Matthew 14-15 6/18/2023
Notes
Transcript
Where is Your Heart
Where is Your Heart
Introduce, Set Timer, Bible App, ACC app, handout
(PRAY)
INTRODUCTION
When you were growing up did you ever saying the pledge of allegiance? It’s from french, from back in medieval times.
-In midieval times the King owned every thing, but he would rent out his property in exchange for service.
-And then those people would divide up their property and Lord it out,
-And then it would get split, and Lorded out.
-All the way down the line.
-And so if you were a successful business person, you would be the Lord of multiple pieces of property that you would manage.
-You could have Multiple Tenants.
-and you could have multiple Overlords.
-Sometimes you would even Lord over properties in different countries. you’d have a piece of land in france, and in England, and in denmark.
-And that was fine and dandy and you could make a lot of money.
-Up until the point that france and england went to war with one another.
-Well that’s a problem because you’ve sworn an oath of service to both kings. and you have money in both countries.
-And you have to pick a side.
-And they came up with this idea called the Liege Lord. That’s where the word Alliegance comes from.
-You were allowed to have multiple Lords, in the Land game.
-you could swear an oath of service to multiple Kings./
-But you could only have one Liege Lord.
-That’s what we’re seeing in this part of Matthew
Set up, Jesus has just finished teaching his parables about the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is like this, the kingdom of heaven is like that.
-And in those parables there’s definitely a dividing line between those who are in the kingdom and those who are out.
-The ones in the kingdom grow, the ones out whither.
-The ones in the kingdom realize the value.
-The very last passage of Matthew 13, I want us to catch the end of 13 again as we go into chapter 14
-Jesus is in his hometown, he’s teaching in the synagoges, and the people in his hometown reject him.
And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.”
And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
I want you to take that verse and pin it right there in the back of your mind as we go through chapters 14 and 15.
And in Chapter 14 verse 1 we’re going to read about King Herod and John the Baptist agin.
Matthew 14:1-12
Matthew 14:1-12
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard reports about Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had repeatedly told him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet. But on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” Although it grieved the king because of his oath and the dinner guests, he commanded it to be given. So he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. Then John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.
-I want to take a really quick moment and make sure everyone is on the same page with the whole herod situation.
-Because it can get confusing, and there’s all of these people, and Matthew is just giving us a peak into the herod family.
-But we have to remember that Matthew’s original audience knew all about the Herods. This wasn’t a history lesson to them, it was current events.
-In the same way that I mentioned… (oh let’s go ahead and make both sides angry…) if I said something about the Bush family or the clinton family, you all kind of know what’s going on in the background.
-So here’s the run-down on the herods.
Herod the Great is the original Herod. He’s the patriarch, he was the first king herod, and he’s the herod we heard about in the beginning of Matthew who tried to have jesus killed.
Herrod the great was a bad dude, he was paranoid, he was tyranical. And he had a lot of wives and a lot of kids.
His firstborn was a guy named Antipater. He was first in line for the throne. This is all stuff that happened around the time of Jesus’ birth. that era of time.
-Well antipater was just as paranoid as his dad, and he had two younger brothers who he thought might threaten his throne, so he goes to dad and starts speading all sorts of rumors about his younger brothers.
-Their names were Alexander and aristobolus. Aristobolus has a daughter named Herodius
-So antipater goes to dad Saying things like, hey dad, I’m pretty sure my brothers are trying to start a coup to get you off the throne.
-Dad, herod the great, believes him and has alexander and aristobolus executed.
-So now antipater is the only one left to take the throne. But he just can’t wait.
-He tries to poison his own dad, fails, gets caught, and gets tried for treason and put to death.
-So now the first three heirs to the throne are dead.
-So Herod is starting to run out of kids to pass the throne on to.
-Next in line is Herod Philip. or sometimes just known as Philip.
-Herod actually had 2 sons named philip, so we’re going to call this one Philip 1 This is the philip from our story/
-The other sons, let’s just get them out of the way, There’s Philip 2, Archeleus, and Herod Antipas.
Herodius, marrys uncle philip 1, and they have a daughter named Salome.
