Matthew 15:1-16:17

We begin today at Matthew 15:1-2,

Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 

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

 

These scribes and the Pharisees had come all the way from Jerusalem.

In the previous chapter we saw that Jesus and His disciples were way out in a desert place where the crowds couldn’t even get to the food they needed, so He fed them.

 

On the surface it may seem like a great thing that these religious rulers had come all the way out to listen to Him, but, you see, they hadn’t come all the way out to applaud Him or to accept His teaching; they’d come to criticise Him.

Straight away we see that this wasn’t a friendly visit. They didn’t accuse Him of breaking the Law, the Scriptures, but of violating the traditions which they considered to be equal with the Law and the Scriptures.

They wanted to know why His disciples didn’t wash their hands and the question had nothing to do with good hygiene. They were referring to a ceremonial cleansing that was a tradition.

The religious rulers were offended that the disciples didn’t observe these rigid, traditional rituals which were often held in higher esteem than the Law itself.

The Jewish Rabbi, Jose, said, and I’ll paraphrase it, “He sins as much when he eats with unwashed hands, as he does when he sleeps with a harlot.”

Another saying was, “The words of the scribes are lovely beyond the words of the law: for the words of the law are weighty and light, but the words of the scribes are all weighty.”

 

Here again we have this endless reliance on an outward ceremony, a tradition, an external cleaning up of the outside of a person.

This’s such a common, everyday thing.

God will accept me because I’ve performed a ritual, done a good work, gone along with a tradition or not been as bad as a lot of others. Look at me, I’m so good!

This’s why the leaven in the parable in chapter 13 and elsewhere in the Word of God is so bad. It’s false doctrine and it puffs up causing pride in self. It makes someone think of themselves more highly than they ought, as Paul warns us against in Romans 12 verse 3.

This was the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees to a tee.

 

Verse 3,

He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 

 

Jesus accuses them of breaking the commandment of God with their tradition.

This particular tradition permitted a man to disobey the Law, and they had a very clever way of doing it. How twisted can man be.

 

Verses 4, 5 and 6,

For God commanded, saying, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO CURSES FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 

But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” then he need not honour his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 

 

The Lord is saying that honouring father and mother includes supporting them. He’s quoting Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 27:16 and Leviticus 20:9.

Matthew is still connecting the Old Testament to his Gospel you see.

 

The way these highly religious rulers got around that responsibility was to dedicate their money as a gift to God, and that would relieve them of supporting their parents.

This gave a very saintly way out for a man to break the Mosaic Law.

Theses religious rulers were actually helping men escape their responsibility under the law, as amazing as that was. And they were doing it while appearing saintly and spiritual.

 

Now verses 7 to 9,

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 

‘THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME.

AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’ ” 

 

The Lord called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and again fulfills prophecy by quoting Isaiah 29:13.

The word hypocrite is used to describe an actor, an assumed character in a play on a stage or in relation to today a movie. In other words, pretending to be somebody they’re not.

Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of playing at religion.

The religious leaders were eager to have people go through the ceremony of washing their hands, but they ignored the condition of the heart, which was the important thing to God.

In a very pious and religious way they were breaking the Mosaic Law.

We’re also pretty good at rationalising. Parents say to their children, “You wash your hands before you come to the table,” but they pay no attention to what their kids see on television or on the internet or social media, and that’s what’s damaging the heart. Of course, children should wash their hands, but what’s on the inside is far more important.

Now our Lord will enlarge on that statement in verses 10 and 11,

When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 

Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” 

 

The principle that Jesus was teaching here is that moral defilement is spiritual, not physical.

 

Verse 12,

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

 

The disciples are amazed that the Lord would offend the Pharisees. Up to this point there’s been conflict between the religious leaders and Jesus, but this is the breaking point. The Lord continues to instruct His disciples.

 

Verse 13,

But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 

 

The word plant here means “system”. Jesus as saying, “Every religious system which My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled out by the roots.”

 

Verse 14,

Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” 

 

This statement carries some biting sarcasm. The Pharisees were the blind leaders.

 

To verse 15,

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” 

 

The Lord has been speaking in parables, word pictures, to His disciples, and they’d not understood His point yet.

 

Now to verses 16 to 18,

So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? 

Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

 

This is a great principle. A person is not defiled by what goes into his mouth but by what comes out of his mouth.

As someone has well said, what is in the well of the heart will come up in the bucket of the mouth sooner or later. Listen to Him in verses 19 and 20,

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 

These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

 

For sure we’re seeing this working in our culture today.

We’re living in a time of the “new morality” and we’ve have reached the day that Isaiah talked about when he said that they would “… call evil good, and good evil …” That’s Isaiah 5:20.

Those of us who believe the Bible are considered not cool at all today. However, what’s this so called moral freedom, where man freely expresses what’s in his heart, bought us today? Do we have a new morality? No, we have the same old things, evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, false witness, blasphemy, and thefts. The “do what you feel like, If it feels good do it” state that we’re in today has led our world into trouble.

Man is the most vicious animal on earth and that viciousness needs to be controlled. But today, a human must be free to do his thing, no matter how outrageous, shocking, and loathsome that may be. In fact, the worst is best. Our Lord’s told us what mankind will do, and He says that these things defile a person.

All about us today is an emphasis on weird sexual practices and an almost fanatical advance of trying to change nature by quote “identifying” as something else other than what and who we are.

Discipline in the home, schools, workplace, and all through society has collapsed in place of a desire to be quote “nice” and “understanding”. Political correctness has caused a complete about face where what’s evil is now good and what’s good is now evil.

These are the things defile. None of us living today are immune to it. Our children and young people are being defiled, all in the name of freedom of speech but without being subject to the responsibility for what we say! The things that are in the heart are now coming out. What a tremendous, far reaching statement Our Lord has made here.

 

Matthew 15:21,

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

 

Now our Lord leaves the land of Israel for the first time during His public ministry.

 

Verses 22 and 23,

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.” 

But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” 

 

The Syrophoenician woman was a mixture of several races and a Gentile. Mark 7 verse 26 tells us this, that she was a Greek a Syrophoenician by birth, probably Canaanite.

She had no claim on Jesus as the Son of David since she wasn’t Jewish, and when she addressed Him as the Son of David, He refused to answer her.

The disciples, giving advice to The Lord again, told Him to send her away.

She was causing a disturbance and probably a little embarrassment.

 

Verse 24,

But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

 

This seems to us be a harsh statement, but it was a fact. Jesus was offering Himself first as the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning the coming of the King in David’s line. He was the Jews Messiah and King of the coming Earthly Kingdom and He was forcing this gentile woman to recognise that fact, and by default forcing us, you, and me today to recognise it as well.

Jesus came as King of the Jews and that was the critical issue being settled.

He died with this superscription written over Him on the Cross: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Now listen to what this gentile woman says to Jesus in Verse 25,

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 

 

When she addressed Him as the Son of David, He said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

As a Gentile, this woman had no claim on Him as the Son of David, however, she now comes and worships Him despite that, calling Him “Lord”, and asks for help.

Now she’ll get that help, as we read verse 26,

But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 

 

Wow! Don’t mince Your words Lord! It’s a very strong statement!

Such a rejection would have driven most of us away. We would have risen up inside with fury and turned on our heels and said, “You can’t talk to us like that!”

Verse 27,

And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 

 

You remember that our Lord told of a poor man who ate of the crumbs that fell from a rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his sores.

The Israelites used the word dog in reference to the Gentiles. This woman was willing to bear that label because she believed in the Lord Jesus, she believed that He was Who He said He was and was therefore capable of fulfilling her request.

 

Verse 28 now,

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.

 

Our Lord really marvelled at the faith of this gentile woman. He had said back in Chapter 11 verse 28 and 29,

Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls,

and that’s exactly what He did even for a Canaanite. Her answer had revealed a great faith, and our Lord responded.

 

Now Matthew 15:29-30,

Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 

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. 

 

Again and again, we see multitudes of folk healed. Again, we point out that there’s not just a few isolated cases that could not be substantiated. There were so many that nobody could possibly deny that He performed miracles of healing.

 

To Verse 31,

So the multitude marvelled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 

 

Again, the multitudes marvelled.

See, they were amazed and astonished. They were forced into a sense of wonder or surprise, so much so that they openly glorified God, obviously realising that these miraculous events could come from no other source but Almighty God Himself.

