. This is what repentance is all about, turning from ourselves and turning to God for His help to overcome the self-life.

Sin had blinded the Jewish nation along with their religious leaders. Sin corrupted us all in our heart and blinded our eyes. And, it is only those who own up to this truth who are positioned to receive forgiveness from God. The religious leaders of Israel did not see their need to repent. This is why they resisted the Lord Jesus as they did. What the religious leaders did not understand was the fact that their problem did not need a message about their change in behavior. What they needed was a message that explained the necessity of a change in their nature, something they were not willing to admit. The Lord Jesus wasn’t also under their control, so they desperately wanted to get rid of Him.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

While the Jewish religious leaders believed holiness was measured by external things like the washing of hands, the Lord Jesus taught holiness was a matter of the heart. Whether we realize it or not, understand it or not, or believe it or not, we are involved in a war for our heart every moment of every day. As the Lord Jesus had pointed out earlier in this chapter, the Jewish religious leaders had elevated their teachings over God’s word. This being the case, they were confused about sin, about what makes people unacceptable before a holy God. The religious leaders thought their problem was caused by what went into them. This is why the Lord Jesus corrected them. This is why John the Baptist came teaching repentance. Without turning away from our way, without a change of mind and heart to turn to the Lord and His way, we will never get to the heart of our problem. And, the heart of our problem is who will be our savior, ourselves or the Lord?

Matthew 15:12-14

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12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” ~ Matthew 15:12-14

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 15 where the religious leaders from Jerusalem had traveled 90 miles to confront the Lord Jesus because they felt His popularity was getting to be too great. They feared losing their status with the people of Israel so they felt that they had to diminish the Lord Jesus in their eyes. To do this they felt they must catch Him in sin. Since they had a hard time of doing that, they caught His disciples in sin, so they thought. The Lord Jesus then set them straight revealing to them their sin. They were the self-appointed guides of God’s people but they were blind.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "Then His disciples came and said to Him, 'Do You know that the Pharisees were offended  when they heard this saying?'"

The Lord Jesus rejected the teachings of the Jewish religious leaders because their teaching did not align with the truth. These religious leaders avoided addressing man's problem which is that his heart is utterly wicked apart from the Lord. When His disciples were alone with the Lord Jesus they asked Him the ridiculous question. They asked if He knew that He had offended the religious leaders. Since He is God, the Lord Jesus knows all things. The disciples had been with Him three years and they still asked this very ignorant question revealing how shallow was their theology. 

The religious leaders of Israel seemed to lack the knowledge that all of mankind since the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden had been polluted by sin or planted by Lucifer. Christianity is the only "world religion" that teaches Original Sin, meaning that man was born with a wicked, sinful heart. And, it is sin that has separated us from having a personal relationship with God and from loving Him and others as we ought. When we entered into a personal relationship with God, He, through the Holy Spirit began writing His law on our hearts. The essence of His law is "love." And, through His Spirit and His Word, He teaches us His love for us, modeling for us what it looks like to love others. There is no way for Christians to justify treating others in a way that God does not treat us. One way of knowing that we are growing in a meaningful personal relationship with God is seen in how we treat other people, especially the worst.

Brennan Manning writes in his book Abba's Child, "My identity as Abba’s child is not an abstraction or a tap dance into religiosity. It is the core truth of my existence. Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality, the way I respond to people and their life situations. How I treat my brothers and sisters from day to day, whether they be Caucasian, African, Asian, or Hispanic; how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street; how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike; how I deal with ordinary people in their ordinary unbelief on an ordinary day will speak the truth of who I am more poignantly than the pro-life sticker on the bumper of my car."

It was a good thing that the Jewish religious leaders were offended. Had they not been would have revealed just how closed off they were to truth. I find it rather instructive that the two men who took the Lord Jesus down from the cross after He had died were both former Pharisees. Typically a criminal would be dumped into an empty grave or a pauper’s field, buried under a pile of rocks. But, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were those two men and once they touched the dead body of the Lord Jesus they were cut off from being leaders in the Jewish religious community. This came at a very high price. They were henceforth not paid the handsome salaries they received as Jewish religious leaders.

