Matthew 16:5-12 Danger of Religion

And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, " He said that because we did not bring any bread." But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?  Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?  Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. [Matthew 16:5‭-‬12 NASB]

Religion is the enemy of Christianity.

The Pharisees and Sadducees taught a strict adherence to rules and rituals. Their traditions replaced God's laws, and their rituals replaced a relationship with God.

I see it widespread in churches today. Church tradition is more important than the words of scripture. In many cases, the teaching of the Bible is explained away or ignored. For example, there are many traditions that have no knowledge of the rapture, even though it is clearly taught in several places of the Bible. (The word "rapture" isn't in the Bible. That is a theological term taken from Latin, meaning "to be caught up".) "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB]

I once had a conversation with a woman whom I believe to be a sincere Christian. Upon hearing someone quote, "Put on the full armor of God," [Ephesians 6:11 NASB] she was aghast. "That sounds so militant. That's not very Christian." She had never been taught Ephesians chapter 6, nor about spiritual warfare.

There are a lot of spiritual leaders who cast themselves as spiritual professionals. "Don't try to interpret the Bible on your own. You lack the education. You need a professional to properly interpret it for you." 

But the Bible wasn't written in scholarly languages. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, which was spoken by all of its Jewish audience. The Greek language at the time the New Testament was written had two forms. There was a common form which the common people spoke, and there was the high form which was reserved for scholars. All the books of the New Testament were written in common Greek. The intention was that everyone should be able to read it for themselves and understand it.

I recently heard a preacher say that Christians still need to keep the laws of the Old Testament. As evidence of that, he quoted Jesus, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." [Matthew 5:17 NASB] But we are taught in the book of Hebrews that we are under a New Covenant. (The words "testament" and "covenant" are interchangeable.) Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant so that He could usher in the New Covenant by His blood.

"For this is the covenant that I will  make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people." And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,' for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear." [Hebrews 8:10‭-‬13 NASB]

Under the New Covenant, we don't obey law written in stone or on pieces of paper. We obey the Lord as He speaks to our hearts. We don't follow the rules established by another person, but we each know God individually, and He teaches each one of us, according to our needs. 

He goes on to plainly say that the Old Covenant is obsolete.

Don't let religion steal away your relationship with God. The church rules and dogma are the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They will keep you so focused on what you should do and what you should know, that you will lose sight of Who you should know.

Matthew 16:1-4 Seeking a Sign

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, "When it is evening, you say, ' It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'  And in the morning, ' There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?  An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away. [Matthew 16:1‭-‬4 NASB]

Picture this for a moment: a man is brought to Jesus with a broken leg. He cannot work or earn a living. Jesus heals his leg. A woman is dying of a disease. Jesus eradicates the disease from her body, and she is well. Another man has lost his hand in a accident. Jesus touches him, and he has a new hand.

Jesus has performed miracles in the full view of thousands, and the His fame has spread through all Israel and the neighboring nations.

In the midst of this, the religious leaders say, "show us a sign."

Clearly, they are not interested in knowing God. They do not want to glorify the Lord for His good and mighty works. Their purpose in seeking a sign is to find a way to entrap Jesus.

Jesus is clever in turning the demands of these religious people back on them. They asked for a sign from heaven, so He points to the heavens. They can see the world around them. They can discern the appearance of the sky, but their minds are closed to spiritual truth.

Jesus is practicing what He preached when He said, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." [Matthew 7:6 NASB]

The only sign He would give, He said, was the sign of Jonah, which was a prophecy of His own death and resurrection.

I think it is natural for people to want a sign. Years ago, the church I was involved with experience a renewal movement, during which many people received miracles of healing. Many people were saved. During this time, we received visitors from all over the United States. A lot of these had been to other churches around the country, and to conferences that were exhibiting the same phenomenon.

Only God can judge their hearts, but their behavior indicates that they were traveling the country, seeking signs. It seems that they were never satisfied with knowing God. They wanted the external stimulation, not the internal relationship.

I don't question whether that movement was from God. Many people were drawn in and saved. Many lives were permanently changed. On the other hand, many lives remained unchanged. Some who had directly experience the power of God, fell into sin.

What they failed to realize is that signs and wonders do not cleanse your heart, nor do they produce long lasting change. Experiencing a miracle does not change your heart, unless you allow it to inspire you to have a closer relationship with God. But that choice is up to the individual.

The Sadducees and Pharisees saw many of the same miracles as the disciples. The disciples chose to draw close to Jesus and know Him. The religious people chose to stand apart.

Don't seek after signs. Jesus already gave us the greatest sign by rising from the dead. You can choose to accept that and follow Him, or you can be religious and stand apart from Him. The choice is yours, but I urge you to draw closer to Him.

Matthew 15:29-39 Feeding of Four Thousand

Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."  The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. [Matthew 15:29‭-‬39 NASB]

This almost feels like a re-run. Jesus healed the sick and lame, and fed the multitude.

There are some differences between this and the previous record.

First, and most obviously, this is a different crowd. In Matthew 14, Jesus fed five thousand, here he fed four thousand.