 

Now we see a miracle that seems to be almost the same as the feeding of the five thousand. Verse 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.” 

 

Notice again Jesus’s compassion for people.

 

Verse 33,

Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

 

Let’s not miss the message here. It seems like just a rerun of the feeding of the five thousand, but not really.

We’re in the section of this Gospel that the emphasis the rejection of Jesus claim to be the King and Messiah.

This miracle shows us how slow the disciples were to learn. They’d already witnessed the feeding of the five thousand, which more than likely took place only a few days before this; yet here they raise the same old objections. the same old unbelief. Again, His disciples say to Him, “Jesus, where do You suggest we go to get enough bread?”

In His reply I see an amazing patience. If it were me, I’d have said, “You idiots! What did you just see a few days ago? Get with game will you!”

 

Verses 34 to 36 now,

Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” 

So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 

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. 

 

Again, He fed the multitudes. This shows us that the disciples hadn’t really learned.

Their unbelief is actually a form of rejection. Unbelief is sin.

In Romans 14:23 we read,

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

In Hebrews 12:1 we’re told to “… lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us….”

What is that weight? Unbelief. Unbelief is sin. I wish that I believed Him more. He’s worthy to be believed and I should believe Him fully, but the problem is with me. I suspect that you’re the same.

The Lord Jesus fed the multitude—

 

Verses 37 to 38 now,

So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 

Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Again, we need to notice that it was four thousand men plus women and children.

In other words, families were there. If we put one woman and one child with each man, the total fed would be twelve thousand.

 

Verse 39,

And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. 

 

This was part of the Lord’s Galilean ministry. Magdala is on the Sea of Galilee, and it lies in ruins today.

This chapter reveals that our Lord’s disciples are not keeping up, they’re not quote “getting it”.

They’re slow to believe and slow to understand. This is actually hindering the Lord Jesus. It seems at this point that, since He’s reached the breaking point with the religious rulers, He’s having a real problem with His disciples. He appears to be just marking time until they catch up.

Frankly, He’s very patient with you and me, also. Many of us need to catch up because we’re a long way behind in our understanding which then leads to unbelief.

Time and time again God shows us in His word His greatness, His power, His majesty and His Grace. Time and again we see the hardship, strife and confusion that comes from failing to trust Him and the blessings that come when we do.

Let’s learn about Him, the reality not the romance, and then just believe Him!

 

Now we come to chapter 16 of this Gospel of Matthew where Jesus continues to conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees.

For the second time they ask for a sign from heaven, and again they’re referred to the prophet Jonah.

We get chapter 16 underway with verses 1 to 3,

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 

He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 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. 

 

Back in Matthew 12:38 the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign. At that time the Lord gave them the sign of Jonah. He’s going to do that again, but first He calls their attention to the fact that, although they are very good at predicting the weather, they can’t recognize the signs of the times.

Actually, the religious rulers are trying to trap the Lord Jesus.

The word used for “testing” here means to test a person maliciously, or craftily to prove his feelings or judgments.

He’s going to warn His own men to beware of this lot.

This’s the second time He calls them hypocrites.

 

Verses 4 now,

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. 

What signs were they after outside the incredible signs they’d already seen?

Jesus had already provided them with many signs, but they wouldn’t accept them.

For the second time He predicts the sign of Jonah. Back in chapter 12 verse 40 He’d said,

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

These Pharisees and Sadducees weren’t going to accept that as a sign.

In this chapter we’ll see three viewpoints concerning Jesus. The Pharisees and Sadducees consider Him an imposter and do not believe that He’s the Messiah. The multitude thinks He’s John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another of the prophets.

In this, they were sort of complimentary, although they missed the mark completely.

His disciples give the third viewpoint. They believe that Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ), the Son of the living God.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were asking for a sign. Jesus said that no sign would be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonah. “And he left them and departed.”

There’s a note of finality in His action as He turns and walks away from them. Then He warns His disciples of the leaven of these religious rulers.

 

Verses 5 to 7 now,

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 

Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” 

 

In Matthew 13 we learned that leaven is always a principle of evil and never a principle of good. The Lord says to beware of the leaven.

If we’re warned to beware of something, we know it’s not something good or to be welcomed.

The disciples missed the understanding of the leaven at first, thinking it was all about bread.

