"Come to Jesus" Matthew 15 Sep 15 2024

Intro and Scripture

Good morning

We’re now in Matthew 15

The title of my sermon is “Come to Jesus”

I want you to notice this morning, every time Matthew 15 talks about various people coming to Jesus

We’re going to get to that later - but for now, just notice when people come to Jesus - and when people were called to come to Jesus

This morning I want to read an excerpt from Matthew 15

It is a sweet interaction between Jesus and the crowds of people

Chapter 15 of Matthew, beginning in verse 29 -

Matthew 15:29–31 ESV

Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

(Pray…)

The Setting

The book of Matthew has become somewhat of a roller coaster

Last week - chapter 14:

The beheading of JTB

And then the compassion Jesus had and his amazing miracles he performed - and he managed to get alone to pray to the Father

Feeding the Five Thousand

Jesus walked on the water

Then there’s this beautiful short story at the end of chapter 14:

Jesus and his disciples sail their boat to Gennesaret

The people recognize Jesus

They sent news all around the region - and brought to him all who were sick and diseased

And then the Bible says they, “brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.”

Imagine that - like in Matt 9 the woman who had been bleeding - she managed to touch the very hem of his garment - and she was healed

And so chapter 14 ends with this beautiful scene of Jesus healing anyone and everyone

Chapter 14 is a beautiful display of the compassion of Jesus

But it begins with such a sad story about JTB

And now we come to chapter 15 - and there’s an abrupt change in the narrative

We see the Pharisees and scribes insert themselves into the scene

The Pharisees & Scribes

They seem so petty - almost as if they are whining

Verse 1 says the Pharisees and scribes “came to Jesus”

They come to Jesus from Jerusalem and ask him:

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t even wash their hands when they eat.”

They come to Jesus and accuse him of breaking the tradition of his Jewish elders by allowing his disciples to not wash their hands before eating

Jesus answers back and said:

“And you are breaking God’s commandment for the sake of tradition”

He called them out because he knew they did not honor their parents

Apparently, the Pharisees, instead of honoring their parents financially - they were taking that money and giving it to the temple

Jesus called them out as hypocrites - because they gave money to the temple that should have been used to support their parents

They were hypocrites because by trying to show themselves as being godly, but they weren’t acting like it

What Defiles a Person

And I love what happens next -

Jesus goes public about the Pharisees - and teaches the crowd a wonderful lesson

Jesus called the people to himself and publicly told them that what defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out of the mouth

The Pharisees were trying to sound so holy by saying you need to sanctify your hands before putting something in your mouth

Jesus publicly called them out in front of the crowds and said it’s literally the other way around

His disciples came to Jesus and said: “Ummm, were you aware, Jesus, that the Pharisees were actually offended by what you said?”

Jesus: “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not panted will be rooted up. Leave them alone - they are blind guides.”

Peter: “Explain this ‘parable’ to us”

Jesus: “You really don’t know what I’m saying? Here it is in simple terms: you eat food, it goes through your stomach, and then you go to the bathroom.”

Then Jesus gets deep

Jesus: “Think of what comes out of the mouth.

Because what comes out of your mouth comes from the heart

And that’s the important part

All the foul, sinful motives in your heart controls all the junk that comes out of your mouth.”

Then Jesus said this -

English Standard Version Chapter 15

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

I used to refer to this passage when my mother told me to wash up before supper

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

Verse 21 shifts gears and says that Jesus again went to withdraw to Tyre and Sidon

And all of the sudden, a Canaanite woman came out to Jesus and began crying, “O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”

Here is this Canaanite woman - a Gentile

And what have we learned about Canaanites from the Old Testament?

They were enemies of Israel

And here she comes and says, “O Lord, Son of David”

She confesses Jesus as Messiah even before Peter does in chapter 16!

Interesting - she doesn’t even actually make a request, does she? She just says, “My daughter is oppressed by a demon.”

