Hypocrisy of Pharisees
Matthew 15:1-9 begins this chapter with the scribes and Pharisees trying to find fault with the Christ centered movement that was gaining a huge popular following everywhere Jesus went. They asked why the disciples didn't wash their hands before eating bread. Today, although the value of clean hands when eating would be considered admirable, nobody would question a religious leader's followers for not taking time to wash their hands. You won't find a particular order in the Bible for normal people to do so either. There were ceremonial rules for the priests when dealing with sacred things which required washing hands, but no general proscription.
So where did this come from? Well, the scribes had made it a thing as they commented on the law. And the body of words that expounded on the law that God had given was large. You could probably say the same about this commentary, but I do provide scripture links to the subject matter, and be clear that what the subject matter says is the source you should go by. If you're looking for some uplifting or challenging commentary to go along with it, read my comments. But you should absolutely not forsake the reading of the actual text to read this.
The Pharisees really should have known better by now, but perhaps this was a group who hadn't kept up with Jesus' responses to other Pharisees and were unprepared. I don't know how widespread the practice that Jesus mentions was among the Jewish people. Here,Jesus condemns people finding a corrupt priest who, for a small fee, would declare something dedicated to God so that it wouldn't have to be used to support parents in their elderly or disabled portions of life. To be clear, this is still a problem in some families as they try to shield assets from being counted as parental for qualification for medical care for example.
Jesus condemns the practice saying that the people were giving lip service, if that, when their hearts were scheming evil. They were worshiping in vain because instead of teaching God's laws, they were teaching what men felt the laws should mean. Reiterating what was previously said, whatever you read here, whatever you read in another website, whatever your local preacher says, whatever some other online teacher says, it is your responsibility to know what the word of God says.
We live in a time (post Acts 2), when God does give words of knowledge, wisdom, and prophecy to guide His church. However, those will never run counter to what God's word declares to be truth. It is true that we aren't under the sacrificial system of the Law that the Jews were under before Christ was killed on the cross. He put that portion of the law to death. But the portions of the law describing good and evil in God's eyes is still there to condemn anyone who doesn't accept Christ as Savior. And if you find yourself in a position of not having modern refrigeration or food preserving abilities at some point in the future, the dietary laws would still server a purpose.
Skipping ahead a couple verses to Matthew 15:12-14, the disciples point out that Jesus had offended the Pharisees by pointing out their hypocrisy, and doing it in front of the multitude.
I think that most would say that giving offense in what you say is rarely beneficial in witnessing or presenting a Christian image. But the Holy Spirit led Jesus to say what He did. He wasn't lying to them. He was telling them flat out that they were hypocritical in complaining to Him that His disciples weren't following their extensions of the law when they were skirting the real law themselves.
I'm quite sure that there are pages in this collection of websites that have the possibility of giving offense to some or all. There are ways that I read some parts of scripture that may not match up with what you were taught or believe. Jonah dying and being resurrected instead of being preserved alive in the big fish may be an example. While my ideas about Revelation and Daniel, formed mostly by Dake, are fairly mainline, there are certainly whole groups who look at them as historical or treat the symbology differently. Only time will tell who was correct.
I'm also very certain that my views on abortion offend many. My views on creation offend the Answers in Genesis folk, but I think that they are scriptural and fit both science and the Bible much better than what the AIG group holds true. And politics - well I'm pretty sure everyone is mad about something I've posted there.
These issues don't affect salvation. All Christians agree on the path to heaven (with the exception of the LDS group who seem to think that their traditions and proxy baptisms will make a difference and whom I have probably offended as well.)
But our culture is no different than that of Jesus day. There are things going on that aren't right, have never been right, and should come to an end. Some of that is secular, but some of it is religious. We don't have to spend all our time criticizing what is wrong. But if God tells us to speak out on something, we need to do so.
And here's the short list that came to mind today... The Catholic church, in particular, needs to clean up the issues with priests and priests who have been promoted who are sinning or who have sinned abusing children. They need to finally admit that when Paul said it was good to not be married that this condition was only true if you were able to keep from sinning. Denominations need to stop allowing homosexual pastors and leaders. Yes, seek to save everyone, but once saved, repent. Others need to allow women to be pastors. And all need to seek more of the presence of the Holy Spirit by baptism and day to day. False religions or corruptions of Christianity need to be shunned. Pray for those who are lost in religions that may name Christ but deny His reality as God that they will see the truth and be set free. Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts, eyes, ears, and minds of those who have chosen a false religion or no religion to be receptive to the Gospel Message.
Christ probably would have never gone into the temple and taken up the topic of trying to get out of caring for aged parents on His own to condemn the Pharisees. Maybe He would have, but He seems to always concentrate on spreading His kingdom message and helping the people instead. But when confronted with men's traditions, the Holy Spirit prompted Him to say what He did. We need to be like Christ in this world. There is plenty of bad that we could waste time on. But we are called to preach Jesus. If God gives us a side mission, by all means do it and then get back to the primary mission. Be like Christ and concentrate on the end goal. You can be certain that Satan is.
Let Jesus words in these verses be a guide. In the fullness of time, anything that isn't true is going to be revealed. If it wasn't from the Father, it is going to be torn out by the roots. I doubt the "church" in heaven will look much like any denomination today. We all need to try to come closer to what God wants us to be.
But railing against them in picket lines or protests isn't the answer either. As Christ said - Let them alone. When the blind are leading the blind, they will all eventually fall into a ditch. It's possible that after that, they might be more receptive to the truths that Christians should be teaching and to God and Jesus Christ.
