3/14/11
Matthew 15:1-39 --- Mark 7:1-8:9
Matthew 15:1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:
8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ”
Things That Defile (Mk 7.14—23)
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
The Canaanite Woman’s Faith (Mk 7.24—30)
21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” I hear very little said about this comment of Jesus. I have heard some say the church has replaced Israel. Does Paul take precedence over Jesus? If we are in Jesus maybe our attitude should be as this Canaanite woman who addressed Jesus with humility. Does scholasticism microwave the life out of scripture? Are we afraid to take it for what it says because the implications are devastating to our way of life? Are we really living at all? Why are so many so afraid of questions? I wonder if those who pooh-pooh in public struggle when alone and confronted with their own thoughts? Is that why our world grows nosier and busier every day? Are we afraid to stop, listen, consider? I wonder? Despite the verbiage and commentary we really know very little. I love the scene from the excellent movie Rudy where the priest tells Rudy, "I know two things. There is God, and I am not He." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. I had the opportunity to hear Joseph R. Myers discuss this passage at George Fox Evangelical Seminary earlier this year. His insight was powerful and insightful. I asked and got his permission to put it on YouTube, but after discussing it with a wise friend I decided not too. If you get the opportunity to hear what he has to say regarding this passge I strongly suggest you do so.
Jesus Cures Many People (Mk 7.31—37)
29 After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, 31 so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Feeding the Four Thousand (Mk 8.1—10)
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Mark 7:1-8:9
The Tradition of the Elders (Mt 15.1—20)
Mark 7:1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
What do you think of the phrase 'human precepts as doctrines'? Do you think human precepts are the building blocks of institutions and society? Do you think there is anything inherently or systemically evil about institutions and society? Have you ever noticed that institutions seem to breed agendas that are self-serving, self-sustaining and self-preserving? Do you think our relationship with God suffers when our relationship to the institution becomes primary under the guise of serving God? Precepts and doctrines often divide when God wants to reconcile. I believe some of us may be strong enough, disciplined enough to do a little good on our own, just as worldly causes sometimes do, but the only way we can bring life transforming healing to others is when we are drinking, present tense, from the living waters ourselves. Who we are inside must be oriented toward God. Our inner compass must be facing Christward if we want to be a blessing to others. Human precepts and doctrines are often in the other direction. Do we serve a cause or Christ, serve a church or Christ, serve people, or Christ? I learned from Chuck Conniry that causes, churches and even people must be secondary to Christ, otherwise they are idolatry. Serve Christ first and everything else will fall into place. Human precepts and doctrines may indeed have their place, but it is not primary.
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Matthew 22:36-39 36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith (Mt 15.21—28)
24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Cures a Deaf Man (Mt 15.29—31)
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Feeding the Four Thousand (Mt 15.32—39)
Mark 8:1 In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, 2 “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4 His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” 5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. 8 They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
Devotionals, Videos and more ...
by Bill Federer
Born in Germany this day, March 14, 1879, he began teaching himself calculus at the age of fourteen. He developed the theory of relativity, which was the basis for the application of atomic energy and won the Nobel Prize in 1921. His name was Albert Einstein. While on a lecture tour in America, the Nazi’s confiscated his home. Einstein then became a U.S. citizen. In 1952 he was offered the position of President of Israel, but declined. Albert Einstein’s statement inscribed in Fine Hall at Princeton University reads: “God is clever, but not dishonest.”
Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.
by D.H. Stern
The pride of the young is their strength;
the dignity of the old is gray hair.
Blows that wound purge away evil,
yes, beatings [cleanse] one’s inmost being.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
by Oswald Chambers
Obedience
His servants ye are to whom ye obey. --- Romans 6:16. Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
The first thing to do in examining the power that dominates me is to take hold of the unwelcome fact that I am responsible for being thus dominated because I have yielded. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame for it because at a point away back I yielded myself to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because I have yielded myself to Him.
Yield in childhood to selfishness, and you will find it the most enchaining tyranny on earth. There is no power in the human soul of itself to break the bondage of a disposition formed by yielding. Yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust (remember what lust is: ‘I must have it at once,’ whether it be the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind), once yield and though you may hate yourself for having yielded, you are a bond-slave to that thing. There is no release in human power at all, but only in the Redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One Who can break the dominating power, viz., the Lord Jesus Christ. “He hath anointed Me … to preach deliverance to the captives.”
We find this out in the most ridiculously small ways—‘Oh, I can give that habit up when I like.’ You cannot, you will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you yielded to it willingly. It is easy to sing—“He will break every fetter,” and at the same time be living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. Yielding to Jesus will break every form of slavery in any human life.
Abandonment never produces the consciousness of its own effort, because the whole life is taken up with the One to Whom we abandon. Beware of talking about abandonment if you know nothing about it, and you will never know anything about it until you have realized what John 3:16 means, that God gave Himself absolutely. In our abandonment we give ourselves over to God just as God gave Himself for us, without any calculation. The consequence of abandonment never enters into our outlook because our life is taken up with Him.