Her only request is when she says, “Have mercy on me”

She doesn’t even ask Jesus to come to where her daughter was - she just presents herself to the Son of David and blurts out what’s going on

Even in that statement is her faith - she’s saying, “You are the Messiah. You have the power to deal with demons.”

As if to say, “I know who you are - and I know that demon oppression is never okay with you - is it in your will to heal my daughter?

Jesus knows what’s she’s all about - he doesn’t have to ask probing questions as to the situation

And now the disciples come to Jesus and beg him: “Get this dirty Gentile woman out of here - she’s bothering us.”

There’s a glimpse into the hearts of the disciples, by the way

This woman spilled her guts and claimed demon oppression against her own daughter - and the disciples can only think about themselves

I can imagine Jesus looks at her - then looks at his disciples - then back at her

English Standard Version Chapter 15

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

He was testing her for the moment - have you ever been tested by Jesus?

But she was persistent

She knelt before him and said three words, “Lord, help me.” - she calls him Lord again

And Jesus pushes back again:

English Standard Version Chapter 15

“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Meaning, it’s not okay to distract me from my work with the Jewish people - just to take care of your Gentile daughter

Could you imagine if Jesus had spoken to you like this

Jesus says the words, “bread” and “dog” in his analogy - and she comes back to him one more time

She stands of her faith and decides she’s gonna go along with Jesus - and comes up with an amazing comeback

English Standard Version Chapter 15

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

She went along with his analogy and added to his analogy

And it doesn’t say this in the Bible - but I like to think that by now, Jesus was smiling at her, and maybe even winked at her

Verse 28:

English Standard Version Chapter 15

28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Jesus Heals Many

I read the next section to you already

In verse 29: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee and goes up a mountain and sits down

Then it says that great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others

It says they put them at his feet - and he healed them - and the crowds were astonished

And look what it says in verse 31 when they were amazed - my ESV says that the crowd “wondered” - probably not the best English word to put there

Most translations say “amazed” or “marveled”

Let me quickly read it from the NIV

Mt 15:31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

I think it’s quite interesting -

The people came to Jesus with all these people who needed healing from Jesus

But when he heals them - the people are amazed

Even though the very reason why they came to Jesus was for Jesus to heal them

They’re still amazed at what Jesus did

All they could do was to glorify God

I hope you’re at a place in your walk with the Lord - that all you can do is to just glorify him!

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

And then we come to Jesus feeding the Four Thousand starting in verse 32

This is very similar to the feeding of the five thousand

But these are separate accounts

The most compelling reason I believe these are two events is because Jesus refers to them as two events in the very next chapter

Jesus calls the disciples to himself and tells them that the crowd needs to eat

Disciples: “Where are we to get enough bread to feed all these people?”

When we read this, we think, “Did the disciples forget the Five Thousand?”

Don’t we forget how the Lord has provided for us over and over?!?

Jesus: “How many loaves you got?”

Disciples: “Seven, plus a few small fish.”

Then Jesus tells the crowd to sit down

He takes the loaves and the bread - gives thanks - gives the food to the disciples - and the disciples give to the crowd

Everyone ate and they were satisfied - and there were leftovers

That’s the story of Jesus feeding the Four Thousand

προσέρχομαι (proserchomai)

Those are the four stories in Matt 15

The Pharisees & Scribes

The faith of the Canaanite woman

Jesus heals many people

Jesus feeds the Four Thousand

I was studying this chapter and I noticed something that the writer of Matthew does a lot:

He mentions people coming to Jesus - over and over

v.1 - The Pharisees and scribes “came to Jesus”

v.10 - Jesus “called the people to him”

v.12 - The disciples “came” to Jesus

v.22 - The Canaanite woman “came out” to Jesus

v.23 - The disciples “came and begged” Jesus

v.30 - Great crowds “came to him”

v.32 - “Jesus called his disciples to him”

Matthew uses a certain verb for this word, “came” - more than any other NT writer

proserchomai - it can be translated as:

to approach

to come forward

to draw near

Sometimes it can mean:

agree with

approach with a request

It is different from other forms of this verb, like:

