Matthew 15
15
What Pollutes Your Life
1-2After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, “Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?”
3-9But Jesus put it right back on them. “Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God’s commands? God clearly says, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel around that by saying, ‘Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I’ve given to God.’ That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God’s command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah’s prophecy of you hit the bull’s-eye:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they’re worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”
10-11He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.”
12Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”
13-14Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”
15Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”
16-20Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”
Healing the People
21-22From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.”
23Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.”
24Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.”
25Then the woman came back to Jesus, dropped to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.”
26He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.”
27She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.”
28Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.
29-31After Jesus returned, he walked along Lake Galilee and then climbed a mountain and took his place, ready to receive visitors. They came, tons of them, bringing along the paraplegic, the blind, the maimed, the mute—all sorts of people in need—and more or less threw them down at Jesus’ feet to see what he would do with them. He healed them. When the people saw the mutes speaking, the maimed healthy, the paraplegics walking around, the blind looking around, they were astonished and let everyone know that God was blazingly alive among them.
* * *
32But Jesus wasn’t finished with them. He called his disciples and said, “I hurt for these people. For three days now they’ve been with me, and now they have nothing to eat. I can’t send them away without a meal—they’d probably collapse on the road.”
33His disciples said, “But where in this deserted place are you going to dig up enough food for a meal?”
34-39Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they said, “plus a few fish.” At that, Jesus directed the people to sit down. He took the seven loaves and the fish. After giving thanks, he divided it up and gave it to the people. Everyone ate. They had all they wanted. It took seven large baskets to collect the leftovers. Over four thousand people ate their fill at that meal. After Jesus sent them away, he climbed in the boat and crossed over to the Magadan hills.
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Matthew 15: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Matthew 15
15
Human Traditions and God’s Commandments
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”#Literally “bread” 3So he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun father and your#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun mother,’#A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16 and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die#Literally “let him die the death”.’#A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9 5But you say, ‘Whoever says to his#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun father or his#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received#Literally “you would have been benefited” from me is a gift to God,” 6need not honor his father,’#Most later manuscripts add “or his mother” and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,
8‘This people honors me with their#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me,
9and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”#A quotation from Isa 29:13
Defilement from Within
10And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: 11It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” 12Then the disciples came and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal heard this saying?” 13And he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14Let#Or “Depart from” them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15But Peter answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. 19For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. 20These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”
A Canaanite Woman’s Great Faith
21And departing from there, Jesus went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came and cried out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came up and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb asked him, saying, “Send her away, because she is crying out after us!” 24But he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb knelt down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26And he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation to the dogs!” 27So she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Many Others Healed in Galilee
29And departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up on the mountain and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went up”) has been translated as a finite verb was sitting there. 30And large crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, crippled,#Some manuscripts have “the lame, blind, crippled, mute” and many others, and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31So then the crowd was astonished when they#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
The Feeding of Four Thousand
32And Jesus summoned his disciples and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry lest they give out on the way.” 33And the disciples said to him, “Where in this desolate place can we get#Literally “for us” so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?” 34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” So they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” 35And commanding the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, 36he took the seven loaves and the fish and after he#*Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal had given thanks, he broke them#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and began giving#The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began giving”) them#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. 38Now those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. 39And after he#*Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
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