Matthew 15

Hypocites

MATTHEW 15:1-9

1 Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God, ” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother*.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,

BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,

TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’

“And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition”

Again the Scribes and Pharisees snipe at the followers of Jesus and no wonder in a face down using Scripture, these guys wouldn’t stand a chance. While they dance around the law, Jesus goes to the heart. The particular law Jesus points to has to do with the requirement of children to care for their elderly parents. These religious leaders dodged that commitment by saying the money set aside for their parents was committed instead to the temple. They would then use the money for themselves after their parents had died.

So Jesus quotes to them from Isaiah 29, a song about the destruction of Isreal because the leaders had hardened their hearts to the call of God. Isaiah promises blindness until the “wisdom of their wise men has perished.”

In the story of Moses, a generation of leaders must die before the people are allowed to enter the promised land [Exodus 17 and Numbers 20]. The key to both stories is that the punishment is relative to the crime of hubris. Here is Isaiah’s lament.

Isaiah 29:16

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”?

Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?

Abraham’s sin was taking pride for the water pouring forth from the rock at Meribah. He thought he might be able to get away with taking the credit for the work God had done. Similarly, these religious leaders thought they could hide their deception from God. As if the pot could hide a crack from the hands of the potter.

What would it be today? Would Isaiah point to the financial or political institutions that rigidly systemize poverty? Until they are no longer will the Lord say, “In vain do they seek me…” Forget the one percent, the real battle (according to the Brookings Institute) is between the top 0.1 percent and the top 0.0001 percent, the likes of Mark Zuckerburg who made five billion dollars in 2013.

“Even The Dogs...”

MATTHEW 15:10-28

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

 12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

 15 Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? 18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

 21 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

MATTHEW 15:10-12

 12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”

“Hear and understand.”

These conversations begin with an attack by the Pharisee’s on Jesus’ credibility:

Matthew 15:2

“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

 Very few people, besides John the Baptist (who had just been beheaded) and Jesus Christ, would stand up to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The true irony is that these two prophets (one being the Messiah) would have to defend themselves at all from pharisees and scribes. Yet, it wasn’t the first time the religious attacked those whom they should have followed:

Matthew 23:34-35

34 “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

 The religious always ran afoul of the prophets when they distanced themselves from the poor and became spokespersons for the powerful. This is not just an issue of the past; it is an issue of the present. When our faith does not translate into an advocacy of the excluded then it is not in line with Hebraic or Gospel truths. Our churches must be ever-vigilant that the practice of our faith doesn’t become exclusive or rritualistically lose the emphasis of the Gospel. Yet, more than anything else, the church must never become a pulpit for the powerful to rationalize the abuse of the poor. Both John and Jesus were killed because their commitment to the truth ran afoul of the ideology of the powerful.  No wonder the Pharisees were offended; Jesus unmasked their hypocrisy to the crowd. Would our faith lead us to do the same? Are we afraid of being offensive for the right reasons? Arrogance or incivility are not goals of the Christian, Jesus did not seek out the religious leaders to intentionally offend them. It was a consequence that occurred when the leaders tried to attack the Messiah's followers with scriptural legalism.

 We must always remember that Jesus preached the Gospel, the “Good News.” But the full context is “Good News to the poor.”

Luke 4:18-19

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

 The poor must always call Christ’s church Good News. That’s why the prophets were always so offensive to the religious; prophets reminded the powerful of who was left behind while they were getting ahead.

MATTHEW 15:13-14

13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

“They are blind guides of the blind.”

The word for blind [G5185 tuphlos] is more akin to being obtuse than just physically blind. These leaders lacked vision more than eyesight. The word for guides [G3595 hodegos] is also very interesting. It is a combination of two words “hodos [G3598],” meaning a path or journey and “hegeomai [G2233]” a leader or someone who is esteemed. You were a guide when you led people on the right path or were an esteemed person on a journey. Who is esteemed on a journey?

When you served the team practically. Being prepared in all circumstances wherever the tribe found itself. Cooking, cleaning, or doing first aid if needed. Leadership was practical.

You were esteemed if you could provide motivation and direction when people felt tired or lost. Leadership was motivating.

An esteemed leader to a nomadic tribe could hunt when needed and protect when required. Leadership provided and protected.

Finally, an esteemed leader kept the tribe on the right path. Moses could not enter the Promised Land because he ignored this concept at one point in his life. He wanted the people to think it was his power, not God’s that drew water from the stone at Horeb [Ex 17]. The journey in the wilderness was not about getting to the Promised Land; it was about becoming God’s promised people. We forget this when we start wanting people to focus on us and not on God. Leadership was consistently focused on serving God.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time forgot their focus. They elevated themselves not their God and not his children. They had usurped God’s vision and the children of Israel were lost because of it:

Matthew 9:36

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

 How are our people? Are there any distressed and dispirited among us? Does their situation move us to action? Pity sees distress and feels sorry for the victims. Compassion sees distress and takes action. Are we a people of action in response to the distress around us? Does our compassion increase our vision? Or, are we an obtuse people on the wrong path? That’s what Jesus is addressing in these verses.

MATTHEW 15:15-20

“Those defile the man.”

The word defile [G2840 koinoo] means to make common or impure. It is not our ritualistic actions that make us pure. It is what we say or do to others. The religious leaders that Christ condemns were awash in ritual; what they lacked was compassion. We are to love one another as Christ loved us and it is that behavior which makes us uncommon.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Worship doesn’t make us uncommon, ritual doesn’t not make us uncommon. Violent cultures and people have had worship and ritual throughout history. What should make us uncommon is our constant commitment to find an opportunity where we can love like Jesus loved. Opportunities where we stand out because of our love. Who knows us “for our love” where we live and work? Who knows your church for showing exorbitant love to your town? Jesus was known for his love of sinners and lepers and the Pharisees condemned him for it.

Matthew 9:12-13

12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 Am I on the streets seeking the unhealthy? Do I spend my day with the sinners or the righteous? “God get us beyond ourselves!”

 Let us pray that God gives us undefiled hearts, uncommon hearts. Let us pray that we follow Jesus beyond self-righteousness and the commonplace and out to where compassion supersedes ritual. That’s where we will find Jesus.

MATTHEW 15:21-23

“Send her away”

This woman is begging for mercy for her daughter and — even though Jesus is a foreign rabbi — he is her last hope. She is not going to let him slip away.

 It is quite likely the disciples said more to this woman then just, “Send her away.” As she saw her opportunity slipping through her fingers she no doubt intensified her cries. Wouldn’t I if it were my child? Wouldn’t I plead regardless of the race or position of the healer? But she wasn’t a disciple’s daughter. She was the daughter of a foreigner; a people the Jews called “sons of dogs.” The woman—and her daughter—were not the disciple’s problem. She had to go through the disciples to speak to the master but they wouldn’t listen and her intensity increased.

 What are we like towards “other people’s daughters?” What is our response to others when we see them as “less than ourselves,” foreign, or as illegal aliens? Are we as concerned about “their” daughters as we are about our own? Do their children deserve less health care, less education, or less opportunity in exchange for hard work than ours? Are we like the miserly workers in Matthew 16?

Matthew 16:11-16

11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

 We never hear Jesus say, “send her away,” and we should never hear a follower of Christ say “send them away.” This is the Jesus who fed the thousands on a handful of fish and bread. His response was always: “Bring them to me [Matthew 14:18].”

 Should our response ever be any different?

MATTHEW 15:24-28

24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

“Even the dogs!”

We know the compassion of Jesus and we know that he had healed many foreigners prior to meeting this woman. So, why Jesus’ apparently callous attitude? There can only be one reason; our Lord was making a dramatic point to the apostles.

 We have contrasted the apostle’s attitude with the Lord’s many times. In the last chapter the apostles tell Jesus to “send the crowds away” while Jesus says “bring them to me.” We have asked; “Which attitude resembles my heart and my church?”

