Matthew 15:1 ¶ Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
It is Jesus’ way to answer a question with a question and
rabbinical tradition of the time had to be dealt with here. I don’t often quote
other gospels as I am not trying to harmonize them but in this case I think
this might be helpful;
Mark 7:1 ¶ Then came
together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from
Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of
his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands,
they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees,
and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the
tradition of the elders. 4 And when they
come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things
there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots,
brasen vessels, and of tables. 5 Then
the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to
the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath
Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me
with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men. 8
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as
the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject
the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy
mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father
or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And
ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13 Making the word of God of none effect through
your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Jesus alludes to verses in Isaiah, Esias from the Greek language.
Here is a larger part of the passage He is alluding to;
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the
Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with
their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their
fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a
marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.
Matthew 15:10 ¶ And he
called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth
a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him,
Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13 But he answered and said, Every
plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him,
Declare unto us this parable. 16 And
Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the
draught? 18 But those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the 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 unwashen hands defileth not a man.
This passage begs a comparison with the wheat and the tares. The
religious elite, it is explained, are not from God and will be rooted out at
the end. In this we have one of our common sayings in English about the blind
leading the blind.
Look at the contrast with other statements the Holy Spirit and
Christ make about words and thoughts.
Matthew 9:4 And Jesus
knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
Matthew 12:37 For by thy
words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
We know so much devastation from sin has started in the thoughts
and hearts, the mind of man and woman. Fussing about a petty rule regarding
ritual hand washing is relatively trivial to Christ.
Matthew 15:21 ¶ Then Jesus
went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of
the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou
Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his
disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after
us. 24 But he answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and
said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to
dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O
woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her
daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Here is a point to note. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah in one aspect
but as the Messiah Gentiles will flock to Him and faith in Him will become a
world religion because God has ordained it so. Gentiles demand, cry out for,
and plead for salvation. Jesus acknowledges the woman’s faith after
challenging, or so it seems, her very right to seek His help. Notice these
verses, too;
Matthew 8:11 And I say unto
you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 13:29 And they shall
come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south,
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
The kind of humility that this woman expresses is fundamental to
faith in Christ and God. Remember the Sermon on the Mount. We must come to
Christ in humbleness of heart and brokenness of spirit to truly seek His mercy.
Christianity is not a religion for the proud. Christ responded not to her
ethnicity but to her faith.
Matthew 15:29 ¶ And Jesus
departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a
mountain, and sat down there. 30 And
great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame,
blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he
healed them: 31 Insomuch that the
multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole,
the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto
him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue
with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away
fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in
the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves
have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. 35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on
the ground. 36 And he took the seven
loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his
disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and
they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four
thousand men, beside women and children. 39
And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts
of Magdala.
In Matthew 14 five thousand were fed after Jesus learned of John
the Baptist’s murder. Here is another task for those of the mystical mind set
who look at numbers. This time there are seven baskets left, the traditional
number of completion in the Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment