Matthew 15

S - Matthew 15
O - The Pharisees keep trying to pick out where Jesus and his disciples don't have their toes in the line of the Law.
2"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,'6he is not to 'honor his father ' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
but Jesus replies them saying that they honour their traditions before God's commandments.
7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:8" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Paying lip service - could be in prayer, teaching, worshipping are all in vain if our hearts are not set on God. If we live our lives not by the word of God, but however we want to, going through the motions is in vain. Big wake up call for everybody!
12Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.14Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Again analogous to the parable of the weeds. The Pharisees teach astray from the word of God and are like "blind guides" who will all eventually "fall into a pit".10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.11What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
15Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."16"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "
haha whenever Jesus says things like "why are you so dull" its as though he's saying to us, wake up spiritually you people.
@ Tyre and Sidon (v21)24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Jesus' point was that the gospel was to be given first to Jews. The woman understood Jesus' implication and was willing to settle for "crumbs" Jesus rewarded her faith.
34"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish."35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.38The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children.39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
the feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all four gospels, but the feeding of the 4000 only in Matthew and Mark. The 12 baskets mentioned in the accounts of the feeding of the 5000 were possibly the lunch baskets of the 12 apostles. The seven baskets here were possibly larger.
Magadan - aka Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene. - Mark 8:10 - Dalmanutha
A - v7-9 wake up spiritually. don't just pay lip service and be all talk and no action. Lots of people can talk heaps about the bible but don't practice and live out God's life. Also, God has to be in your heart. If not, going through the motions is exactly what it is...all in vain.
P - I pray that God will keep me on track with following his word and applying it in my life. I pray that the Spirit in me will always be on fire for God and that I will love God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Amen.* Deut 6:5, Matt 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27