We see in the book of Mark that when Jesus left Tyre and Sidon, He went into the region called Decapolis, on the Eastern side of Galilee. This region was predominantly Gentile, so it is reasonable to think that the majority of the crowd that came to Jesus in this place were Gentiles. He fed the five thousand on the Western side of Galilee, which is predominantly Jewish. Even though Jesus was, as He said, "sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," [Matthew 15:24 NASB] He, nonetheless, went to the Gentiles. In His life, he made it clear that His ministry was to be for the whole world.

The reaction of the disciples is interesting. Having just recently witnessed the feeding of the five thousand, you would think that they would expect Jesus to provide for the crowd. However, when Jesus told them that the crowd needed to be fed, they responded, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" It's as if they had learned nothing.

Unfortunately, I don't think that their reaction is much different from what ours might be. How often has God proven Himself by providing for us? Yet when a crisis comes, how often do we fret as if He may not provide again?

I don't think that Matthew is being redundant in relating the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand. Jesus proved that He can provide by multiplying the fishes and the loaves. Then He did it again, proving that His provision is not a one time shot.

God has provided in the past, therefore we can have faith that He will provide in the future. When a crisis comes along, and we don't see where the answer will come from, that is the time to call out to Him and believe that He will provide.

Matthew 15:21-28 Intercession

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district 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 cruelly demon-possessed." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored 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!" And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. [Matthew 15:21‭-‬28 NASB]

This is the only occasion that we are told Jesus left Israel as an adult. He traveled north into Lebanon. We are not told why He went there, but I believe it was specifically to meet this woman.

Jesus' behavior in this instance is not consistent with what we normally see of Him. In other cases, whenever anyone asked His help, He was quick to respond. The mere fact of her being a gentile should not be an issue, since Jesus had already healed the servant of a Roman centurion. Also, Jesus approached the Samaritan woman at the well, and initiated a conversation with her.

When the Canaanite woman approached Jesus and asked Him to heal her daughter, He remained silent. In fact, He seems almost cruel in His treatment of her. But one thing we know about Jesus is that He is not cruel. Nor does act (nor fail to act) without reason.

It seems that by withholding an answer, Jesus tested her faith. And in that testing, her faith was strengthened. In the end, He said to her, "O woman, your faith is great."

We can learn valuable principles for intercessory prayer from the example of this woman's pleas.

1. Be persistent. His seeming indifference didn't discourage her. The disciples said, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." When you pray, you may not receive an answer right away, either yea or nay. Don't be discouraged, but keep on praying.
2. Answers to prayer are not based on your relationship to God, but on God's will and goodness. Jesus told her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." While Jesus taught that the gospel would be preached in all the nations, He limited Himself to Israel. As a non-Jew, she was not in the right relationship with Jesus. She did not let this stop her from coming to Him.
3. Worship before you receive an answer. She came and began to bow down before Him. This was an act of worship.
4. Identify with the object of your intercession. The woman bowed down before Jesus and said, "Lord, help me!" She was interceding for her daughter who was demon-possessed, then having made the need known, she prayed, "Help me!"
5. She was humble before the Lord. Most of us, if we were called a dog, would storm off in a huff saying "Who does He think He is?" Instead, she accepted her lowly state, and asked for crumbs. She didn't elevate herself in any way, nor try to make the case that either she or her daughter deserved mercy. She merely asked for grace.

We are told, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." [Jeremiah 29:13 NASB] Don't be discouraged when it seems that your prayers are not being answered. Allow your faith to be tested. If you persevere, your faith will grow strong through the testing.

Matthew 15:10-20 Unwashed Hands

After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand.  It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."   Then 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 shall be uprooted.  Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."   Peter said to Him, "Explain the parable to us." Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?  Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?  But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.  These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." [Matthew 15:10‭-‬20 NASB]

To put this in context, the Pharisees had just accused Jesus' disciples of breaking tradition by not washing their hands. Jesus asked in turn why the Pharisees break the Law to honor traditions.

After calling them out for their hypocrisy, Jesus answers them, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

Of course, Jesus isn't advocating poor hygiene. The washing of hands that the Pharisees are speaking of is a formal ritual of cleansing. It was not commanded in the Law, but was taught as tradition which, as Jesus has just demonstrated, the Pharisees held in higher esteem than the Law.

In effect, Jesus is telling the Pharisees that, not only do their traditions violate the Law, they don't even make sense.

I find the disciples' reaction to be humorous. They come to Jesus, get Him away from the crowd, and speak to Him as if they are telling Him something He doesn't know. For His part, Jesus doesn't mock them, but gives a serious answer.

First, He says, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted." He's referring to tradition. One day, all the traditions of men; every variety of religious teaching that is not from God will be done away with, leaving only the pure word of God.

Next, concerning the Pharisees, He says, "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind."

When we encounter traditions that are counter to the word of God, we are to reject the traditions in favor of God's word. Regarding the people who promote such traditions, Jesus said, "Let them alone." I take this to mean that we are not to argue with such people nor should we try to convince them.

