Matthew 15:12

Matthew 15:12

Let’s read Mat. 15:12-14. "Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Do you not know that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly father has not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

The disciples were concerned about the reaction of the Pharisees. To their way of thinking it was not good that powerful religious leaders should be upset with them. But Jesus did not come into the world to please people, and especially not hypocritical religious leaders. Jesus could only speak the truth on the way to the cross, and it was up to the hearers to repent and believe or to face eternal loss. The Pharisees were offended all right, but the day will come when they and other false religious teachers like them will not only be offended at Jesus, but they will be uprooted by the Father. Jesus also said, “Let them alone.” Do not attack the false teachers. Do not get into a war of words with them. They are human beings on this earth, and they have the freedom to make their choices. The Lord will deal with them in His time.

Anyone whom the Father has not planted will be uprooted. This planting is spiritual. In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus had taught the parable of the sower. The Word of God must be planted in someone’s heart in order for them to have spiritual life. Salvation is a spiritual experience. The Pharisees were active members in a religion, but being active in religion (no matter how many ceremonies one has gone through) will not obtain the spiritual planting that Jesus talked about. You must personally and spiritually obtain the new birth by faith in Jesus. Without it you will be doomed to be uprooted just like the Pharisees.

Jesus said in verse 14 to let the Pharisees alone. Anyone who has made a knowledgeable and determined decision to reject Jesus has chosen their destiny. They have set their sail and fixed their course. Jesus said to let them alone. Don’t argue with them; let them alone; and make sure that you are not influenced by their teachings because they are blind leaders, and Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. You had better be careful who you look up to and who you listen to as a spiritual leader or teacher. If you pick the wrong person, you will be led the wrong way. No matter who you choose to listen to, they will not always be right. No one knows everything, and no one is right 100% of the time. Be ready to take some things with a grain of salt, no matter who you listen to.

One thing about the Bible is that there are several key beliefs that are very clear and very simple. Find these truths and hold to them first of all, and compare anybody’s teachings against them; and then you will not be led astray. These are key and fundamental truths that all believers have always gleaned from the Bible, no matter what their denominational preference. Let’s take one of the basic truths for an example: I John 4:8 says "...God is love."

This is not only a very basic truth, it is one of the most important truths about God. It defines one of God’s attributes, and it describes His motivation. "God is love." It is a truth upon which many other teachings of the Bible are founded. The gospel of Jesus Christ is based upon the fact that God is love. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son..." Jesus said that the greatest of all commandments is to love God with all your heart and mind and soul. The Apostle Paul writing in I Cor. 13 said, "Now abides faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love."

Many of the things that people teach can be measured against the Biblical principle of love. The right or wrong of many teachings can be determined simply by comparing what is taught or the way it is taught, to the great truth that God is love. Let’s look at some areas where some have departed from the doctrine of love and have therefore taught error and done much harm.

1. Child-rearing or discipline: If you ever hear someone teach about raising your children, and they emphasize strictness or harshness. If they dare you to discipline and arouse you to physically confront your child; do not listen to them. They have crossed the line, and departed from the fundamental teaching of love. God is to be your example as a parent, and the Bible says that God is love. Violence will beget violence, and confrontation will beget confrontation. Remember the gentleness and kindness of Jesus to children when He said, "Permit the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." If God treated children with such gentleness and kindness, should you not treat your own children this way?

2. Any teaching that attempts to justify the separation of the races, or any kind of prejudice against other races; is a teaching that has entered into error because it has departed from the foundational truth that God is love. How can anyone claim that they love God whom they do not see, if they do not love their brother whom they do see; so claimed the Apostle John. All humans were created in the likeness of God. This means that all races are equal. All humans are sinners. This means that all races are equal. Jesus Christ came into the world to die for all humans. This means that all races are equal. All humans are equal because God is love. Any teaching that you hear about race that departs from equality is a teaching that has entered into error. Why? - because God is love.

3. The treatment of your enemies. Everyone will have enemies or opponents. It is a part of life. If you are a believer, the great and noble goal that you must always strive for is to love your enemies. If anyone teaches that revenge or violence or hatred is the way to treat an enemy, then that person has departed from the truth; because God is love, and Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount to love your enemies, and to do good to those who despitefully treat you and persecute you. There is a political battle that is taking place today over abortion. If you are against abortion, then the abortionists are your enemy. Do you have an attitude of love toward the abortionists? How can you claim to love the unborn whom you have not seen, if you do not love the abortionists whom you do see? You are also a sinner. Jesus died for their sins just as much as He did for yours. If anyone teaches by their words or attitude that you should hate your enemies, then they have departed from the truth, because God is love and Jesus said to love your enemies.

Beware of false teachings that you will hear like those that came from the Pharisees. There will always be a little bit of truth that will disguise the error. For example, the Pharisees claimed to represent the worship of the God of Abraham; and all good Jews and Christians and Moslems want to be rightly related to the God of Abraham. But beware of what your teachers teach. Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch. Thank God that Jesus has delivered us from darkness by the light of His truth.

