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Notes: September 23, 2009

A Greek woman with great faith

Though Jesus did not seek after popularity, he could not be hidden from public view. Even when he sought to retire privately, those who wanted to find him would. Even a desperate Greek mother.

Mark 7:24-30. Matthew 15:21-28.

  • “Have mercy on me,” she cried. But she prayed for her demon-possessed daughter.
  • The disciples would have her go away.
  • Jesus considered it to be not in keeping with his priority mission to the Jews.
  • The mother objected that her request would not impede salvation to the Jews; she asked but a crumb of a favor.
  • Jesus acknowledged and rewarded her faith.
  • The daughter was made whole.

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Notes: September 22, 2009

“Are you also without understanding?”

Do you know that the source of sin is the heart of man and not the myriad violations of man-made traditions?

Mark 7:10-23; Matthew 15:10-20

  • Jesus explains to the people that traditions err in attempting to curb sin by controlling activity when in reality sin originates in the heart—and tradition cannot control man’s heart.
  • Did Jesus worry that his teaching contradicted and offended the Pharisees (v. 12)? No. They were, in his eyes, not of God and not to be of any concern to those who were of God (Mt 15:13-14).
  • He was bothered that the disciples didn’t grasp the lesson, so he emphasizes again that sin comes from within the man, not from violating traditions.

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Notes: September 21, 2009

“You Hypocrites”

When certain scribes of the Pharisees asked Jesus why his disciples transgressed the tradition of the elders, Jesus responded sharply.

Mark 7:1-9; Matthew 15:1-9

  • A matter of custom, not hygiene (v. 2-4). The tradition, less than 200 years old, was still developing in the teachings of Hillel and Shammai when this question was brought to Jesus.
  • Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus The MESSIAH, page 545) astutely remarks that Jews upset with the 12 apostles who ate without ceremonial washing would really be upset over the more than 5,000 who thus ate on the previous evening!
  • Did Jesus sanction this violation of tradition? If he did, then he, too, is guilty. If guilty, then he cannot be the messiah. Perhaps this explains the bluntness of his reply.
  • Isaiah 29:13. Hypocrites elevate human tradition and ignore Scripture. What is important to you?
  • Herod executed John the Baptist to keep a vow. Jesus condemns those who keep vows and break commandments.
  • When tradition is more important than scripture, our worship is vain.

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Notes: September 20, 2009

“Will you also go away?”

A lesson for those who would abandon Christ because they don’t understand everything…

John 6:59-71

  • The “bread of life” teaching was hard for many to understand when Jesus gave it; and it has continued to be a stumbling block for would-be Christians ever since. Witness the plethora of those who have twisted it into the dogma of transubstantiation and opine that one cannot be saved without consuming their authorized wafers. Remember that Jesus gave us the key to understanding his metaphor in John 6:35, and that coming to him in faith is the eating and drinking that requires.
  • If we fail to comprehend this truth, we are no better than his murmuring disciples and unlikely to understand his ascension back to heaven, much less the incarnation by which he came to earth (note that those who confusedly advance transubstantiation are the same ones who exalt Mary to a position of almost, if not in fact, deity—proving that misunderstanding the teaching of John 6 is a symptom of much greater misunderstanding).
  • Not fleshly eating is intended; the teaching is spiritual.
  • He repeats that “No man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father” (v. 65). Are you surprised to learn that those who misunderstand “the bread of life” also deny man’s ability to come to God at any time they will?
  • From that time, many previous disciples walked no more with him (v. 66). Do you believe they stopped being religious? Let me suggest that they went on in their own religious imaginations, picking and choosing as they would, mixing truth and error in their vain attempts to please God.
  • Would the 12 apostles leave Christ, too? Peter answers well, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68).
  • Belief with certainty in the Messianic deity of Christ kept them.
  • Except Judas, of course.

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