In John 3:2 When Nicodemus came to Jesus

That Greek verb is erchomai

It simply means that he came - proserchomai is more detailed, more intimate

Approach, draw near - it’s more descriptive - it gives the reader a better picture in his/her mind

I don’t mean to get weird about all of this - there is a danger of over-spiritualizing every word in the Bible

Especially since it’s a very common verb

But this Greek word in Matthew has its own distinction

This word, proserchomai means to come forward - Matthew uses it a lot

Mark = 4 times

Luke = 10 times (Acts = 10 times)

John = 1 time

There are a few more times this is used:1 Tim, Heb, 1 Pet

Matthew = 51 times!

That got my attention

In fact, when I was studying for this sermon, I stumbled across this by accident - my jaw dropped because I think there is a significance to it

Let me read to you a few examples from Matthew - I want you to picture, in your mind’s eye, each of these events

And by the way - this is all from the ESV

These examples all use the Greek verb proserchomai

I’m not going to give you chapter/verse - just listen

Listen to who is coming to Jesus - and how they come to Jesus

Matthew 4:11 ESV

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 8:2 ESV

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

Matthew 9:20 ESV

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment,

Matthew 17:14 ESV

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,

By the way, this is from Matt 17:14 - did you notice this verse has two verbs: came?

In Greek, they’re different verbs

when they (Jesus and his disciples) “came” to the crowd, that’s erchomai

But when the man (father of demon-possessed boy) - when he came and knelt before Jesus, that was proserchomai

He approached Jesus - he drew near to Jesus with a request

Let me ask this:

In what manner do you come to Jesus?

How do you approach him?

Do you draw near to him?

I’m going to suggest that everyone who approaches Jesus, comes to him with their own:

Motives

Expectations

(Agenda)

Here’s Mt 15:1

Matthew 15:1 ESV

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,

What were the motives and expectations of the Pharisees and scribes?

What was their agenda?

Matthew 15:30 ESV

And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,

What were the motives and expectations of that crowd?

Conclusion

As I close -

I want to leave you with three things we need when we come to the Lord

Here are the three things we need when we come to be in in the presence of Jesus

Reverence

Remembrance

Rest

Reverence

When you come to Jesus, do you come to him in reverence?

I looked up “reverence” - it means: “a deep respect for someone or something”

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to use lofty words:

“Oh dear heavenly Father, creator of all the universe, righteous and holy. In the name of Jesus, I beseech you to hear my petition...”

Sometimes having reverence when you come to the Lord means to just be quiet…just be in his presence...

Ever just stop and listen for the Lord?

Reverence for God is more than just a respect - the Bible talks about “fear of the Lord”

That means we stand before him in awe!

Not just to get things from him

He is the holy Creator of the universe

When we stand before him, we recognize that we are saved by nothing else but by his grace

So, that’s Reverence

Remembrance

Have you ever met a celebrity?

Were you star-struck?

May I suggest…you were star-struck for what that celebrity did in the past

And now you’re close to that person - close proximity

You remember that famous person for what they’ve done

Let me ask - who would you want to meet?

Me? Paul McCartney...

(I was four days old when The Beatles came to America)

In the same way, we need to remember what Jesus has done for us

That’s what the Lord’s Table is about - it is a reminder of his shed blood and his broken body

That’s Remembrance

We not only remember what Jesus did - but also who he is

Reverence,

Remembrance,

And the third one -

Rest

When we draw near to Jesus, expect to rest in his completed work on the cross

All Christians enjoy their rest in Jesus -

There is no more striving

No longer do we live by the Law to gain access to him

There are no steps, no works for us to do to become righteous

He did it all and he gave us his righteousness

Jesus said:

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus did it all

He is our true, Sabbath rest

So remember - when we come to Jesus - we draw near to him with:

Reverence

Remembrance

Rest

(Pray…)

Communion

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.