Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00011B
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00:01 Welcome back. We're exploring Matthew Chapter 14,
00:03 in the book of the Bible series here. 00:05 Ranko, we've talked about Jesus' compassion 00:07 for the multitudes, but He also cared about individuals. 00:10 Yes. Actually we already mentioned before the disciples 00:15 was very strange bunch of people. 00:18 They all had different issues and problems. 00:20 Their main interest was who will be 00:22 the first in the kingdom of God, et cetera, 00:24 and what the kind of patience, Jesus show towards them. 00:28 And it is actually the love of Jesus 00:31 that transformed their lives and these bunch of people, 00:34 I mean...It's-- they are actually 00:39 the core of the Christian church, 00:41 the foundation of the Christian church. 00:42 They are a lot like us 00:43 with their problems and their issues. 00:45 And we have the story of Peter, 00:47 who--a very familiar story who is drowning 00:50 and he cries out Lord save me. 00:52 Ranko, does God ever ignore that cry, Lord saved me? 00:57 Oh, I can say about my personal life, 01:00 how many times I was sinking. 01:04 And it was by my fault. 01:08 And when I cried to God, the Lord helped me, boy, 01:11 he's always, he's always there. 01:14 He hears the prayers of God's people. 01:16 And I would like to tell the viewers, 01:20 whatever your problem in life is, 01:22 that whatever that sinking means for you, 01:26 when you turn to God-- Yes. 01:27 And you ask for help, believe me your prayer 01:30 will not be left unanswered. Amen. 01:33 That's the God we serve. 01:35 Let's go on to Chapter 15, Ranko. 01:38 Let's explore a little bit the central issue 01:40 seems to be issues of tradition, 01:42 defilement, and so forth. 01:44 Help us understand that. 01:45 Actually it is interesting what just happened 01:48 just prior to that is Jesus feeds 5,000 people 01:53 with few loaves of bread and little fish. 01:57 If I'm there, I would really say, 02:01 this is demonstration of God's power. Yeah. 02:03 But you remember we were talking about the Pharisees. 02:07 They were breaking their relationship 02:08 with the Holy Spirit. 02:09 They were sinking deeper and deeper in their unbelief. 02:13 They're not looking about miracle of Jesus 02:15 as demonstration of that divine power. 02:19 They try to find something else. 02:21 So I would like you learn, if you can read from verse 1 02:23 as long as you can, then we will talk about that. Okay. 02:27 Its evidence that every part of God's revelation 02:30 through Jesus they're resistant. 02:32 They're resistant, yes. 02:34 Matthew Chapter 15 verse 1. 02:36 "Then the scribes and Pharisees, 02:37 who were from Jerusalem, came to Jesus saying, 02:40 why do your disciples transgress 02:42 the tradition of the elders? 02:44 For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 02:47 Glenn, can I interrupt you here for a while. 02:50 I don't know is the simply speculations, 02:52 but their belief is based on the reality. 02:54 When did the Pharisees see that disciples 02:59 eating with unwashed bread? 03:00 I believe it was a death miracle. 03:03 You remember that Jesus broke the bread, 03:04 gave to the disciples they had to distribute to people 03:07 and they were eating there, I believe, 03:09 I believe that this is a reflection, 03:10 maybe I'm wrong but I see strong connection here. 03:14 They don't look what Jesus was doing, 03:16 what God was doing for those people. 03:18 They were interested in something else, 03:20 and this is very, very sad situation. 03:21 You've got a strong point. 03:22 There's always someone to criticize your miracle. 03:24 Of course, of course. All right. 03:26 He said to them, "Why do you also transgress 03:29 the commandments of God, because of your tradition. 03:32 For God commanded, saying, 03:33 Honor your father and your mother, 03:35 and He who curseth his father and mother, 03:38 let him be put to death. 03:39 But you say, whoever says to his mother or father, 03:42 whatever profit you might have received 03:44 from me is a gift to God. 03:46 Then he need not honor his father and mother. 03:49 Thus you have made the commandment of God 03:51 of no effect by your tradition." 03:55 Until verse-- Hypocrites. 03:57 Well did Isaiah prophesy about you saying, 03:59 "These people draw near to me with their mouth, 04:02 and honor me with their lips, 04:03 but their heart is far from me and in vain they worship me, 04:07 teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." 