Nicodemus and Joseph didn’t realize that Calvary did not spell the end of the Lord Jesus, but the end of death. The blood-encrusted body they laid in that tomb would soon come to life, shaking off the cloth wrappings and thus the chains of death. Nicodemus couldn’t have known that the expensive ointments and perfumes used to give the Lord Jesus a King’s burial were only temporary. Joseph didn’t know that his tomb would only be a temporary resting place for the Son of God. This grave would sit empty forever, and so would the graves of those who trust the Lord Jesus as Savior. Joseph’s prized real estate would stand as a witness of Christ’s triumph over the curse of sin. 

In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 But He answered and said, 'Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.'"

The plant was a metaphor for anyone who has no personal relationship with God, particularly the religious leaders of Jerusalem. The metaphor was used to describe the evil condition of such men who should have known the identity of the Lord Jesus when He was born in Bethlehem. The religious leaders appeared to most to have had a relationship with God but as the Lord Jesus will later say, they were of their father the devil. 

In Psalm 1:6 we read, "The way of the ungodly shall perish." Notice that this verse does not read, "The ungodly shall perish." God put it the way He did in order to point out that the ungodly always has the opportunity to turn away from the way that leads to destruction. By repenting from the way of the self, they could be postured to believe in Him as their Savior. By the way, anything is godly because God is there. We, through the Lord Jesus have been pronounced godly because the Holy Spirit is present in our lives and the Lord Jesus sacrifice on the cross opened the door for that to happen. God has given to all who are willing enough to believe in His Son the free gift of forgiveness and the subsequent godliness.

Matthew 15:10-11

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10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." ~ Matthew 15:10-11

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 15 where the Lord Jesus has just been confronted by the Jewish religious leaders who had come to Galilee from Jerusalem. They confronted the Lord Jesus because His disciples were noticed by them for not washing ceremonially before they ate. Of course, as we considered in our last study, this was not a commandment given by God for any other than the priests who worked in the Temple doing their different tasks on the behalf of the people. The Lord Jesus had pointed out that these religious leaders were just that, religious. Those who are religious place emphasis on themselves and their performance particularly in an area where they are good at what needs to be done. And, they think their good performance somehow earns favor with God. We know this not to be true and in fact this is why the Lord Jesus came to earn God's favor for sinful man through His perfectly lived life and His perfectly provided death at the cross.

In today's passage, the Lord Jesus called the multitudes of people to hear Him and understand as a result of their hearing. In John 10:27 we read, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." This is the reason why many never find God, because they refuse to investigate with an open heart. Had these Jewish religious leaders honestly come to the Lord Jesus, they would have found Him. Once we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we began to recognize His voice. Oh, I've never heard His voice with my ears but I have heard it with my heart. Once we have heard Him and we continue to hear Him, we know that we have entered into a personal relationship with Him. This starts out almost unnoticeable but with time we learn to recognize what has happened to us that He awakened our hearts to hear Him. 

Learning to hear God with our hearts is biblical faith. This ability comes to us as a result of being awakened to God by the abiding Holy Spirit who leads us and trains us to hear the Father's voice. As this happens, we grow in the assurance that we are the children of God. This does not mean that we have or will always follow Him, there are times when we lose sight of Him when we disobey. But, at the end of the day, the Holy Spirit sees fit that we ultimately follow the Lord. Our rightness before God is not found in our performance.

Somewhere along the way, the Jewish religious leaders had rejected their worship of the God of the Bible and they were being defined by their definitions of all things. Essentially they worshipped themselves. This is how the truth can be lost from one generation to another. This is why we must be diligent, on a daily basis, to bow our wills to Him, so that His truth permeates in and through our lives to the generations that follow.

These Jewish religious leaders kept the law, but not God's law, and, in so doing, they appeared to be in relationship with God but they were not. In context here, the Lord Jesus traced for us what it looks like when the traditions of men supersede His Word. We go the way of these religious leaders when we fail to understand the point of God's definitions of all things, and, our need to allow Him to define us. Throughout the Bible, God gives us His definitions of all things in order to reiterate what life is really all about which is His desire to provide for us our best life which ultimately brings Him glory. But, we have replaced His definitions instead with ours, thinking we know better than He. 