What Defiles
I skipped over Matthew 15:10-11 to finish with the offense of the Pharisees, but I'll continue now with Jesus description of true problems and His comments on His saying to the disciples in Matthew 15:15-20 .
To address the concerns that the Pharisees were going on about, Jesus said that what went into the mouth didn't ultimately defile a man. It was what came out of the mouth that was the problem - our words. Jesus wasn't saying that you couldn't get sick no matter what you eat either. That isn't what defile meant. And clearly, there are viruses and bacteria that could be spread with unwashed hands that could be a problem. So don't take what He said the wrong way.
He simply declared that the act of eating, regardless of your cleansing ritual was a normal act and wouldn't defile you. What goes in comes out, through some bodily orifice, after providing nutrition for various parts of the body through the normal digestive process. The waste is just that. It is a normal biological process.
What we say, however, comes from our heart and mind. They have the potential to defile. Out of the heart comes all sorts of words that cause problems, and ultimately acts that are sinful follow. It is that sin that ultimately defiles. Jesus first question shows His thoughts about Peter's question - Are ye also yet without understanding? Haven't you mastered the basics yet? How are you unable to see this clearly?
Only one of those is written, but many may have gone through His mind. The thing is that after 2,000 or so years and book after book and sermon after sermon, Christ is probably still asking the same question of us and church and denominational leaders. How do you not get it yet?
Canaanite Woman's Daughter Freed from Demonic Possession
Matthew 15:21-28 follows Christ's journey as He then travels to Tyre and Sidon. There, a woman from Canaan came to Jesus asking help for her daughter who was vexed by a devil. God's will was to provide for the Jews first, with the Gentiles following. So Jesus didn't answer her immediately, and His disciples tried to get Jesus to send her away because she was crying out for help and disturbing them.
Finally, He acknowledged her and told her He was sent first to the house of Israel, to save them. She came near Him and worshiped Him, and again asked help for her daughter.
Jesus replied that He was focused on the Jewish people and needed to give His time and effort to them. But she replied that even dogs ate crumbs which fell from the masters' table.
Jesus replied that she had great faith, and granted her request. Her daughter was made whole from that hour. I suspect that God at least tries to provide direction to every person who works in His church. But this example here should be kept in mind by all Christians.
Always listen to the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction. It is all His work, after all. If God wants you to do something out of the ordinary and you feel it through the Holy Spirit, then follow His lead. Jesus was called to the Jews, primarily. But the faith of the Canaanite woman touched God's heart and He made an exception to His plan, just for her. God made the exception.
If He should make an exception to what you thought was His plan for your life, and ask you to do something out of the ordinary, do it. The first time will be hard, but it will get easier as time goes on. And by that I mean hearing and knowing the voice of God speaking with you will be easier. The tasks He asks may well get harder and harder. But faith will grow that He is able to direct and do according to His will. To God be the glory.
God opened up Peter's mind to extending his ministry to the Gentiles [Acts 10:1-31]. Paul was called primarily to extend Christianity to the Gentiles although he normally spoke to the Jews first when he entered a new city. Today, there should be no excluded groups. Everyone needs to hear about Jesus, whether they are in a foreign country, a foreign country that is controlled by those of a false or no religion, or people here at home. The harvest fields are white [Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; John 4:35; Revelation 14:15].
More People Healed
Matthew 15:29-31 again records a great multitude of people who came to Jesus. Among them were people who needed to be healed. Some couldn't speak, some were maimed, some were lame, some were blind, and all were healed. All were great miracles, and the crowd glorified God when they saw the great things done.
God is still in the miracle business. If you're a Christian leader, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then seek to be used of God in all of the gifts of the Spirit (healing, miracles, faith, discerning of spirits, words of prophecy, knowledge and wisdom, and if needed to communicate, tongues and interpretation [1 Corinthians 12:9-11]). It is likely that not everyone will operate in all the gifts [1 Corinthians 12:27-31] but we should all seek to be used however God needs whenever He needs.
Just always try to have the fruit of the Spirit growing in you at the same rate (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance [Galatians 5:22-23]). Determine in your heart from the start to take no glory for yourself and give all glory for what God is doing to God. Lift up the name of Jesus. See if God doesn't work today just as He did then.
Feeding of 4,000+
The chapter closes [Matthew 15:32-39] with Jesus again having compassion on the multitude of people who had followed them into a wilderness area who had gone three days without food. When Jesus told this to the disciples they again panicked because they didn't know where they would find bread for such a large group of people.
Jesus asked for their provisions and they said they had seven loaves and a few fish among them. Jesus told the people t sit down and when He gave thanks for the provisions, He gave them to the disciples to distribute. When done, and everyone had eaten and were filled, after going three days without food, they took up seven baskets of food after feeding 4,000 men and women and children.
We all have needs of one form or another. Some needs may be ours due to poor decisions on our part. Others may be present due to poor decisions on the part of others. Natural disasters and wars can cause many more.
We aren't exempt from suffering or trials just because we have accepted Christ as Savior. In fact, we are warned that we are likely to face even greater problems because the world will hate us just like it hated Christ, before us. But in the midst of all of the issues that plague us, remember that the same God who had compassion on the hungry multitude that were seeking Him hasn't changed.
Seek first the kingdom of God. Trust in God. Support His work regularly with tithes and offerings. Know that whatever happens, in the end, if you have lived for God and accepted Christ as Savior, that there is a better home awaiting than anything money can buy on earth.