Matthew 15

1 – 2

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, “Why do your followers not obey the rules given to us by the great people who lived before us? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

What kind of angry God would care more about the way you wash your hands than the way you live your life? There are religions who live this way today. Who would want to know a god who is picking apart every little thing you do so that he can find something to be angry about?

3 – 6

Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those rules you have? God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ And God also said, ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’

But you say that a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ You teach that person not to honor his father. You teach that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow the rules you have.

This is talking about a person who is bitter against his parents. This person is looking for a way to sound like he is not bitter but at the same time hurt his parents. The Jews had a law that said that you could keep from helping your parents if you gave a gift to God.

A person who hates his parents this way could say, “I will give a gift to God instead of helping you. Maybe God will help you because of this gift but I will not help you.”

So now we see that the Jews start with the excuse that they have to follow their tradition. Next they go completely against their own Bible by not honoring their parents as Moses told them to. Finally they have no power in their lives when trouble comes.

7 – 9

You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you: ‘These people show honor to me with words. But their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules they have memorized.’”

Jesus is showing them that now their traditions have been more important than what God says. Be careful this does not happen to you!
They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! 2 Timothy 3:5, Isaiah 29:13

10 – 20

Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. It is not what a person puts into his mouth that makes him unclean. It is what comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean.”

Then his followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are angry because of what you said?”
Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. Stay away from the Pharisees. They are blind leaders. And if a blind man leads another blind man, then both men will fall into a ditch.”

Peter said, “Explain the story to us.” Jesus said, “You still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then that food goes out of the body. But what a person says with his mouth comes from the way he thinks.

And these are the things that make him unclean. Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, lying, and saying bad things against other people. These things make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.”

We can see all these evil things on the internet and many other places. These things go inside of us and make us imagine what it would be like. We do not need any more problems than what we already have. Why would we want to invite evil into our minds?

No matter what you may think the real world knows that if you put garbage in you will get garbage out!

A good person produces good things from the treasure of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasure of an evil heart. What you say comes from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45

21 – 26
Jesus left that place and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that area came to Jesus. The woman cried out, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon, and she is suffering very much.”

But Jesus did not answer the woman. So the followers came to Jesus and begged him, “Tell the woman to go away. She is following us and shouting.”

Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.” Then the woman came to Jesus again. She bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dear little dogs.”

The Jews call anyone who is not Jewish an evil dog. Jesus did not use the same word that the Jews used. He showed the woman that she was important but that she would have to trust Him in what He was saying.

27 – 28

The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even dear little dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! I will do what you asked me to do.” And at that moment the woman’s daughter was healed.

Who knows? Maybe God will change His mind if you ask Him with a clean heart. You will never know if you do not ask.

And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13

29 – 31

Then Jesus left that place and went to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there. Great crowds came to Jesus. They brought their sick with them: the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them.

The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak were able to speak again. The crippled were made strong again. Those who could not walk were able to walk again. The blind were able to see again. And they praised the God of Israel for this.

When we are walking closely with the Lord in the Word and in prayer He uses us to do things that we cannot do. We can bring healing to homes that are living in hell right now but we need to be careful that we do not take God’s glory for ourselves by thinking we so important. We are tools that God keeps in His toolbox and uses sometimes.

32. Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”

The Lord does not want us to be hungry. It hurts Him to see us this way. We need to make sure we are not so busy that we forget to see what people need. We can become so spiritual that we forget that not everybody is like us and maybe they need some food or something else. They need to see how God cares about what they need and then they will listen more closely.

33 – 34

His followers asked him, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.” Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They answered, “We have seven loaves and a few small fish.”

This reminds us of Israel in the desert thinking that God could not help them find food. It also reminds us that later the people of Israel said that they were tired of God’s manna.
The followers of Jesus knew that they could not feed the people but they knew that Jesus could. They gave the food they had with them. Use what you have and leave the rest up to God.

35 – 39

Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God for the food. Then Jesus divided the food and gave it to his followers. They gave the food to the people.

All the people ate and were satisfied. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. There were about 4,000 men there who ate, besides women and children. After they ate, Jesus told the people to go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.

This reminds us of how the devil tried to get Jesus to make bread out of stones to feed Himself. Jesus cared more about feeding others than His own needs.
The Lord does not like anything to be wasted. Proverbs 18:9