In Matthew 15:21-28, is recounted a trip that Jesus made out of the land of Palestine and into the country of Lebanon, what was then the land of Phonecia: what Matthew called the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus traveled by foot over forty miles for this visit. He went from the shore of the Sea of Galilee to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Jesus must have made such a long journey by foot for a very important reason. We do not know how long He stayed in Tyre and Sidon, and we are left with just one incident that occurred during His visit there. It is possible that to meet with this woman and to honor her faith was the only reason that Jesus traveled to the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

The Bible says, "Then Jesus went from there, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him saying, Send her away; for she cries after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. And she said, True, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

There is a religious group today that attempts to justify adding another book to the Bible. They are wrong, but one of their arguments is based upon a statement made by Jesus in John Chapter 10 that says, "...Other sheep I have that are not of this fold." The other fold that Jesus mentioned simply referred to any other believers who were not a part of the group that included the apostles. The visit by Jesus to Phonecia was one example of Jesus having sheep that were not of the fold that consisted of the apostles and others who accompanied Jesus through most of His Palestine ministry.

The conversation that Jesus had with the Canaanite woman was one of many examples from the life of Christ that show that He treated all races equally. God cares about everyone, no matter what their race or national origin; because when God looks at a nation, He sees individuals and He deals with individuals. If you are going to be more like Jesus, you must learn to accept people based upon their own individual merits without attributing anything negative to them because of their race or nationality.

In these few verses we come to know a lot about this Canaanite woman, this woman who was from what is today the country of Lebanon. She was not a Jew, yet she believed in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah because in verse 22 she called Him "Son of David", which is a Jewish title for the Messiah. The reason that this woman came to Jesus was because her daughter was grievously tormented. If her daughter was tormented, then this woman was also tormented. She was like all parents who love their children, and who suffer when their children suffer. One of the greatest sorrows of life is what a parent can suffer because of what their children must go through. Perhaps God made it that way because of how much He suffers because of us, or perhaps because of how much He suffered when He had to watch His Son die for our sins.

This woman of Tyre and Sidon had evidently heard about the ability of Jesus to heal, and she believed that He could help her daughter also. Even though she was not a Jew, she knew that her need could be met in the Jewish Messiah. In fact, we know that all the nations of the earth will be blessed in Him. It turned out that she was right. Everyone who comes to Jesus is accepted by Him.

Verse 25 of Matthew 15 is an excellent example of what it takes to find salvation. "Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me." She came to Jesus. You find salvation when you come to Jesus. She worshipped Jesus and called Him, "Lord". You find salvation when you recognize Jesus for who He is. When Jesus becomes your Lord, He becomes your master. When it is your desire to follow and serve Him; it’s then that you find salvation. She spoke to Jesus. You will find salvation when you speak to Jesus in prayer. She said to Jesus, "Help me." She knew that no one else could solve her problem. There was a real sense of desperation.

The problem that everyone has is the problem of sin. What will you do to solve the problem of your sins, the guilt of your sins, and the horrible destiny that awaits you because of your sins? There is no hope in yourself, but there is hope in Jesus. When you realize that the only help that you have for the salvation of your soul is in Jesus, and you come to Jesus in prayer and you speak to Him and say, "Lord, help me": then you will find salvation. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

When Jesus first answered the woman, it is translated in the King James Version that He said, "It is not good to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs." This was not an insult. Jesus would never insult anyone, and we know that the woman did not take it as an insult because of the way that she responded.

There are actually two different words in the Greek New Testament that are translated "dog". One of the words is used in a negative context, such as is found in Matthew 7:6, when Jesus said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs." A different Greek word is used here and refers to a little pet dog. Jesus is simply pointing out that there is a priority and an order to the purpose of God. A parent would not take food away from the children and give to the pets. That would not make sense and would not fit into the natural order of things.

The order of God for delivering the gospel to the world, was that it would be presented to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. Jesus was a Jew, the 12 apostles were Jews, and a large number of the original believers were Jews. But even this fact would not deter this woman. She would not be denied. She determined to believe and present herself to Jesus, and absolutely nothing would keep her from this goal. Jesus said to her, "O woman, great is your faith."

The most important lesson of this passage is the faith possessed by this woman. If Jesus praised someone for their faith, then there must have been something remarkable about it. The faith that this woman possessed was a faith that persevered and a faith that was determined no matter what the obstacles. She did not lose hope in spite of the terrible condition of her daughter. She did not give up even though the disciples tried to get rid of her, and they asked Jesus to get rid of her. She was not discouraged because she herself was not a Jew. She did not give in when even Jesus Himself pointed out the priority of God of sending the gospel to the Jew first; as a matter of fact, she responded with a catchy saying and a quick wit of her own when she replied to Jesus, "Truth, Lord, yet the little pet dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table."

If you are going to have faith that lasts through your life and into eternity, you must have the same kind of faith as the Canaanite woman from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. You must have a faith that perseveres and a faith that does not give up. There are other examples in the Bible of believers who had this kind of persevering and determined faith. There is the example of Jacob, a person whose faults are very openly revealed in the Bible. Jacob would not let go of God until he received what he knew that only God could give him: a blessing. Jacob the Jew had the same kind of faith as this Canaanite woman: a faith that would not give up and that would not let go of its hope in God. The writer of Hebrews spoke of this kind of faith and said in Heb.10:39, "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

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