Matthew 15
15
Chapter 15
Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers of God's Law to obey God
1After that, a group of Pharisees and teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem to talk to Jesus. 2They said, ‘Our leaders in past times taught us the right way to do everything. But your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught us. They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal. Why is that?’
3Jesus replied, ‘God tells us the right way to obey him. But you refuse. Instead, you like to keep your own ideas. 4God's Law says: “You must love your father and mother and obey them.” God also said, “A person should die if he says bad things against his father or against his mother.” 5But you teach that a person may say to his father or to his mother, “I would have given gifts to help you. But I cannot do that because I have given them to God instead.” 6Then, you let that person give nothing to his parents. He does not have to help them. This shows that you have not obeyed what God says is right. Instead, you have obeyed your own ideas. 7You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:
8God says, “These people say good things about me,
but they do not really want to obey me.
9They say that I am great.
But what they say has no purpose.
They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” ’
Jesus talks about the wrong things that people do
10Jesus asked the crowd of people to come to him. He said to them, ‘Listen to me, so that you can understand my message. 11It is not food that goes into people's mouths that makes them unclean. Instead, what comes out of people's mouths is important. It may show that what is inside them is unclean.’
12Then Jesus' disciples went to him, and they said, ‘The Pharisees heard what you said. They did not agree with what you said. Do you know that?’
13Jesus replied, ‘Those Pharisees are like plants that my Father God did not put in the ground. Like a farmer, he will completely pull all those plants out of the ground. 14Do not listen to what the Pharisees say. They are blind, but they try to show people which way to go. A blind person cannot lead another blind person. If he does, then both of them will fall into a deep hole.’
15Peter said to Jesus, ‘Explain to us what you mean.’
16Jesus replied, ‘I am surprised that you still do not understand what I am saying. 17You should understand that food first goes into people's mouths. Then it goes into their stomach, and then it passes out of their body. 18The words that people speak come from their thoughts. It is what comes out of their mouths that makes them unclean. 19Evil thoughts come out from people's minds. As a result, they do wrong things. They murder people. They have sex with another man's wife. They have sex in other wrong ways. They rob people. They tell lies about other people. They insult people.
20It is these bad things that make people unclean. But if people eat food when they have not washed their hands in the right way, that will not make them unclean.’
Jesus makes a girl well again
21Then, Jesus left that place. He went away to some places near to the cities called Tyre and Sidon.
22A woman was living in this part of the country. She was one of the Canaanite people. She came to see Jesus. She was shouting with a loud voice, ‘Son of David, help me, sir! A bad spirit is living inside my daughter. It is giving her much pain.’
23Jesus did not say anything to the woman. So his disciples came to him. They said, ‘Please, send this woman away. She is following us and she is making a lot of noise.’
24Jesus replied to his disciples, ‘God has sent me to help only the people of Israel. They are like sheep that have lost their way.’
25Then the woman came to Jesus and she went down on her knees in front of him. ‘Sir, please help me,’ she said.
26Jesus did answer the woman this time. He said, ‘It is not right to take food from the children and then throw it to the dogs.’
27The woman replied to Jesus. ‘Yes sir, that is true. But even the dogs eat the small pieces of food that fall from their master's table.’
28Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you show clearly that you believe in God. God will do what you have asked.’
At that moment the woman's daughter became well again.
29Jesus travelled on from that place and he walked along the shore of Lake Galilee. He climbed up a hill and he sat down there. 30Large crowds of people came to him and they brought sick people with them. Some of these sick people could not walk very well, and some of them were blind. Some of them could not use their arms or their legs. Some of them could not speak. There were many other sick people who had different illnesses. Their friends put the sick people in front of Jesus. And Jesus caused them all to become well again. 31When the large crowd saw all this, they were very surprised. People who could not speak could now speak again. People who could not use their arms or their legs were now well again. Those people who could not walk very well could now walk again. Blind people could now see again. All the people praised God, and they said, ‘God of Israel, you are great.’
Jesus feeds 4,000 men and their families
32Then Jesus told his disciples to come to him. ‘I feel sorry for this crowd,’ he said to them. ‘They have been here with me now for three days. They do not have any food. I do not want to send them away while they are hungry. They might fall down during their journey because they are weak.’
33The disciples said to Jesus, ‘This place is a long way from any houses. We cannot get enough bread here to feed so many people.’
34Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’
They replied, ‘We have seven loaves and a few small fish.’
35Jesus told the crowd that they should sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish in his hands and he thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and the fish into pieces and he gave the food to his disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. 37All the people ate and they all had enough food. After the people had eaten, there were still lots of small pieces of food. Jesus' disciples filled seven baskets with these pieces. 38There were 4,000 men who ate the bread and fish. There were also women and children who ate. 39Then Jesus sent the crowd of people away. After that, he got into the boat and sailed to the part of the country near Magadan. #15:39 Magadan is also called Magdala. This was the home of Mary from Magdala.
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Matthew 15: EASY
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MissionAssist 2018
Matthew 15
15
1 THEN FROM Jerusalem came scribes and Pharisees and said,
2 Why do Your disciples transgress and violate the rules handed down by the elders of the past? For they do not practice [ceremonially] washing their hands before they eat.
3 He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)?
4 For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death. [Exod. 20:12; 21:17; Lev. 20:9; Deut. 5:16.]
5 But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, What you would have gained from me [that is, the money and whatever I have that might be used for helping you] is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt and no longer under obligation to honor and help his father or his mother.
6 So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].
7 You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said:
8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.
9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men. [Isa. 29:13.]
10 And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this:
11 It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].
12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased and offended and indignant when they heard this saying?
13 He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be torn up by the roots. [Isa. 60:21.]
14 Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.
15 But Peter said to Him, Explain this proverb (this maxim) to us.
16 And He said, Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and unable to put things together]?
17 Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited?
18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.
20 These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him].
21 And going away from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!
23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.
24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!
26 And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.
27 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that moment.
29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and kept sitting there.
30 And a great multitude came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He cured them,
31 So that the crowd was amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they recognized and praised and thanked and glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way.
33 And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated and desert place?
34 And Jesus asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They replied, Seven, and a few small fish.
35 And ordering the crowd to recline on the ground,
36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they gathered up seven [large provision] baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
38 Those who ate were 4,000 men, not including the women and the children.
39 Then He dismissed the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan.
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation