The Way - Day 247 (Matthew 15)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
Matthew 15:1-20
You knew it would not be long until the scribes and Pharisees returned on the scene to scrutinize Jesus' every move. Here they move in to accuse Jesus' disciples of not keeping the tradition of the elders by failing to wash their hands before they ate bread (15:2). The tradition of the elders was a list of rules which had been developed outside biblical writings and were eventually committed to print in the Mishna near the end of the 2nd century. The tradition of the elders was man's attempt to add what they thought was important to God's law. Apparently the disciples had violated one of these traditions by not cleansing their hands prior to eating bread. Of course the scribes and Pharisees were right there to question Jesus about the spirituality of His disciples and their failure to keep "man-made religious tradition." In only the way He can, Jesus shoots straight back at them with by pointing out their violation of one of the commandments...honor your father and mother (15:3-4). It seems that the same men who were critical of the disciples failure to wash their hands had failed to honor their parents by not financially caring for their parents (who were elderly) because they had dedicated a certain amount of money to God (15:5-6). In essence they were ignoring God's commandments but trying to maintain their "spirituality." Jesus continues to build His case against the scribes and Pharisees by pointing out that they had elevated man-made tradition over God's law (15:9). Furthermore, He expressed that what went into their mouth did not defile a person, but what comes out of it (15:10-11). Jesus was saying that a person's speech reveals the heart and in reality the heart is more important than a person's devised rules of spirituality. Jesus' disciples inform Him that the Pharisees were offended by what He had said, but Jesus goes further in His criticism by proclaiming their ultimate judgment through separation from God (15:12-14). The disciples needed to understand that the moral law far outweighed the ceremonial law. Ceremonial violations could be taken care of by ceremonial cleansing, but moral transgression of the law resulted in the corrupting of a man's heart (15:15-18). Be honest with yourself...have you created a system of spiritual rules for yourself without any regard to God's commandments? If so, you are in good company with the scribes and Pharisees. God isn't interested in you pacifying yourself by adherence to a list of rules which you have created to feel better about your relationship with God. Stick with what God has revealed in His word and quit wasting time concocting a system that is in reality for you. Although a person can create a fascade on the outside, eventually the heart will manifest itself through actions. If the heart is pure, good with spew out; if the heart is corrupt, evil will soon follow (15:19-20).

Matthew 15:21-28
This seems to me an odd story because I read it through eyes which do not fully comprehend Jesus' actions; however, after taking some time to examine it closer, the story begins to make sense. Jesus withdraws from the scribes and Pharisees who had been attacking Him with every turn. He goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon where many centuries earlier the Canaanites had inhabited (Gentiles). A woman comes to Jesus crying out to Him to have mercy on her daughter, who was demon possessed. She addresses Jesus as Lord and Son of David which were strictly Messianic titles. These titles alone evidenced her belief that Jesus was the Messiah and had the ability to heal her daughter. But uncharacteristic of Jesus, He did not answer her (15:23). She continued to cry out so much that the disciples ask Jesus to intervene in the situation, but Jesus responds by telling them He was sent to the house of Israel, not to the Gentiles (15:24). Since Jesus had primarily come to deliver the Jews, He did not minister to the Gentiles. To me this makes Jesus sound mean or prejudice, but it is not for me to fully understand. I can gather that throughout the history of the Gentiles, they had rejected God and even persecuted His people (Israel). But, this woman would not give up. She came and worshipped Him saying "Lord, help me" but Jesus still refused. Jesus said that it is not good to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs (15:26). Since Jesus had come to give the kingdom (bread) to the Jews (children) it would be wrong to bring good to the Gentiles (dogs). The woman persisted saying that even the dogs would eat the crumbs which fell from the master's table (15:27). Even though she was not a Jew, she still saw herself in the illustration as a dog...someone who needed help and one who could still eat the crumbs which fell from the table. She was not minimizing Israel's blessing, but she was just asking that a little bit be given to her. To this, Jesus responds declaring that this woman's faith is great and He heals her daughter (15:28). The thing which caused Jesus to respond was she knew that help only could come from God. She was willing to humble herself and recognize Jesus as her way to God. This kind of attitude should be repeated in us each day. We should wake up every morning recognizing that without God I will not be able to live. Our prayer should be as the woman's - "Lord, help me."

Matthew 15:29-39
Distinct from the feeding of the 5000 which had occurred earlier in the ministry of Jesus, the feeding of the 4000 takes place after Jesus had departed from Tyre and Sidon. As He came to rest on the mountain, multitudes of people brought the lame, blind, mute, and the maimed to be healed by Jesus (15:29-30). The people marveled at Jesus' miracles and responded by glorifying God (15:31). After these many miracles, Jesus calls His disciples to Himself and confesses His compassion for the people because they had followed Him three days without anything to eat (15:32). Jesus did not want them to depart from Him hungry because they may faint on the way home. The disciples respond to Jesus in a negative way by inquiring where He intends to get enough food (15:33). Obviously those who walked closest to Jesus had forgotten His earlier miracle of feeding 5000 people (Matthew 14:13-21) with five loaves of bread and two fish. In this situation there were fewer people and more food (15:34) so Jesus was capable of repeating the same miracle. Jesus commanded that the people be seated while He took the bread and fish and miraculously fed the entire group (15:35-37). I'm not sure why the disciples lacked faith that Jesus could feed the people. After all they had seen you would expect them to not worry about seemingly impossible circumstances; however, before we are quick to condemn the disciples, we must closely examine ourselves. If we are honest, we've seen God do amazing things in our lives, but when the next tough scenario arises we are quick to allow doubt to enter our mind. Today, we must be challenged to believe God even when we have a hard time understanding how He will work through a situation. Humanly speaking, doubt is a reality, but with God all things are possible.

Dear God, help me to believe You even when I cannot see a solution.