 There are three things we can learn from Jesus’ initial rejection of this woman’s request:

1. Jesus sometimes uses the hardships of this world to strengthen our desire for wholeness. As this woman struggles for recognition her faith grows with her boldness and persistence.

2. Jesus confronts his followers prejudice. In essence, while refining the faith of the Canaanite woman. Jesus also reveals the shallowness of the Apostles attitudes. It is the foreigner who models faith to Christ’s followers.

3. Jesus always comes through. As the woman persists, she makes one of the most eloquent statements of humility and faith in the bible; “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

You can see her words absolutely melt our Lord’s heart: “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.”

 As difficult as it must have been for the Lord to wait, he allows the woman’s despair to sharpen her faith while also teaching the apostles that true faith is not a result of privilege. They were privileged to be Jewish and privileged to spend years with Jesus, but that should have made them more grateful as opposed to more self-righteous.

 Many of life’s lessons are hard learned but the crux of this story is that Jesus can turn all things — disease, sorrow and prejudice — into glory.

 Let’s ask ourselves:

· Are we faithful enough to persist even if we feel we aren’t heard?

· Do we display the invitational attitude of Jesus or the elitist and prejudiced attitude of the apostle’s towards the foreigner and the distressed?

· Do I understand the role humility and persistence play in healing and faith? Would I, like this woman, respond to Christ’s apparent silence by increasing my faith or increasing my hubris? Look again at her response to Christ’s apparent silence: She came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

“Lord, help me!” Let that be our response to all trials. The term help [G997 boetheo] means; “Lord, run to my aid.” Here is the prayer that Jesus hears. Her prayer is not for herself; but for her daughter. He allows her cries to sharpen her faith perhaps because she is Canaanite and needs to burn away the dross of that cult before her total reliance on the Messiah is realized. Obviously the cultic practices of the Canaanites offered her no hope. Whatever the case, Jesus hears the cry of the humble heart and answers in his perfect timing:

Psalm 10:17-18

17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear 18 To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.  Isn’t it strange how quickly the disciples became “the oppressors” when among foreigners? Isn’t it frightening how quickly they became self-righteous? But, isn’t it wondrous how Jesus takes all of these horrible factors — prejudice and pride — and turns them into heavenly glory?  Praise you awesome Lord, you hear the cry of the humble and answer in your perfect time.

MATTHEW 15:29-39

29 Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel

How do we know The Lord has passed through an area? Look at his wake. The mute speak, the crippled are restored, the lame walk and the blind see. How do we know Jesus is in our life? By examining the wake of our lives as well. What we leave in our path.

Who are the mute today? Whose voice is not heard in our assemblies or political and financial processes?

Who are those who need to be restored? Who has been torn apart from community or family?

Who is barely limping along through life, hardly able to support their own weight or the needs of their loved ones?

Who has lost sight of hope or lacks a vision of possibility?

Have we given voice, mobility, accessibility and vision to those in our path?

“Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

We would think that just having witnessed the feeding of the five thousand (not including women and children), the disciples would turn to Jesus as the source of what is available instead of the crowd or the physical location and circumstances. Yet, how often do we look to Jesus for sustenance in the desolate places?

The term "desolate place" [G2407 erēmis], should not be unfamiliar to us. It is where Jesus first confronted Satan. Because of the habits of his life, Jesus knew there could be streams in the desert. When others saw desolation, he saw the potency of the Creator. Jesus saw the potential of the desolate, both in his circumstances and the people around him.

Are we prone to look to our Lord for what is possible instead of our circumstances for what is impossible? Are we a "can do" or "can't do" people?

Seven large baskets full

The last miraculous feeding was a sign to the Jewish people and thus, twelve baskets were left over. One for every tribe of Israel. This miraculous feeding was for a Gentile group and thus seven baskets are left over. Seven represented wholeness to the people of Jesus' time. There was a "whole amount left over." "As much as was needed."

Jesus comes to our desolation with the promise of leaving us "as much as is needed." He will leave us whole, even if we come to him empty.