"How to Come to Jesus"_Matthew 15 Feb 27 2022

Intro

Thank you everyone for joining us and being a part of us

We’re continuing: God With Us - Discovering the Gospel of Matthew

We’ll be in Matt 15 today

(Pray…)

The Setting

The book of Matthew has become somewhat of a roller coaster

Chapter 14:

The beheading of JTB

And 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:

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 such an abrupt change

The Pharisees and scribes insert themselves into the scene

The Pharisees & Scribes

They seem so petty - almost as if they are whining

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.”

It’s the same sort of thing they accused him back in chapter 12:

They questioned Jesus for plucking the grain in a wheat field because they were hungry - on the Sabbath

Because somehow, in their minds, plucking and eating was against the Sabbath law

And now the 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 showing themselves as being godly, they were ungodly by going against the Fourth Commandment

Then 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: “Were you aware, Jesus, that the Pharisees were actually offended by what you said?”

Jesus: “The Pharisees - don’t worry about them, 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 poop.”

Then Jesus gets deeply philosophical

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

Because what comes out comes from the heart

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

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.”

Ever known someone who becomes instantly angry?

What about road rage?

Has your mouth ever revealed sin in your heart?

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 - Mark’s gospel calls her a Syrophoenician woman

But 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 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.”

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

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

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 - have you ever been tested by Jesus?

But she was persistent

She knelt before him and said three words, “Lord, help me.” - notice, 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 lost sheep of the house of Israel

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

English Standard Version Chapter 15

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

She used his analogy and came up with her own

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

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.

Does this sort of sound familiar?

Remember when John the Baptist questioned if Jesus was the true Messiah or not?

John’s disciples came to Jesus to ask him that question

Remember Jesus’ response?

Matthew 11:4–6 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

John questioned if Jesus was truly the Messiah and Jesus went right to his healing miracles

He didn’t perform healing miracles to get famous - Jesus healed people for two reasons

He had compassion on them

His miracles were the validation of who he was

They were signs that pointed to his authority and his authenticity

His greatest sign lets us point to his authority and authenticity - and that was his death on the cross - and his resurrection

We were set free at his death on the cross - and we were given hope of assurance at the resurrection

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 I believe 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

In this event, it’s actually Jesus who speaks first to his disciples that he has compassion on the crowd because they’ve been with him for three days and have nothing to eat

He calls them to himself and tells them this

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

This is a lack of faith, considering that Jesus is the source of all our needs

Plus, they just witnessed Jesus feeding five thousand

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 five 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

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

John 1:8 ESV

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John 6:16 ESV

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

It’s a very common verb - we might say, “I came to my senses”

But this Greek word is different

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

Mark = 4 times

Luke = 10 times

John = 1 times

Acts = 10 times

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

Matthew = 51 times!

I just find this interesting

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

Matthew 4:3 ESV

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

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 9:28 ESV

When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

Matthew 17:14 ESV

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

Matthew 26:7 ESV

a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

Matthew 28:9 ESV

And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

How do you come to Jesus?

How do you approach him?

How do you draw near him?

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

Motives

Expectations

(Agenda)

Look at Mt 15 with me:

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?

Matthew 15:12 ESV

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

What were the motives and expectations of the disciples?

Matthew 15:22 ESV

And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”

What were the motives and expectations of that Canaanite woman?

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

The name of my sermon today is How to Come to Jesus

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

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 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...

Remembrance

Have you ever met a celebrity?

Have you ever been 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

You remember that famous person for what they’ve done

Let me ask - who would you want to meet?

Me? Paul McCartney...

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

Rest

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

[give verses on this]

recap: reverence, remembrance, rest