The Lord Jesus said, "(It is) not what goes into the mouth (that) defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus God said that certain things that go in to a man can defile him. There were certain foods that God prohibited like animals that don't chew the cud, or animals that don't have claws or hooves or a fish that doesn't have fins and scales. The reason God gave those commandments in the Old Covenant was to protect the Old Testament believers physical health. This teaching did not address the heart or forgiveness of sin, it addressed their quality of life. God's goal is that our hearts are won by Him, but He never forces Himself upon us. He desires for this process to be organic and thus real. Instead of giving Him our hearts, we fall into the trap of religion which prompts us to give Him our stuff like our money, time, and interests. Subconsciously we do not allow Him access to the vulnerable spot in our heart. This is where tradition begins, by not being defined by God, and then, we substitute His Word with ours.

All of this leads us to not loving others as we ought. This is what religious people do, they embrace ritual without reality. And, ritualism without reality leads us to the lack of love. Without a personal relationship with God, ritualism profits us nothing; it is just stale old religion that we all disdain. The religious leaders saw not their sins and their subsequent religion. The solution for such hypocrisy though is repentance. We must be careful to embrace God for ourselves. Even though we may be in a relationship with God, we can fall into these religious patterns. Then we end up trying to make it through this life on our own. The answer is to be embraced by God on a daily basis and to be subsequently defined by Him. We are being defined by God when we walk in obedience to His word. And, we will not be perfect at that. So, give up on that idea of somehow earning God's favor and recognize that even our failure factors into the overall plan of God for our lives.

Matthew 15:1-9

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1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3 He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' 5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God—6 then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" ~ Matthew 15:1-9

Today, we transition into Matthew 15 where the Lord Jesus gets a visit from the Jewish religious leaders from Jerusalem who had traveled some 90 miles to confront Him. They were worried because His popularity with the people was growing at a rapid pace. They came to find a way to minimize the Lord because He was a threat to their religion. They were in danger of losing their power and control over the people. According to them the Lord Jesus and His disciples were not religious enough.

In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 'Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.'"

When the religious leaders saw that the disciples didn't honor the traditions of the elders by washing their hands in the prescribed ceremonial way, they confronted the Lord Jesus in hopes of turning the people against Him. They taught that the people had to hold their hands out, with palms up, hands cupped slightly, and pour the water over them. Then the fist of the other hand was to be used to scrub the other. This would have been done exactly and specifically with both hands. Then the hands again were held out, with palms down, and water was poured over them a second time to cleanse away the dirty water from the cleansed hands. Only then would a person's hands be ceremonially clean and to deviate from it would be sin according to the religious leaders. 

The washing of the hands given by God in the Old Testament was a practice only meant for the priests while they ministered in the Temple. Later, the religious leaders expanded this practice to the common man so that he would wash his hands before a meal. At that moment cleanliness was elevated over godliness. The religious leaders had made it about the people's performance. They had lost sight of the fact that the message of salvation is the same throughout the Bible. Salvation or forgiveness of sin is a free gift from God for all willing enough to believe it and to receive it. It has always been about the object of our faith which is the God of the Bible, not us. 

In v.3-6 of today's passage we read, "3 He answered and said to them, 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and your mother;" and, "He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death." 5 But you say, "Whoever says to his father or mother, 'Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God"— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition."

The religious leaders of Israel had put their traditions over the commandments of God. Their silly rules didn’t aid anyone at obeying God. Their traditions actually steered the people away from God. The fifth command is that we honor our parents. Violating it was, according to God’s law, punishable by death. But, the religious leaders of Israel had invented another tradition which created a loophole to get out of obeying the fifth command. They had created a practice which allowed them to take money or property and declare it as set aside for the Lord. But they treated it like a tax-sheltered investment. Sadly, it wasn’t the government they were protecting the funds from but from their own parents. If their parents had a need, they could avoid meeting the need because their money was devoted to God. As a result, for the sake of their tradition they avoided obeying the word of God.

In v.7-9 of today's passage we read, "7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

The Lord Jesus offended the religious leaders by not following their rules and rituals. Using Isaiah 29:13, the Lord Jesus highlighted the result of tradition not rooted in the Word of God. He called it hypocrisy. Twenty-three times in the Gospels the Lord Jesus used this word. Twenty-one of the twenty-three times He spoke it to the religious leaders. He reserved that scathing term for religious, legalistic folk. The Greek word used in the New Testament for "hypocrites" describes actors on a stage. They wore masks and they played their parts but they really weren't what they projected; they were actors. 

