THE KING DENOUNCES HYPOCRISY (Matthew 15)

THE KING DENOUNCES HYPOCRISY (Matthew 15)

H. A. IRONSIDE

WE read next of the King’s rebuke of many who were opposed to His claims as Lord and the kingdom He announced. There was a remnant whose hearts were opened to the truth and who gladly received our Lord as the promised Messiah. Their conceptions of the kingdom were utterly carnal, because they were merely natural men who knew nothing of spiritual realities. Consequently, they failed to realize that ere the prophecies of a restored Israel would be fulfilled there must be repentance on the part of the nation and a definite return to God individually and collectively. 

  MATTHEW 15:1-11 - The question raised by His critics had to do with a certain ceremonial baptizing of the hands, which all orthodox Jews were supposed to go through before partaking of food. This was something far more than simply cleansing the hands in order that they might be free of impurity as one was about to sit down to a meal; it involved quite a lengthy ceremony, and so the Pharisees put the question, “Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” That is, they ignored their regulations. 

  While professing to honor the Word of God they really made it of none effect whatever by one of their own traditions, whereby they made it possible for a man to ignore the needs of his parents and refuse to be responsible in any way for their support, if he dedicated his goods to Jehovah by saying to his parents, “It is Corban”—that is, “a gift.” Then the parents were supposed to have no claims upon the goods, thus they were dishonored rather than otherwise; and so the commandment of God was made of no effect. It was spoken by the prophet Isaiah (29:13). They did not yield heart-allegiance to Him. That worship which they professed to give to Him was empty and formal, for instead of obeying the Word of God they substituted the commandments of men. 

  MATTHEW 15:12-20 - Jesus explained very definitely the meaning more fully, while gently reproving Peter for his lack of understanding. He pointed out that no man’s soul is defiled by that which he eats. Food passes through the process of digestion in the body, but does not affect the spirit or the soul of the man. On the other hand, those things that come from the heart which are expressed often in speech do indeed defile the man, for they have to do with his whole course of thinking and, therefore, make his very mind and spirit unclean. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” It is these unholy things which defile a man; merely eating with unwashen or unbaptized hands could not defile anyone. The Lord thus traces everything back to its source. We read in the Book of Proverbs (4:23), “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). 

MATTHEW 15:29-31 - He met them all in grace, and healed every one, thus demonstrating again His Messianic authority (Isa. 35:4–6).

“They glorified the God of Israel.” As these country folk saw their friends and relatives delivered from dumbness, lameness, blindness, and various diseases, they were convinced in their own hearts that God had visited His people, and they glorified Him as they recognized in these mighty works the credentials of Him who was to be the Deliverer of Israel. It was the people who felt their need and longed for deliverance from sin and its effects who received with joy the gospel of the kingdom as proclaimed by Jesus. 

MATTHEW 15:37 - Two different words for baskets are used in the accounts of the feeding of the two groups: in the first instance, where the Lord fed the five thousand, the word translated “baskets” means a wicker traveling-basket, such as people carried with them for small articles when on a journey. The word used here means a hamper, a large market-basket, such as was commonly used by those who went out to buy provision for the household. This time there were seven of these large baskets filled with the broken bread and fish to provide food for the entire apostolic company for perhaps another whole day.