Anesti Ministries

A clean heart.

v1-9, 12-14 There are three lessons that Jesus wants us to learn from the Pharisees.

1. God’s Word must take priority over man-made religious tradition. The Pharisees added many other rules to the Law of Moses and enforced them upon the people. One such rule was ceremonial washing before meals. They did this because the Lord had instructed the priests to wash themselves before entering the tabernacle (Exodus 40:32). The Pharisees thought that people would avoid being unclean if they practiced ceremonial washing. We must not blindly follow man-made church traditions just because they are old, well established or widely accepted. We must live according to God’s Word.
2. Christianity is about a relationship with God and not religious practices. Doing outward religious actions without knowing God’s heart is meaningless. In Joel 2:12-23, the prophet Joel also called Israel to return to the Lord with all their heart.
3. Jesus warns us not to take offence at His words. Jesus calls the Pharisees blind because they have no revelation from God and are blind to their own hypocrisy. Jesus teaches us to stay clear of such people because God will remove them.

v10-20 What causes a person to be unclean? Jesus points to human nature as fallen and depraved. Jeremiah 17:9 says that “the heart is deceitful above all things”. The human heart is inclined towards evil, wickedness and disobedience toward God. Jesus is not talking about food being sanitary or unsanitary, but whether certain foods can make a person ceremonially unclean. God’s purpose for dietary restrictions in the Old Testament was to teach Israel about holiness. Dietary restriction was intended to be an external expression of an inward obedience towards God. The distinction between clean and unclean foods was meant to teach Israel to distinguish between obedience and sin. Ceremonial washing cannot make a person clean, only the blood of Jesus can. We need a saviour because every person has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

A Gentile woman’s faith.

v21-28 Jesus comes to Sidon and meets a woman who is desperately in need of a miracle. This woman is a Gentile and regarded as unclean by the Jews (Acts 10:28). The disciples wanted Jesus to send her away because they did not feel she was worthy to receive a miracle. But why did Jesus ignore her and call her a dog? In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus did not reject Gentiles who were in need (Matthew 8:5). Jesus was using this Gentile woman to teach His disciples an important lesson. The word dog (κυνάριον) that Jesus used refers to a household pet. It is not the same use of the word dog (κύων) used by the Jews to refer to unclean Gentiles (Matthew 7:6, Philippians 3:2, Revelation 22:15). Jesus did not view the woman as unclean but was using a metaphor. God’s mercy extends to those who are deemed unworthy, as outsiders, far away, or unclean. This Gentile woman stands as an example of what it means to persist in faith. To persist in prayer even in times when God seems to be silent.

The metaphor of the master’s crumbs reminds us of the 12 baskets leftover in Matthew 14:20. It is an example of how Jesus is the Bread of Life not just to Israel but to the nations. The arrival of Jesus in Tyre and Sidon is a parallel of Elijah’s journey found in 1 Kings 17:8-16. Because Israel rejected God, God sends Elijah to Sidon to save a Gentile widow and her son. The rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders of Israel result in the Gospel reaching the Gentiles (Romans 11:11). In the same way that food does not make a person unclean, a person’s ethnicity does not make them unclean. Every person is a beloved child of God because He created us all.

Jesus’ ministry to the Gentiles.

v29-39 Jesus arrives at the Decapolis, a predominantly Gentile region. Jesus does many miracles because of the Gentiles’ faith and many turn to God. The feeding of the four thousand is a parallel of the feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21. Again we see Jesus’ compassion not only for Israel, but for the Gentiles. This time, the disciples have seven loaves instead of five. It teaches us that miracles do not depend on the amount we have but on the power of Jesus Christ. The seven baskets of left overs is significant because the number seven points to completion. God completed His work of creation on the seventh day and rested. God gave the Sabbath as a day of rest to all humanity. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath who has also brought rest to the nations (Matthew 12:8).