Last time, we watched as many of Christ’s followers (except for the apostles) abandoned Him because they found His preaching to be too radical and / or obtuse. (See Watch Jesus Continue to Pursue Your Salvation).
At the very same time, Jesus was approached by the Pharisees, (the ones who doubted / feared Him the most), to try to trap Him in a way that His behavior would violate the Mosaic Law. That way, Christ could be tried and executed for blasphemy. For example:
So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?” Mk. 7:5 AMP
The Pharisees invented litanies for how to eat, how to use and clean cooking utensils, even for discerning one’s place at the table. Following these man-made rules were supposed to keep one spiritually pure. On this occasion, they were looking to see if Jesus was teaching the apostles to disobey Pharisaical law.
In response, Christ lambastes them:
He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],
‘These people honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
‘They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense],
Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].’[1]
You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.” Mk. 7:6 – 9. AMP
Jesus is alluding to the worthlessness of the Pharisee’s traditions.
The Pharisees claimed that they spoke for God. But in fact, they were twisting Scripture by adding to or subtracting from His words. Not a good thing. Jehovah God tells us of the prohibition Himself:
You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. Dt. 4:2 CSB
One such violation is a Pharisee tradition that allows one to ignore their parents in need, in violation of the 5th of the Ten Commandments:
(For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you. ’In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Mk. 7:10 – 13. NLT)
Further vilifying the Pharisees, Jesus calls out to a crowd of people nearby as He delivers His final say about their complaint regarding His apostles’ cleanliness habits:
“…there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.” Mk. 7:15 AMP
After His dust-up with the Pharisees, the apostles took Jesus to a nearby house and asked Him to elaborate upon what He meant when He addressed the crowd earlier. A slightly frustrated Jesus reiterates:
He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean). And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.” Mk. 7:18 – 23. CSB
Note that Satan cannot force you to do anything. He only makes suggestions. Thus, if you transgress the word of God, you are doing it of your own free will. You are responsible for your own actions.
Jesus and the apostles then travel to the region of Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon). It was only one of two trips that He ever made out of Israel. While there, He is approached by a Phoenician woman who begged Him to cast out a demon-infestation in her daughter. Christ replies:
“I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” Mt. 15:24 NLT
The Gentile woman was aware that God had sent Him to save the Jews first. After all, they are God’s first children, regardless of how frequently they’ve disobeyed Him. He promised that He would save them first, then the non-Jews (Gentiles), when He spoke to Abraham so many centuries earlier:
(Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” Gn. 22:15 – 18. NLT)
Jesus reminds the woman of His godly mandate:
“It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs.” Mt. 15:26 AMP
He is rightly following His heavenly charge. But she stands her ground and persists in her pleas:
“That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” Mt. 15:27 NLT
Jesus is so moved by her petition that He honors her faith and heals her daughter:
“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed. Mt. 15:28 NLT
Afterwards, Jesus traveled to His second Gentile destination, the Decapolis, a region consisting of 10 cities spread across the countries of Jordan, parts of Israel (Judea), and Syria.
During that time, Jesus healed the sick from a crowd of 4000, and He fed them as well, starting out with 7 loaves of bread.
Jesus and His apostles returned to the region of Galilee, only to be accosted again by the Pharisees, who asked Him to provide them with a supernatural sign to prove that He is the Messiah. Just like the last time He was confronted with this same request[2], He answered in kind:
Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah” Then Jesus left them and went away. Mt. 16:4 NLT
Again, Jesus is saying that like Noah was inside the fish for 3 days, He too would be interred in the earth for 3 days after His crucifixion before He is resurrected from death.
After this, Christ and His disciples set sail for the opposite shore of the sea of Galilee. There, He healed a blind man. Then, they traveled on to the district of Caesarea Philippi, located in the northernmost region of Israel.
Upon arrival, Jesus asked the apostles to tell Him who the people through He was. They answered:
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Mt. 16:14 NLT
Immediately afterwards, He asked them who they (the apostles) thought He was. Peter speaks up:
“You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” Mt. 16:16 AMP
Jesus immediately answers Peter’s description:
Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this [rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ]. I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.” Mt. 16:17 – 19. AMP
Jesus is telling Peter that he could not have deduced His true nature unless God opened his spiritual eyes. He is also exercising a little wordplay with Peter’s name. It is derived from the Greek ‘petros’, which means ‘rock’. Jesus is referring to Peter’s rock-like faith as the foundational faith that He will build His church upon. (This is the first time the word ‘church’ is used in the Bible.)
What Jesus is not saying, is that Peter has a more special relationship with Him than the other apostles. They all (sans Judas Iscariot) had equal authority in the Church, and each held the keys to the Kingdom.
You too can hold your own key. It’s always about the faith…,
Goodnight and God Bless.
[1] Is. 29:13
[2] Mt. 12:39
Leave a Reply