04:10 When he had called the multitude to Himself, 04:13 he said to them, "hear and understand, 04:16 not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, 04:18 but what comes out of the mouth, 04:19 and this defiles a man." 04:21 Then His disciples came and said to Him, 04:24 "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended 04:26 when they heard these sayings?" 04:27 But He answered and said, 04:29 "Every plant which my Father has planted will be uprooted-- 04:32 has not planted will be uprooted. 04:34 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. 04:37 And if the blind leads the blind 04:39 both will fall into the ditch." Until verse 20. 04:43 Then Peter answered and said to Him, 04:44 "Explain this miracle to us." 04:46 Excuse me this parable, back to the parables again. 04:49 So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 04:54 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth 04:56 goes into the stomach and is eliminated, 04:58 but those things which come out of the mouth 05:01 and come from the heart, they defile a man. 05:04 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, 05:07 murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 05:10 false witness, and blasphemies. 05:12 These are the things which defile a man, 05:14 but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." 05:18 Okay, we have here very interesting episode 05:22 from the life of Jesus. 05:24 And unfortunately many Christians 05:26 are taking these episodes 05:28 they're joining these with very similar 05:30 from Mark Chapter 7, and Mark has one sentence 05:34 that he added that his own interpretation there, 05:37 they put it together to show how the coming of Jesus. 05:40 And his instructions the commandment 05:42 that Jesus gave actually Christians 05:45 are allowed to eat everything and that the dietary laws 05:48 of the Old Testament were abolished by Jesus. 05:52 Unfortunately such an interpretation 05:55 is not supported by the texts. 05:58 So in order to understand 05:59 what is going there in the text, 06:01 we have to analyze the parable, 06:03 what was the problem? 06:04 The Pharisees were watching the disciples, 06:08 how they were eating, so there was a food there, 06:10 they would come from outside, they are in the room. 06:13 They would grab the food and eat it. 06:16 Keep in mind. 06:17 According to the Jewish practice and their law, 06:22 Pharisaic Law, the disciples were supposed 06:25 first to wash their hands. 06:29 And let's clarify this is not an issue 06:30 about cleanliness here. This is about religious defile. 06:33 And we know that before we eat, 06:35 we have to wash our hands. 06:37 For sanitation but not for holiness. 06:38 But it is not about that. 06:40 It's very important to understand 06:42 what is washing meant? 06:43 You know, according to the Pharisaic rule, 06:45 you would put just in small container 06:48 just small like this, you would put water, 06:51 this we are talking about. 06:53 And then you would take it, you would put, 06:56 your hands like this and pour out the water 06:58 just a little bit, just a small amount of water, 07:01 it's not about washing. 07:02 You have to get these, so that water will go down 07:05 and that's spiritual uncleanness 07:07 would be washed from your hands going down. 07:10 And then you are ritually clean to eat, that water. 07:13 We are not dealing here with hygiene. 07:16 We are not dealing here about something 07:18 that today are, you know, 07:19 parents are teaching their children. 07:21 We are dealing with ritual that people established 07:25 and now the Pharisees are criticizing Jesus 07:29 that his disciples were eating 07:31 with those ritually unclean hands. 07:34 But there is something interesting 07:36 that Jesus points here, He says, 07:37 "You are criticizing My disciples 07:40 they are breaking the tradition, 07:42 at the same time you are breaking the law of God, 07:47 because of your tradition." 07:49 And Jesus is using here 07:51 a practical example of what they did. 07:53 The person would make-- 08:00 had the duty to support his parents, 08:03 he would take that money, bring to the church. 08:05 He would not support the parents 08:06 but because of the tradition that was not, 08:09 you know, against the law of God. 08:10 Yeah, let's catch that point. 08:12 Out of hardheadedness, they would pretend 08:15 they're giving to God what they should have done 08:17 to care for their parents. Yes. 08:19 So what was Jesus response is? 08:24 It does not defile the person what goes into our body, 08:28 what comes out of the body, 08:30 it's not there, it's here is. 08:33 Here Jesus is not talking about clean or unclean food. 08:38 The text makes very clear in verse 20, 08:41 the--verse 19 and 20, 08:43 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, 08:46 murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 08:49 false witness, slanders, these are the things 08:52 which defile the man," 08:54 but to eat with unwashed hands, 08:57 Jesus is not talking here about the dietary laws. 09:00 He's talking about the Jewish tradition 09:03 eating with unwashed hands. 