-But here’s what happens, Philip 1 is ready to take on the throne,when dad at the very last minute before he dies, changes his mind, and instead of giving the kingdom to Philip 1, he splits the kingdom and divides it up amongst his other three brothers
-Philip 2, Archeleus, and Herod Antipas.
-Herod Antipas had the region of Galilee, Archeleus had the southern part of israel, by jerusalem, and philip 2 kind of got all of the region east of the jordan river.
-Archeleus didn’t last long, the people of jerusalem overthrew him, so the empire had to send someone from rome to keep law and order because they were out of a king.
-That’s why Pontius Pilate was in charge in Jerusalem, because Herod’s son Archeleus was just a total jerk and the people had him ousted.
-So you have Philip 2, Herod Antipas, and Jerusalem is being run by rome until they can find a replacement.
-That’s where our story about John the baptist Picks up.
-Herodius, is not happy about being cut out of royalty not once, but twice, so she goes and marries her uncle Herod Antipas.
-The herod family is like a car crash. It’s painful to look at, but you can’t look away.
-So herodius is mad because John has the nerve to tell her that she has a dysfunctional family.
-ya think.
-So salome goes to her uncle/stepdad, and does a creepy dance for him, and herod antipas is like tell me what you want I’ll give you anything,
-So she goes back to mom, who is also technically her Aunt now. -And mom/aunt says you go tell your uncle slash stepdad that I want john the Baptist killed.
-Now here’s the icing on the cake.
-This is historical, we don’t read about this in the new testament, but it’s in Jewish histories and roman histories.
-You know want to know who the daughter ended up marrying? Salome, the one who did the gross dance for her uncle/step dad?
Philip 2. Her other uncle.
-So why did I go through all of that?
-2 reason, number one, I feel like most people, myself included, can get confused with the whole herod thing, so I wanted to make sure I cleared that up.
-But the bigger reason is to point out the vast contrast between God’s kingdom and worldly kingdoms.
-They’re not even in the same area code.
And what we see as we dive deeper into the book of Matthew is that Lines are being drawn.
-and there’s a blatant distinction between the two kingdoms.
So let’s keep going, let’s go look at Verse 13.
-and actually, if you want to do something really cool. We’re going to read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000
-and then we’re going to skip ahead and read the feeding of the 4000.
-so if you want, put your finger at verse 13.
-then hold your finger there and go to chapter 15 vs 29.
Matthew 14:13-21
Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place. But when the crowd heard about it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he got out he saw the large crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, “This is an isolated place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But he replied, “They don’t need to go. You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” “Bring them here to me,” he replied. Then he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, twelve baskets full. Not counting women and children, there were about 5,000 men who ate.
Now let’s read the next one
Matthew 15:29-38
Matthew 15:29-38
When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Not counting children and women, there were 4,000 men who ate.
-They’re almost identitcal arent they?
-So what I want to do is I want to give you a Bible reading tool, anytime you see something like this in scripture.
-Some of you have already heard me talk about this, if you haven’t it’s going to change your life.
-When we tell stories that have a point, the point is always at the end of the story
(EXPLAIN CHIASM WITHOUT USING THE WORD CHIASM)
Matthew 14:22-34
Matthew 14:22-34
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds. And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
Now read the matching pair, so if you go backwards from the story of feeding the 4000, you’ll get the story of the canaanite woman in 15:21
Matthew 15:21-28
Matthew 15:21-28
After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.” So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said. “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
-Compare those two stories.
-In the Boat, the 12 didn’t recognize Jesus. they thought he was a ghost.
-The cananite woman immediately recognizes not just Jesus, but his Kingship. She says Have mercy on me Lord, son of David.
-Have mercy on me king Jesus.
-Now here’s where it gets interesting in the boat, The disciples cry out, it’s a ghost it’s a ghost, And Jesus re-assures them.
-To the cananite woman it says he did not answer her a word.
-I think what’s going on here is both accounts are showing examples of someone’s faith being tested. The 12 were being tested by the waves, The woman was having her faith tested by Jesus himself.
-In the boat peter says if it is you, command me to come to you.
-Let me come to you Jesus
-But to the woman, what do the 12 say to JEsus.
