Matthew 15
15
What Makes People Unclean?
1Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They complained, 2“Why don’t your disciples follow what the elders teach? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3Jesus answered, “Why don’t you follow God’s commands instead of your own teachings? 4God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ God also said, ‘Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.’ 5Suppose someone has money they could use to help their parents. You tell them they can say it’s ‘a gift set apart only for God.’ 6Then they don’t need to use that money to honor their father or mother. If the word of God clashes with your own teachings, you say it doesn’t apply. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you,
8“ ‘These people honor me with their mouths,
but their hearts are far away from me.
9It’s useless for them to worship me,
because they’re teaching only human rules.’ ”
10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make them unclean. What comes out of their mouth does.”
12Then the disciples came to him and said, “Did you know that the Pharisees got angry when they heard that?”
13Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father hasn’t planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Don’t worry about the Pharisees. They’re blind guides. If one blind person leads another, they’ll both fall into a pit.”
15Peter asked, “But what did you mean by what you said?”
16“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus replied. 17“Don’t you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach, and from there it goes out of the body. 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make someone unclean. 19Out of a person’s heart come cruel thoughts, murder, adultery, other sexual sins, stealing, false testimony, and lies. 20Those are the things that make you unclean. But eating without washing your hands doesn’t make you unclean.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman who lived near there came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon has been controlling my daughter and making her suffer terribly.”
23Jesus didn’t say a word. So his disciples came and begged him, “Tell her to go away! She keeps following us and crying out for help.”
24Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25Then the woman fell on her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.
26He replied, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it out to the dogs.”
27“That’s true, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”
28Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! You will receive what you’ve asked for.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
29Jesus left there and walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Large crowds came to him, bringing people who were blind, who couldn’t walk, who were disabled, who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. Those who couldn’t speak started speaking, those with disabilities were made well, those who couldn’t walk started walking, and those who were blind became able to see. 31The people were amazed when they saw all this, and they praised the God of Israel.
32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I’m concerned for these people because they’ve already been with me for three days and they’ve run out of food to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, because if I do, they may be too weak to make it back home.”
33His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples. They passed them out to the people. 37Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and after that, the disciples picked up seven full baskets of leftover pieces. 38Just counting the men, they fed about 4,000 people, and there were many women and children as well. 39Jesus sent the crowd away, and then he got into the boat and went to the area near Magadan.
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Matthew 15
15
Rules from the elders
1Then Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why are your disciples breaking the elders’ rules handed down to us? They don’t ritually purify their hands by washing before they eat.”
3Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you? 4For God said, Honor your father and your mother,#15.4 Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16 and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death.#15.4 Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9 5But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother,“Everything I’m expected to contribute to you I’m giving to God as a gift,”then you don’t have to honor your father.’ 6So you do away with God’s Law for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you. 7Hypocrites! Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you, 8This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. 9Their worship of me is empty since they teach instructions that are human rules.”#15.9 Isa 29:13
10Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person.”
12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you just said?”
13Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled up. 14Leave the Pharisees alone. They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.”
15Then Peter spoke up, “Explain this riddle to us.”
16Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? 17Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? 18But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. 19Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults. 20These contaminate a person in God’s sight. But eating without washing hands doesn’t contaminate in God’s sight.”
Canaanite woman
21From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” 23But he didn’t respond to her at all.
His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”
24Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”
25But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”
26He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”
27She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”
28Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.
Healing of many people
29Jesus moved on from there along the shore of the Galilee Sea. He went up a mountain and sat down. 30Large crowds came to him, including those who were paralyzed, blind, injured, and unable to speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31So the crowd was amazed when they saw those who had been unable to speak talking, and the paralyzed cured, and the injured walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Feeding the four thousand
32Now Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry for fear they won’t have enough strength to travel.”
33His disciples replied, “Where are we going to get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy such a big crowd?”
34Jesus said, “How much bread do you have?”
They responded, “Seven loaves and a few fish.”
35He told the crowd to sit on the ground. 36He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. After he gave thanks, he broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37Everyone ate until they were full. The disciples collected seven baskets full of leftovers. 38Four thousand men ate, plus women and children. 39After dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
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