What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What Comes From Within: The Heart of Matthew 15
Jesus turns conventional religious thinking upside down in Matthew 15, challenging the religious elite who prioritized human traditions over divine commands. The controversy begins when Pharisees criticize Jesus's disciples for not washing their hands before eating – not for hygienic reasons, but for breaking traditional rituals. Jesus responds by exposing their hypocrisy, revealing how they've created clever loopholes to avoid God's clear command to honor parents.
The heart of this confrontation reaches deeper than a debate about handwashing. Jesus quotes Isaiah's powerful indictment: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." This penetrating truth cuts through religious pretense to reveal what truly matters to God – not external compliance with human rules, but internal alignment with divine character. Jesus then delivers one of his most revolutionary teachings: defilement doesn't come from what enters our bodies but from what emerges from our hearts – evil thoughts, murders, sexual immorality, thefts, and slander.
The narrative takes a dramatic turn when a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus seeking healing for her demon-possessed daughter. After initially appearing to ignore and then reject her, Jesus delivers what sounds like an ethnic slur, comparing helping non-Israelites to throwing children's bread to dogs. Yet her response demonstrates extraordinary faith: "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table." Instead of taking offense, she persists with remarkable humility. Impressed by her faith, Jesus immediately heals her daughter. This powerful encounter teaches us that genuine faith perseveres despite obstacles and remains humble even when tested. The stark contrast between the proud religious leaders and this "outsider" woman reveals that God responds to sincere hearts that seek him, regardless of background or status. What's your heart condition today? Are you following religious routines while harboring thoughts and attitudes that contradict God's character?
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? All right, in today's Bible study we are going to be picking up in Matthew 15, starting in verse 1. If you're ready.
Speaker 1:Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and they said why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said to them why do you yourselves also break the commandments of God for the sake of your traditions? For God said Honor your father and mother, and the one who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death. But you say Whoever says to his father or mother Whatever I have that would help you, has been given to God and he is not to honor his father or mother. And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your traditions. You hypocrites. Rightly did Isaiah prophecy about you by saying the people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Speaker 1:After Jesus called the crowds to him, he said to them Hear and understand. It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person. But what comes out of the mouth? That defiles a person? The disciples came and said to him Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement? But he answered and said Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of blind people, and if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit. Peter said to him Explain this parable to us. Jesus said Are you also still lacking of understanding? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? But the things that come out into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated. But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and those things defile a person. For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies and slanderous statements. These are the things that defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person. All right, let's stop here real quick. In verse 20.
Speaker 1:Notice in verse 2, when they questioned Jesus about his disciples not following traditions, they didn't say Jesus himself, because they didn't say you and your disciples do not follow traditions, but just his disciples. And this brings a couple of things to mind. One, we know Jesus was perfect, but he was even perfect in the sight of his people. It says in John 8, 46,. He says to them which of you can prove me guilty of sin? No-transcript. Even if his people couldn't find fault with him, though, they brought charges against him all the time, but they really couldn't truly find fault with anything that Jesus did. The second comes in turn, and you can find this in Matthew 23. It says Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, because you travel around the sea and land to make a convert, but when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you yourselves. And this teaches us.
Speaker 1:It matters who we learn from and why this verse in John John 4, is so important. Verse 1 says Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. Now how do we test if someone is true or false? Simple, we only have one truth, and that's God's word. And if they don't adhere to God's word, then they are leading people astray. They're leading them off the path of truth. That's why it says here in verse 14, disregard them. They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
Speaker 1:Now the next thing I'd like to talk about is in verse 7, and it talks about the prophecy of Isaiah and it says you hypocrites. Rightly did Isaiah prophecy about you by saying the people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching us doctrines, the commandments of men. Now this goes way deeper. In a country like Israel, I mean their whole history and everything about them is based off God's law and the oral laws passed down from them by their scribes and their lawmakers. Now I can't tell you why Israel continues to honor God's word, yet many still deny Christ. And the same reason, I can't tell you why many Americans claim Christ but they disregard God's law. And you'll hear many people say we're no longer under God's law, but we're under grace. Well, does that make God's law of no account? Why did God give us the law in the first place if he didn't want us to understand his heart? If God said it, shouldn't it be important to us. It says in John 14, 15, if you love me. Shouldn't it be important to us? It says in John 14, 15, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Speaker 1:The why, the core of the issue, is our hearts. Why do we go to church? Why do we gather together? Why do we worship? Why do we do our best to love and to forgive? Why do we even read God's word? The heart and the core of what we do is because to love and to forgive. Why do we even read God's word? The heart and the core of what we do is because we love God.
