Confidence Through Faith (Matthew 15)

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

· Israel is waiting for a king to save them from Rome. A human king.

· Jesus does not fit their expectations because he didn’t fit the image that they created for themselves.

LITERARY CONTEXT

· Matthew shows that Jesus fulfills the Biblical prophecies about the Messiah. The Miracles being on of them.

INTRODUCTION

· Confidence in Tradition vs Confidence in God

· Jews vs Canaanites

· Offence vs No Offence

· Unbelief vs belief

Matthew 15:1-20 – Confidence in traditions

· v1: The pharisees accuses him of breaking the tradition of the elders for not washing their hands before eating. (Ex 30:17 / Mk 7:3-4)

· v2-6: Jesus accuses them of breaking the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition by no honoring their parents.

· v7-9: Jesus calls them hypocrites because they say they worship God but their hearts are away from God.

· v10-11: Jesus tells them that what defiles the body is what comes out of the mouth and not what goes in.

· v12: The pharisees get offended (Jesus is the rock of offence).

· v13: They will be rooted out by God.

· v14: They are blind people. They thought themselves to be then enlightened ones.

· v15-20: Jesus explains the parable to the disciples.

Matthew 15:21-28 – Confidence through faith in Christ

· v21: Jesus went toward Phoenician territory to escape the pharisees.

· v22: Matthew draws a contrast by calling the woman a Canaanite women given that the caninities were to be destroyed by Israel. The kingdom of Israel was to rule over them. (Deut 7:1-2). But she acknowledges Jesus’ kingship and messianic position by calling him “Son of David”. She was relying on his authority over demons. She knew about it because his fame had reached her region (Mt 4:24). Just like the Centurion, she’s expecting that Jesus would heal from a distance.

· v23: The disciples ask Jesus to just do what she wants so she can leave them alone

· v24: Jesus says that he came only for Israel. (John 1:11-12)

· v25: She knelt before him asking for help. She was desperate and any mother would be.

· v26: Jesus tells that the word (bread) is only for the children, not for the dogs. (She was not offended by that – Mt 11:6)). She could’ve rebelled here and defend herself, but she didn’t. She acknowledged that he knows better than she does.

· v27: her reply was astonishing. Without any knowledge of the bible, without the cultural and religious background, and without any previous experience with Christ she acknowledges his power and authority to be so immense that only a crumb would be enough to heal her daughter. Not even the religious and studious people caught up to it.

WHY DID THEY LEAN ON TRADITIONS?

· They wanted to secure their salvation by achieving their own standards. Standards too high even for them, but being the heirs of the tradition and the interpreters, they could justify their actions before man.

· We make ourselves into Gods when we judge his standard to be below our own.

CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLOWING TRADITIONS

· False sense of righteousness / Self-righteousness

o I desire Mercy not sacrifice (Mt 9:9-13)

· Pride: It makes them feel spiritually superior to others / hard of the heart and defensive. It’s like putting a shield to protect your self-imposed identity.

· Judgmental attitude: because they own the standard, they also feel empowered to judge others against that standard.

o This creates division as they set themselves apart as a superior class.

o Do not Judge (Mt 7:1)

o Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Mt 7:12)

o It causes us to look down at people and to condemn people by our standards as if we have a grader ruler than God’s by which to measure people’s actions.

· Hypocrisy: A prideful hard is unwilling to admit error so you cover up who you really are with a false persona. They knew deep inside that they didn’t measure up but they acted as though they did.

o Jesus judges on the Scribes and Pharisees: Hypocrites (Mt 23)

ADMONITION AGAINST SUCH PRACTICES

· Do not let anyone disqualify you (Col 2:18-23)

o By what standard can they judge you by that is superior that of God?

o By what standard is one worth measuring against if the perfect standard has already been reached in Christ? All other standards are a downgrade and therefore a sin.

· Do what the pharisees say but not what they do (Mt 23:13)

HOW SHOULD WE LIVE

· Put on Christ (Col 3:1-14)

CONTRAST WITH THE CANANITE WOMAN

· The Jews got offended by what Jesus said because they judged Jesus. But the Canaanite woman was humble and she was not offended by the truth. She had no false sense of righteousness, but trusted that Jesus was merciful. She didn’t judge him, but trusted that He is the judge.

· The pharisees wanted Jesus to submit to their traditions, the Canaanite woman submitted all to Jesus.

· That pharisees thought that Jesus acted by the ruler of the demons. The Canaanite woman trusted that just a crumb of his power was enough to rebuke the demon in her daughter.

· She receive his mercy. They received his condemnation.

· We too ought to be merciful to the lost

· Jesus is a compassionate king. The Canaanite woman was a sinner, but she was humble and she acknowledged the authority of Christ in her life. She was crying. She was hurting. She was not proud.

· Jesus later multiplies a few fish and bread, showing his mercy for the needy. There was children there and vulnerable people. They were needy and helpless.

· He just wants us to have faith in him.