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
Sailors' Hospital
It was warm
Inside, but there was
Pain there. I came out
Into the cold wind
Of April. There were birds
In the brambles' old,
Jagged iron, with one striking
Its small song. To the west,
Rising from the grey
Water, leaning one
On another were the town's
Houses. Who first began
That refuse: time's waste
Growing at the edge
Of the clean sea? Some sailor
Fetching up on the
Shingle before wind
Or current, made it his
Harbour, hung up his clothes
In the sunlight; found women
To breed from - those sick men
His descendants. Every day
Regularly the tide
Visits them with its salt
Comfort; their wounds are shrill
In the rigging of the
Tall ships.
With clenched thoughts,
That not even the sky's
Daffodil could persuade
To open, I turned back
To the nurses in their tugging
At him, as he drifted
Away on the current
Of his breath, further and further,
Out of hail of our love.
The Poems of R.S. Thomas
Berakhot 54a, 60b
Two scenes from a marriage: The first—the couple on their wedding day. The bride is absolutely breathtaking, the groom incredibly handsome. They are surrounded and attended by loving family and dearest friends. At the end of the ceremony, when the groom breaks the glass, they kiss with such passion and feeling that some of the guests actually cry. The orchestra plays romantic music while the caterer serves the most delicious feast. The photographer mentions that he has rarely seen two young people so much in love: They cannot take their eyes off each other. When they dance, they hold each other tightly and gaze into each other’s eyes.
The second scene—same couple, seven years later, an ordinary day. The living room is cluttered with baby toys strewn all over the floor. The sink is filled with dirty dishes. The wife is wearing a T-shirt covered with an infant’s spit-up. The baby is crying, chewing on a teething ring. The husband is sitting at the dining room table, desperately trying to finish the report that is due on the boss’s desk at 9 A.M. the next day. He is also trying to figure out how he is going to pay this month’s mortgage, the electric bill, the oil bill, the car loan, and fix the leaky roof. Amid the stress, the tumult, and the chaos, the wife comes over and puts her hand on her husband’s shoulder; he kisses her hand. They look into one another’s eyes and smile.
There are those, like Bet Shammai, who hold that “we live for the moments,” that what is most important are the infrequent, special occasions which mark our lives—the birth of a baby, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a college graduation, a wedding, a fiftieth anniversary. We look forward to them and when they come, we celebrate with all our heart and soul. The same is true of holidays that come along once a year, or even of Shabbat, which stands out as the unique day in seven. When these special times come, we put aside all else because they are so very important and meaningful to us.
Other people, like Bet Hillel, acknowledge the importance of unique occasions, but they hold that what counts more in life is not the special, but the everyday. You can tell more about a couple’s marriage from how they are doing on that mundane, ordinary day seven years after that romantic wedding day. Life is made up mostly of the regular, frequent moments and what we make of them. Special occasions come and go. Bet Hillel, by placing the blessing over the wine first, is teaching us that what remains primary is the blessing over the wine that was probably said every single day. We should anticipate the blessings that come to us in the special, infrequent moments, but we must also look forward to the blessings that are found every single day, all around us.
A person must bless God for the bad just as one must bless God for the good.
Text / Mishnah (9:5): A person must bless God for the bad just as one must bless God for the good, as it says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” [Deuteronomy 6:5]. “With all your heart”—with both inclinations, with the good inclination and with the evil inclination. “With all your soul”—even if He takes your soul. “And with all your might”—with all your money. Another interpretation: “With all your might” (me’odekha)—with such and every measure (midah) that He gives (moded) you, you are to acknowledge (modeh) Him.
Gemara: What is meant by “A person must bless God for the bad just as one must bless God for the good”? If you say that just as we recite the blessing “[Blessed are You, Lord,] Who is good and Who does good” for good things, so too we recite the blessing “Who is good and Who does good” for bad things. Has it not been taught: “Over good news, one says ‘Who is good and Who does good’; over bad news, one says ‘Blessed are You the Judge of truth’?” Rava said: “We require this to teach us to accept it with joy.”
Context / To “bless” does not mean the same thing as “to thank.” Despite Rava’s comment at the end of the Gemara, it is too much to expect most people to actually thank God for the bad things that happen to them. Barukh, the Hebrew word for “bless,” comes from the same root as the word for knee, berekh. Many scholars see a connection: To bless God is to kneel or bow before the Divine (either literally or symbolically), acknowledging God as greater and more powerful, and the Source of all—both good and bad—that happens.