Speaker 1:And I've come to a point in my relationship with God that I want to show God that I love him more than what. I want to show God that I love him for more than what he's done for me Though what he's done for me means everything, because it is what saved my soul but I want to show him I love him because of who he is. He's God, and the only way I know to do that is by God's word. And Jesus teaches us if you love me, follow my commandments. Now he dumbed this down for us in many ways by saying there's two that we really should worry about Loving God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind and all our strength, and the love of our neighbor as ourself. And he says if you can do these two, you will basically follow all the rest of them, because all of God's law are based off these two principles. And if we love God, truly love God, these things will matter to us. That's why it says you know by the fruits.
Speaker 1:The last thing I can talk about is Peter. I love Peter. The reason why I love Peter is because I see a man like myself, a man who makes many mistakes. I find so much encouragement in Peter, peter's one who denied Christ, but yet Jesus loved him. And he asked Jesus, explain this lesson to us. And Jesus says do you still not understand? Do you have no understanding? Have you not got it yet? And he says it's not what comes, it's not what you put in your mouth that defiles a person, because they're talking about people washing their hands and what is clean and all this stuff. And Jesus is saying it's not what goes in your mouth that defiles a person, it's what comes out of your mouth, because what comes out of your mouth comes from your heart.
Speaker 1:Now we talk about the heart of every issue. The heart of every issue is what drives the person. Why does a person do what they do? If you truly love God, you'll follow his commandments. Because you love God and he says, out of your heart comes these evil thoughts, these murders, these adulteries, the sexual immorality and thefts and slanders. When we talk about people behind their back, all these things, that's what defiles a person, because it comes from our heart and the reason why Jesus says we must deny ourself. Because at the core of all of us, when we come to Christ, it's self. We do everything for ourself. Because of ourself, I mean, we feed ourself, we clothe ourself, we look after ourself, we don't want to get ourself hurt. It's self-preservation. A lot of times, this self-preservation, in a lot of times, and a lot of times we have a tendency to put ourselves above other things and to deny that very thing is some of the hardest things we have to do. All right, let's continue in verse 21.
Speaker 1:Jesus went away from there and he withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon, and a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying have mercy on me, lord, son of David, my daughter is severely demon-possessed. But he did not answer even a word. And his disciples came and urged him, saying Send her away because she keeps shouting at us. But he answered and said I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and began to bow down before him saying Lord, help me. Yet he answered and said it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. And she said yes, lord, but please help for even dog's feet from the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Then Jesus said to her oh woman, your faith is great, it shall be done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed at once.
Speaker 1:Let's stop here, in verse 28. Now here's a prime example of a heart that is not troubled by deceit. Now, what do I mean? Jesus puts this woman to the test. First, he ignores her, and when she's persistent, he says this to her he says it is not good to take from the children of God and throw it to the dogs. And referring to her in this way, it really touches on the heart of the problem with most people who hate Israel. They were the dogs.
Speaker 1:And referring to her in this way, it really touches on the heart of the problem with most people who hate Israel. They were the chosen and because they were the chosen, two things happened. One, people hate them because they were the chosen and two, those who were chosen sometimes saw themselves as better than everybody else. And he kind of touches on this with addressing her in this way and he tests her. And what she says is a true lesson to us about humility, for she says that even the dogs eat from the scraps from the master's table.
Speaker 1:Now, when you can truly understand a heart of a person who comes to Jesus in this way, I believe when you understand this, you'll truly understand what it means to deny self, because it wouldn't matter to you at all if someone puts you down when you're trying to save your life. If Jesus has the water of life, it's all that matters. It doesn't matter what people think, it doesn't matter what people say, it doesn't matter how they address you or what situation you're in. All that really matters is what Jesus has that you need. All right, for the sake of time, I'm going to end this one here. We'll pick back up in the next Bible study in verse 29. Until then, I love you guys. God bless you, goodbye.