-Send her away.
-In the boat, Peter is walking on the water toward Jesus,
-And his faith is tested a second time, by the wind and waves.
-same with the woman, Jesus tests her faith by saying It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
-And you know what, that’s a harsh statement.
-But I think Jesus knew her faith.
-I think he was pushing her to her limit because ultimately I think Jesus knew how strong her faith was.
-So while Peter is getting re-assurance, and proof, because he’s literally walking on water
-The woman is getting turnded down and tested around every corner.
-And yet who’s faith prevailed?
But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Peter took his Eyes off Jessus
-The woman relentlessly kept her attention focused on Jesus.
-Where is your focus?
-Where is your focus, not only when things are good.
-Where is your focus when the waves start crashing down.
-Where is your focus when your faith is tested.
-Because if it’s in the world. you’re in trouble.
-And at this point in our little exercise of working our way from the ends to the middle, the dividing lines are perfectly clear.
-Jesus is compassionate, the 12 wanted to send people away.
And the dividing line, is where you put your faith.
-even in the stories of feeding the crowds. who had faith in those two stories?
-It wasn’t the 12.
-It was the crowds.
-And you know how I know they have faith?
-They sat down to eat when Jesus told them to. Both crowds at both times.
-The disciples didn’t believe Jesus could perfrom the miracle despite everything they had seen, but the crowds believed.
-Because listen if you’re in a crowd of 4 or 5000 men plus women and children, so that numbers probably more like 10 or 12 thousand.
-they say sit down to eat, we’ve got five loaves of bread.
-The only reason you sit down to eat is because you believe that you’re going to get fed.
-Do you believe that you’re going to get fed when you sit down with Jesus
-When you’re stressed, when you’re anxious, and overwhelmed, and you sit down to be with God. To talk to him in prayer.
-When you open the Bible and you go to God’s word, do you believe that God is going to feed you?
-Where are you putting your faith?
-Bringing it home...
-our last two accounts here are Jesus having a conversation with the Pharisees
Matthew 15:1-6
Matthew 15:1-6
Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said, “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.
-The pharisees were putting their faith in rituals.
-Before they ate, before they really did anything, they would perform this handwashing ritual.
-And it wasn’t even washing their hands like you and I think of with soap and water, it was entirely ritualistic
-Sometimes they wouldn’t even use water.
-They would just rub their hands together and signify that their hands were clean.
-And they call jesus out on not doing the ritual and Jesus responds back by basicaLLY saying that’s great that you think that you’re righteous because you put your faith in some ritual that YOU made up
-But what about putting your faith in the actual word of God?
-Every able-bodied Jewish adult was expected to take care of their parents when they got older, which is, by the way, the way it still should be.
-But one of the really skeevy ways people could get out of fulfilling their financial and moral obligations was by pledging their money to the temple in their will.
-and financially it was a win win, because what you would do is pledge 100% of your worth to the temple. you didn’t actually have to donate any money while you were alive.
-you just had to promise that it would go to the temple when you died.
-and you were allowed to spend your own money, but if you didn’t want to help take care of your mom and dad, you just had to say, “sorry, this money is allocated for the temple.
-and the pharisees would allow it.
-Jesus calls them out on this skeevy practice and says I don’t care how much you put your faith in your own traditions, you’re not clean.
Matthew 15:10-20
Matthew 15:10-20
Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.” Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?” And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.”
It’s about the heart. and the heart is filled with what you put your faith in.
-So we’ve finally worked our way in from the beginning and the end of our passage, and we’ve got one more set of verses that brings it all together...
-It’s a quote that Jesus gives from Isaiah 29.
Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,
‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
And that’s what it all comes down to.
-Is your faith Genuine?
-are you playing footsy with the idea of faith?
-Are you just giving faith lip service?
-Because we can say “I have faith, I have faith, I have faith”
-We can say I’m a part of this kingdom.
-But where is your heart?
-The cananite woman, she wasn’t just paying lip service, her heart was their, and the testing of her faith proved it.
-the crowds who sat down and waited for a meal, they weren’t just paying lip service, their faith was genuine and their actions proved it.
-Accumulate for yourself treasures in heaven.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.