09:05 Okay, if Jesus says this does not defile 09:08 the human beings, so this text cannot be taken, 09:11 you know, in support of any abolishment 09:14 of those dietary laws 09:15 that are so clearly specified there in the Old Testament. 09:19 So when Matthew quotes Isaiah and says, 09:23 "And in vain they worship me," 09:25 teaching his commandments, 09:28 teaching his doctrines and commandments of men, 09:30 he's really showing that their traditions, 09:32 their layers of rules were taking people away 09:37 from really following God. 09:38 Actually verse 18, what you are saying here, 09:41 Jesus says, where is that every plant--yeah, 09:47 verse 13, Jesus said, 09:50 "Every plant which My heavenly Father 09:54 did not plant shall be uprooted." 09:55 What is the plant that any tradition 09:58 that people established that is contrary to the law of God? 10:03 It did not come from God 10:05 and God will probably by the passing of the time, 10:08 God will make it obsolete and take away from people. 10:12 Glenn, can I ask you one question? 10:15 If we really here with the tradition, 10:16 is tradition important or not? 10:19 All of us have tradition, in fact, 10:21 good traditions are a blessing in our life. 10:23 Should the church have tradition? Sure. 10:25 So when we come to the church 10:28 and we begin first with singing hymns 10:32 and after that we kneel down and we pray, 10:35 that's, it's not in the Bible, we don't have such order, 10:38 is that important? Of course it is. 10:40 In most of our western part of the world, 10:42 we go to church 11 o'clock service, we call it. Sure. 10:45 Who decided 11 o'clock? 10:46 There's no scripture about that. 10:48 See, Glenn, tradition is important. Mm-hmm. 10:52 It comes from human experience 10:54 but the problem is when tradition becomes 10:58 the law of God and goes beyond the scriptures. 11:02 We know that many Christians in this world today, 11:05 they don't go to the Bible. 11:07 They simply try to find the answer to the question. 11:10 What we have been doing for centuries 11:12 and doing and we are breaking the law of God 11:16 because of our tradition is. 11:18 Jesus tried to tell us here, 11:20 the tradition will not save us, 11:23 it's only we stick to the law of God 11:25 and if we take what God said as the most important, 11:28 what the God says, the word of God 11:29 is the measure of everything 11:30 which we are doing in our lives. 11:32 By the way, we have the next text 11:33 that actually here follows. 11:34 The next story is such an amazing story. 11:37 It's especially close to me. 11:39 I grew up in the country of Lebanon, 11:40 which is where it takes place. 11:42 Uh, "Then Jesus went out from there 11:44 and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 11:46 And He meets a woman a Canaanite." 11:49 The Jews have been rejecting, 11:50 resisting many of the people of the Jews. 11:52 "But now a Canaanite woman comes 11:54 from the region says have mercy on me, 11:56 O Lord, Son of David." 11:58 What a sweet sound that must have been in His ears 12:00 to have someone who's recognizing Him. 12:02 "My daughter is severely demon-possessed." 12:04 But His response of shocking, tell us about it, Ranko. 12:07 Yes. Uh, it's so interesting is here 12:12 that this woman comes to Jesus, 12:15 she wants to have, you know, healing for her daughter, 12:18 but Jesus said, "I'm sent just for the lost sheep of Israel." 12:22 Evidently it was here the test of the faith of this woman 12:27 but what kind of faith she manifested here, 12:30 that actually it is through her faith 12:32 that she received the answer that Jesus gave to her 12:36 and what she was looking for, 12:38 finally she found the Jesus Christ. 12:39 The shock of her surprise when he responds this way. 12:43 There must have been something in His eyes, 12:45 something in His voice that gave her some hope. 12:47 That He is saying these prejudice things 12:50 that His disciples believe, 12:51 but there's something else that gave her hope. 12:53 She was put on by people as unclean, 12:57 she was an outcast. She was rejected. 13:00 But Jesus Christ never rejects anybody. 13:03 I would like to say to the viewers, 13:06 I don't know what and the way people look up on you 13:10 but praise God we have a wonderful savior 13:13 and we always find a great friend and savior in Him. |
Revised 2014-12-17