יהוה or Your Way?

Leading up to our message today we have seen Jesus heal a multitude of people, miraculously feed over 5,000, walk on water, and stop the wind. This morning we find Jesus and his disciples landing at Gennesaret on the western bank where he meets faith and opposition.

Pray

Matthew 14:34–15:20 “34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. 1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

Healing in His Wings

Consider the confession made by the disciples in the boat just on verse earlier Matthew 14:33 “33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”

They have just confessed the Jesus is the Son of God and now they are about to witness more miraculous healing. But is it just more healings like they have seen before? Well, yes… and no.

Matthew 14:34–36 “34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.”

Ironically, the commentaries I looked at this week glossed over these closing verses of Matthew 14, they shouldn’t.

Reading these verses we should recall the woman with the issue of blood from Matthew 9:20–22 “20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

We have two instances now of people believing if they could only touch the hem of Jesus’s garment they could be healed. Why would they think that?

Numbers 15:38 “38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:”

Malachi 4:2 “2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise With healing in his wings; And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”

The word for borders in Numbers and the word for “wings” in Malachi are the same Hebrew word כָּנָף | Kanaph.

The disciples then have just confessed the Jesus is the Son of God, landed on the shore and are watching Jesus walk with “healing in his wings.”

There is more for us here though as we move forward.

Numbers 15:38–41 “38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Tradition Versus Truth

Matthew 15:1–9 “1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Look at how understanding the healing in Jesus’s wings and the reason for the fringes from Numbers prepares us for this interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees.

Tradition of the elders Matthew 15:1-2

Hand washing

Commandments of God Matthew 15:2-4

Honor father and mother

Slander of parents carries a death sentence

Tradition Breaks God’s law and excuses it Matthew 15:5-6

Do not deceive yourselves

Matthew 15:7–9 “7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

False Doctrine Addressed Openly

Matthew 15:10–20 “10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

Jesus corrects the Pharisees directly, but then instructs the multitude.

False doctrine must be corrected by true doctrine.

The Pharisees were worried about hand washing, but the heart was what needed to be washed.

This will likely offend the false teachers. The disciples raise this concern.

Matthew 15:12–14 “12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

The wheat and the tares - here it seems both the false teaching and teachers will be uprooted. The teaching immediately, the teacher at judgement day.

Leave them alone, they’ve chosen their path. They and those that follow them will end in the same place.

True Doctrine Explained

Matthew 15:15–20 “15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

These things that proceed out of the heart are why Numbers 15:39 “39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:”

The Pharisees justified dishonoring their parents hiding behind a pious gift to God. The sad thing is when we look at that short list, those defiling things are what we commonly see people trying to justify.

I murdered my children, but its ok because I had a bad mental health day.

I divorced and remarried unbiblically, but my adultery isn’t wrong, because my first marriage was awful.

Yes, I fornicate, but it’s not a big deal because were basically married and plan to get married eventually.

I stole, but it’s ok because I was hungry.

I lie, but they’re white lies and only to promote the gospel.

I cause the name of God to be blasphemed by my hypocrisy, but it’s ok that I take the Lord’s name in vain because sanctification is a process.

We have to stop compromising and redefining everything to excuse sin. We’ve always done it this way is not acceptable if how we’ve always done it breaks the commands of God. The gospel is offensive. Stop forsaking God to please men. If you’re offended now, which some of you should be, go read verses 13 and 14 again.

Matthew 15:13–14 “13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

Over a year ago I preached a message about pulling weeds to see the garden. It’s time to start pulling.