 

Verses 8 to 12,

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? 

Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 

Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 

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.” 

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. 

 

If it were a matter of actual bread, the disciples should have remembered the two miracles that they’d only just been involved in, providing food for the five thousand and the four thousand.

But it wasn’t about bread.

Leaven, according to our Lord’s interpretation, is false doctrine. It’s that which is evil. When people speak about the “leaven of the gospel,” they’re using a contradiction, something that cannot be. Leaven’s never a picture of the gospel. Leaven is always a symbol of evil. If we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as an authority, this ought to clarify once and for all what leaven represents.

 

All the way through the Gospel of Matthew we need to keep our brains in gear because this Gospel is the key to the rest of the Scriptures.

We need to note carefully what happens.

 

Matthew 16:13,

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?” 

 

Caesarea Philippi is located to the north of the Sea of Galilee. From here The Lord Jesus is going to turn and begin a movement directly toward Jerusalem and the Cross.

Before He begins that journey, there are two things that must be clear in the minds of His disciples, Who He is, and what He’s going to do.

My friends, these are the two things that all of us have to be clear about in order to be Christians.

We have to know who He is, and we have to know what He did. We need to know these things in order that we might exercise faith and be saved.

Ephesians 2:8 tells us,

For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

It’s not just any faith that saves us. Every person who ever lived has faith of some kind. Atheists must exercise much more faith than a Christian to believe the universe and everything in it created itself from nothing.

Muslims have faith that if they die as a martyr they will,

Be forgiven immediately,

Is seated in Paradise and is saved from the punishment of the grave,

Is granted safety from the great terror [of the Day of Judgment],

Has a crown of honour placed on his head, a ruby better than this life and all it contains,

Is married to 72 maidens of Paradise,

Is allowed to intercede for 70 relatives.

 

See we need the right kind of faith and how do we get that faith?

Romand 10:17,

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

The Word of God is the One and only source by which saving faith comes. Without God’s Word somehow coming to our ears we cannot have that necessary faith. Why?

Because that Word reveals to us Who God really is and the great lengths that He’s gone to, and the great cost that He’s paid to secure eternal life for us.  The Word does that through the Person of Jesus Christ.

 

Now, notice our Lord’s first question: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? “

This is a question which He’s still asking, and it’s a question that’s still being answered in our day. He’s still the most controversial Person who’s ever lived on earth. Now we’ll hear the viewpoint of the multitudes, the crowds that followed Him. If you or I asked this question on a street corner, we’d probably get similar answers because people are just as confused about Him today as they were then.

 

Verse 14 now,

So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

 

These were the viewpoints of the average person of that day.

John the Baptist was a great man, and the people recognised that. Many today say that Jesus was a great teacher.

Elijah was certainly a great person, and there are those today who say that Jesus was a great person.

Jeremiah was a great prophet, one who had compassion and today many say Jesus was a great and compassionate prophet.

Or one of the prophets. There would’ve been a variety of viewpoints as to which prophet Jesus was just as there is today.

Now the Lord Jesus turns to His apostles in verses 15 and 16,

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

It’s time for the disciples to make a decision. Simon Peter was evidently the spokesman for the group.

He said, “You are the Christ,” which meant the Messiah, the Anointed One, the One who was predicted in the Old Testament, and the Lord Jesus was the One who fulfilled all those old testament prophecies to the letter and also fulfilled the law in that He didn’t break it, not once.

Also, Peter says He’s “the Son of the living God.”

Up to this point, that was the best confession and the highest tribute that could be made to Him. This is who Jesus is!

 

Verse 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. 

Only the Holy Spirit can make Christ known to any person. No man today can call Jesus “Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Only He can take the things of Christ and reveal them to us.

Jesus said, “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you”. In other words, “You didn’t learn it by being with Me.”

Do we sometimes think that if we could’ve been with Jesus for nearly three years, as the apostles had been, we’d would really know who He is.”

Would we? Firstly, the multitudes and the Pharisees and Sadducees were with Him, and they didn’t know Him. But we can know Him just as well today because it’s the Spirit of God that makes Him real to us and He’s here with us right now.

Next time my friends we’ll look into this tremendous revelation more fully an until them may God continue to reveal Himself to you through His wonderful Word.