skip to Main Content

February 6, 2021

Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.

Reading along with us in Matthew? Here’s today’s reading:

Matthew 15 (NIV)

That Which Defiles
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”........Continue Reading

Next: Matthew 16

Back: Matthew 14

This Post Has 9 Comments
  1. Jesus talking about what goes in our mouth and comes out of our mouth is finished by Jesus literally feeding thousands…
    We are what we eat and if we do not eat from the bread of life and the word of God what comes out will not be of God. I always tell my kids “garbage in garbage out” and this chapter represents how important this is to God as well!

  2. Jesus states that His message is for the Jews. “Dog” is always an insult in the Bible. This woman humbly accepts herself as a “dog” with regard to the children of Israel. She is rewarded for her faith.

    And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
    But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
    Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
    But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
    And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
    Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

  3. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
    8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
    9 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”

  4. 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

  5. What might appear obvious to us now was not obvious to the Jews who thought more about was on the outside than what was on the inside. Hence, why Jesus would say their hearts were far from Him. And we do live in a world today that at times is more concerned about what they eat…avoiding carbs, sugar, red meat, etc…..than what they say. And yet what comes out of the mouth is much more important because it reveals more about us and has wider and greater effect.

    And in His interaction with this Canaanite woman Jesus, shows that He doesn’t always make it easy, but for those who persevere and press in, He provides. Her faith was great by continuing to seek an answer even when the apostles were rebuffing her and Jesus was challenging her.

    And Jesus once again feeds a large group of people with a little food. God has always been in the business of taking what little we offer and making it more than we imagine or deserve…..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top