Paul said, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." [Romans 14:1 NASB] Those who are weak in the faith rely upon rules and tradition in its place. He goes on to say, "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s." [Romans 14:4-8 NASB]

As God, Jesus can judge. As men, we cannot. Rather, we are to accept one another as we find each other, and let God be the judge.

If you have grown up with a tradition of rules and church law, I would urge you to seek God for the faith to walk in grace. The Spirit of God guides us into freedom.

Matthew 15:1-9 Traditions

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do Your disciples break the tradition 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 transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?  For God said, ' honor  your father and mother,' and, 'he 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,"  he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:  'this people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. 'But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'" [Matthew 15:1‭-‬9 NASB]

This is the danger of religion. Are all traditions bad? No. Some traditions are harmless, and some honor God.

Christmas is a tradition that we commonly practice. Skeptics love to point out that Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25th. The date was chosen because of some pagan holiday. Their intent is to discredit Christmas as a holiday. But I say, "So what?" If we choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus on that day, then we have redeemed that day to honor Him.

It's the same with Easter. If we choose to Honor Jesus by celebrating His resurrection, then we have redeemed the day. In each case, tradition doesn't violate the Word of God. Even though Christmas and Easter aren't proscribed in the Bible, neither are they prohibited. We don't celebrate because of commandment, but by conscious choice to follow a tradition, and to honor God.

There are other traditions that are harmful. Their are some traditional churches that teach praying to saints. They make statues, which they bow down to, and pray to Mary, or angels, or whatever saint they prefer. This is in violation of the Commandment, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me," [Exodus 20:4-5 NASB]

Jesus taught that we should pray like this, "Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name." [Matthew 6:9 NASB] He said, "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father." [John 16:26-27 NASB]

Jesus taught us that we are to pray directly to the Father in Jesus' name. Any prayers to saints or angels, or any carved image or likeness is idolatry. So, in that case, the tradition of the church invalidates the word of God.

Protestant churches are just as guilty of putting tradition above the word of God. I was raised in a tradition that taught a strict adherence to church law. You will not dance, you will not touch alcohol, you will not attend movie theaters. They became like the church in Galatia to whom Paul wrote, "You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" [Galatians 3:1-3 NASB]. In the same way, they taught grace for salvation, but sanctification required an adherence to their rules.

Other churches have their own traditions. The "once saved, always saved" doctrine flies in the face of  Hebrews 6:4-6, "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." [Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB] Some make the argument that if they have fallen away, then they were never truly saved, but Hebrews 6:4-5 is a thorough description of a Christian, leaving no doubt as to the author's intent.

In summary, what I'm saying is this: Examine your traditions from a Biblical perspective. Hold on to those which are good. Be ready to surrender any tradition that violates the word of God.

I left the denomination I was saved in because of a tradition of legalism. Your walk with God - in truth and in Spirit - is more important than any church or tradition. If you can stay in your church and not follow ungodly traditions, then you should stay. If your church would require you to violate the word of God for the sake of tradition, then they are forcing you to choose between tradition and God. I urge you to choose God.

Matthew 14:22-36 Walking on Water

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea....Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"  When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!" [Matthew 14:22‭-‬36 NASB]

After the death of John the Baptist, Jesus got in a boat and went to a secluded place to be alone. The crowds, however, followed him on land an met Him in that place. Jesus, having compassion on them, set aside His own grief to heal the sick. Instead of having time for Himself, He spent the day - into the evening - helping others.

Finally, He sent the crowds away, as well as His disciples, so that He could be alone. He processed the death of John the Baptist by getting alone with the Father in prayer. What a wonderful example this is for us. When overwhelmed by life - the grief of loss, the demands of others - it may seem impossible to find time to get alone with God in prayer. That is when you need to make the time.

Jesus went up into the mountains alone in the evening. He came down during the fourth watch of the night, or roughly 3:00 or 4:00 AM, walking on the water.

This is one of the most told and retold events of the Bible. The obvious life application is also retold in countless sermons: keep your eyes on Jesus and not on the storm, but if you falter, call on Him and He will be there to rescue you.

What strikes me is that Jesus describes Peter as having "little faith"

It must be a matter of perspective. What I see is the one and only person to step out of the boat in the first place. Yes, he allowed doubt to enter when he saw the winds. Relative to Jesus, Peter had little faith. But, since he actually stepped out of the boat, relative to the other disciples, he had extreme faith.

Peter had an advantage that we no longer have. He could physically see and hear Jesus calling him onto the water. Without that clear calling, if I went out in a boat and stepped out onto the water, it wouldn't be faith, but presumption. There is no reason to assume the God would honor my presumption of stepping out without a calling by allowing me to walk on the water.

If, however, you have confidence, and your heart bears witness that He has called you, then by all means, step out. This applies to any calling, whether it be full-time ministry, or weekend volunteerism, or being His witness at work.

According to Jesus, it only takes a little faith to step out. It takes great faith to continue without doubting.

A little faith will get you out of the boat, but extreme faith will get you across the water.