The Mishnah teaches that we must recite a berakhah, or blessing, for the bad things that occur, just as we are obligated to recite one for the good things. The biblical source for this notion is found in the Sh’ma. The Rabbis first note the unusual spelling of the expression “your heart” (l’vavvkha, with a double vet, instead of the less poetic word lib’kha). They interpret this spelling to allude to our dual impulses, one toward good, one toward bad. The yetzer hara or “the evil inclination” is the rabbinic name for the selfish, darker side of human nature. The Rabbis often counsel that we should channel these impulses for good. Sexuality, for instance, is not repressed or denied but is channeled positively within marriage.
The second phrase (“with all your soul”) teaches that we are to love God even to the point of sacrificing our lives. Finally, the third phrase (“with all your might”) is interpreted by means of a word play (me’od, midah, modeh) that makes the point that we are to acknowledge God for all that God gives us. The Gemara asks the specific halakhic question: Which berakhah is actually to be in response to misfortune or bad news? The answer is the formula barukh Dayan ha-emet, “Blessed are You the Judge of truth.” This is, by the way, the same blessing that is recited by a mourner when he or she tears clothing (or a ribbon pinned onto the clothing) just prior to the funeral or burial of an immediate relative.
Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving
. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.by Diana Wallis
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. --- 2 Corinthians 5:8
The souls of true saints, when they leave their bodies at death, go to be with Christ. (preached October 12, 1747) They are brought into perfect conformity to and union with him. Their spiritual conformity is begun while they are in the body, but when they see him as he is in heaven, then they become like him in another manner. That perfect sight will abolish all remains of deformity, disagreement, and sinful unlikeness, as all darkness is abolished before the blaze of the sun. It is impossible that the least degree of obscurity should remain before such light; so it is impossible the least degree of sin and spiritual deformity should remain before the beauty and glory of Christ. When saints see that Sun of righteousness, they themselves shine forth as little suns, without spot.
And then the saints’ union with Christ is perfected. This also is begun in this world. The union of a heart to Christ is begun when that heart is drawn to Christ at conversion, and consequent to this a vital union is established with Christ, by which the believer becomes a living branch of the true vine, living by a communication of the vital juice of the root, and a member of Christ’s mystical body, living by a communication of spiritual influences from the Head and by a kind of participation in Christ’s own life. But while the saints are in the body, there is much remaining distance between Christ and them: there are remainders of alienation, and the union is very imperfect and so, consequently, is the communication of spiritual influences. There is much between Christ and believers to keep them apart—sin, temptation, a world of carnal objects to keep the soul from Christ and hinder a perfect coming together.
But when the soul leaves the body, all these clogs and hindrances will be removed, every separating wall will be broken down and every impediment taken out of the way, and all distance will cease. The heart will be wholly and forever bound to him by a perfect view of his glory. And the vital union will then be brought to perfection; the soul will live perfectly in and on Christ, being perfectly filled with his spirit and animated by his vital influences—living, as it were, only by Christ’s life, without any remainder of spiritual death or carnal life.
--- Jonathan Edwards
Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers
Commentary
I remember Laura as she sobbed in my office. She’d just become a Christian, and life was hard. As a teen she was fighting against the pull of her past and her conflicts with her parents. And she felt a good deal of guilt as well as frustration. It was good to remind her that God had forgiven her, so she could forgive herself too. And to point out that everyone makes mistakes. It’s part of growing. The exciting thing is that God promises we will grow in Him, grow beyond ourselves and our limitations. But for the pain of her present, Laura didn’t really need either sympathy or pity. She needed only help to face the problems that her circumstances created. In the face of her difficulties, in the conflict with her family, the help she needed was help to make responsible choices. Responsible / This was the issue confronting Israel at the beginning of the Book of Numbers. This people had been redeemed from slavery by God’s great power. The people had been taught God’s will in a Law that revealed much of His character. And provision had been made to cleanse the Israelites from the sins that would inevitably come. The door to God was held open, guaranteed by the tabernacle, sacrifice, and the priesthood. The forgiven people had been instructed how to live in fellowship with their God. The message that came then to Israel was simply this: “You have been provided with everything you need to live a holy life. Now you are responsible.” The people of Israel were about to face difficult and challenging circumstances. But there could be no excuses for failing to respond to God. In each situation Israel was now responsible for the choices the people made—and also responsible for the results of those choices. What happened now would inevitably be a direct consequence of Israel’s decision to follow—or to reject—the leading of God. My friend Laura was young, both as a person and as a Christian. Learning to be responsible was hard for her. It’s hard at any age. Some of us learn the lesson of responsibility only after a great deal of pain, as wrong choices work out their results in our lives. Some of us learn quickly, from others. In this section of Scripture we have lessons on responsibility that we can learn from others, and thus avoid the pain of learning the hard way. First Corinthians 10:11–12 tells us that “these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.… So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” It’s comforting to understand our position in Christ as forgiven people. But it is important to realize that, however exalted our position, as we live our daily lives we must accept responsibility for all our choices and act as redeemed people—lest we fall.
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