The remedy for hypocrisy is worship. Prayer is when we are preoccupied with our needs. Praise is when we are preoccupied with our blessings. Worship is when we are preoccupied with our God. Worship is ascribing worth to something or someone. It is authentic and it comes from the heart. And, it has been etched upon our hearts to worship God alone. As a result, when we worship Him, we will find ourselves being defined by Him, because what we worship defines us.

Hypocrisy ignores the word of God. The Greek word used here for "tradition" is the word for "substitution." And the substitute is always something "good." We would never think of offering God something bad! Yet, if it is not defined by Him as worship, it is not true worship. Much of what we call worship today would not be defined by God as worship. We are defined by what we worship rather than primarily by what they think, know, or even believe. We are what we love.

Worship is the response of the heart to the knowledge of the mind when the mind is rightly understanding and valuing God. Our worship of God is conditioned by the way we understand Him. And, if our understanding isn't framed up by His Word, we will lack proper worship of Him. The more we know Him, the more varied will be the ways that we will worship Him. Thus, our worship should increase with the growth of our understanding of God.

Matthew 14:34-36

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34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. ~ Matthew 14:34-36

Today, we close out our study of Matthew 14 where we have witnessed the beheading of John the Baptist, the feeding of the 5000, and the Lord Jesus walking on the water and calming the winds and the waves of the storm. This chapter presents a clear contrast between the earthly power of men and the divine power of the Lord Jesus Christ. This chapter reveals the power of the Lord Jesus and we are shocked at it because it is not about domination or control, but about compassion, provision, and salvation.

In v.34 of today's passage we read, "When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret."

After the feeding of the 5,000 the Lord Jesus reached the peak of His popularity. The people, even the disciples, wanted to anoint Him as king. But He rejected their political and economic definition of a kingdom. It was at that point that the Lord Jesus and His disciples crossed over the Sea of Galilee and arrived in the land of Gennesaret which is not a town, it is a plain that is located on the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee. The Gennesaret was a lush land with many different types of crops. It had four springs which watered the entire area. It was a beautiful area due to its rich soil. It provided the picture of the life of the believer who walks with God. In keeping with the previous miracle, Gennesaret was a small little piece of land that yielded a lot. Humble beginnings very often lead to great results. When the Lord Jesus takes control of a life, the results are potentially huge.

Thomas Merton once said, "Our Christian destiny is, in fact, a great one: but we cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great." For our own idea of greatness is illusory, and if we pay too much attention to it we will be lured out of the peace and stability of the being God gave us, and seek to live in a myth we have created for ourselves. And when we are truly ourselves we lose most of the futile self-consciousness that keeps us constantly comparing ourselves with others in order to see how big we are."

In v.35-36 of today's passage we read, "35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."

The people in the area of the Gennesaret provided a contrast to the people of Nazareth who lived in unbelief. Once the people of the Gennesaret saw the Lord Jesus and they recognized Him, they immediately ran and brought their sick to Him and He healed them. These people believed in Him. In contrast, due to their unbelief, the Lord Jesus did no mighty works in certain places like Nazareth. Our faith is only as good as its object. In the Bible we are clearly given two foundations upon which we should build our faith. The first foundation is the Bible. In Romans 10:17 we read, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The second foundation of our faith in the God of the Bible is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 we read, "13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty." Without His resurrection we would have no salvation from sin, and no hope for the future.

Everyone in the area of the Gennesaret who were sick were brought to the Lord Jesus who then healed them. Previously, the Lord Jesus had traveled there and had healed many. The people were so confident of the power of the Lord Jesus they thought to themselves that if they just touched His hem they would be healed. Perhaps they had remembered the woman who grabbed His robe and was healed.

What the Lord encountered at Gennesaret were those who were convinced of their need for Him. That is exactly why they sought Him out. On the contrary, those who see not their need for the Lord, they have no regard for Him. Pride inaugurated sin and we see it over and over in the Scriptures. It is most often the small, the humble who seek the Lord. Humility is the bedfellow of true belief. Without a proper understanding who we are as sinners and what has happened to us at the hands of the evil one, we will never turn to the Lord for help. 

I heard it again today, "What about those who have never heard?" That is a bogus question. You see, God created us all with a conscience and He has given us a lot of evidence of His existence through creation. We all have had the same experiences when we have laid our head on the pillow at the end of another day. We know there is the God who has reached out to help us so many times. Our problem is we like the way of sin and it is our inability to turn away from our sin that keeps us from Him.