Matthew 15: Kingdom Faith

Kingdom Faith goes beyond external appearances to transform hearts, challenge persistence, and build on God's past faithfulness in our lives. Pastor Brandon explores Matthew 15 where Jesus confronts religious hypocrisy, rewards persistent faith, and demonstrates consistent provision.

• Jesus challenges the Pharisees for valuing traditions over true heart transformation
• External religious activities mean nothing if they're used to circumvent genuine righteousness
• Understanding the cultural context of Jewish teaching through respectful questioning
• Jesus wasn't being racist to the Gentile woman - he was gently testing her faith with a smile
• True Kingdom Faith persists through resistance rather than giving up
• Even after seeing Jesus feed 5,000 people, the disciples still doubted He could feed 4,000
• God rarely repeats Himself in exactly the same way - He's creative in His provision
• Faith requires heart righteousness, spiritual resilience, and remembering God's faithfulness

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Kingdom Faith
• 5:54 Pharisees Question Jesus's Traditions
• 9:38 Heart Defilement vs. External Purity
• 13:54 The Gentile Woman's Persistent Faith
• 16:09 Feeding Four Thousand People
• 18:34 Three Challenges of Kingdom Faith

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, matthew, chapter 15, and today's title is Kingdom Faith, kingdom Faith, and we're going to get to all that in just a moment. So, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Matthew, chapter 15. While you're doing that, make sure you take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and it doesn't cost you anything and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. And, for those of you who are new and we've had a lot of new listeners recently on both the YouTube channel and the podcast, especially the podcast, which is good, because you are always going to be my favorites but we have done something that we are slowly doing, and that is we've created a website called TheBibleBreakdowncom, and the main reason for that is BibleBreakdowncom was not available, but we have created this as a kind of a hub where we are putting the daily podcast, the YouTube channel and devotionals and stuff like that, and one day we're going to try to move all of the conversation from Facebook so that it's happening on Facebook and on the blog, because we have more and more people all the time who are telling us that they want to engage but they don't do the Facebook thing. So we're trying to find a way to interact with as many people as possible. So if you don't do the Facebook thing, then you can go to thebiblebreakdowncom and you can engage there. Okay, all right. Well, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Matthew, chapter 15.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Remember, the overall goal of Matthew is to help us understand about King Jesus, and as we've been talking about is there are four Gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John, and all four of them are a different point of view on who Jesus is, was, what his ministry was, and you know Mark is talking about a lot of the suffering of the Savior. Luke was an orderly tale of the gospel. John was really focused on the message of Jesus, and Matthew was primarily written to a Jewish audience and so he was all about telling them that Jesus is the king. That's why, in chapter 1, he brings receipts and he says, at the very least, you know, jesus is the king of, of our world Right. He's the. He is the earthly right to rule, but he is so much more than that. That's why chapter two through twenty eight he is talking about all the rest of the things about Jesus and, as we have been talking about just to kind of remind you a little bit we've been talking about the idea that Matthew could really be subdivided into five different categories, and this category right now is really now talking about what the kingdom of heaven looks like in action.

Speaker 1: 3:18

And so as we get into chapter 15, we're going to see this pattern that is developing, and what the pattern usually is is you will have two or three chapters where Jesus will teach about the kingdom of God, and then there'll be two or three chapters where he goes about and does the business of the kingdom of God. Chapter 15 is one of those chapters, and so he is going to cover various different aspects, or various different aspects are going to be covered, and I want to tell you about something really quickly I'm taking a little time here because there is something that is very misunderstood about the Pharisees. Now we're going to open up with the Pharisees questioning Jesus, and I want to make sure we understand I am not a fan of the Pharisees. Okay, they were openly against Jesus, all the stuff. But there is this idea that the Pharisees completely discounted Jesus the whole time and that the fact that they were questioning Jesus meant that they were constantly attacking him. Now, that is true, but in the culture of the time, part of how a teacher would teach would be to debate, answer questions and that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1: 4:23

As a matter of fact, there is a famous Jewish rabbi who was said to have gone into a community and started teaching the Torah, the first five books of Moses, to the people. Famous Jewish rabbi who was said to have gone into a community and started teaching the Torah first five books of Moses, to the people, and no one was saying anything, no one was questioning him, no one was pushing back on him, and all this and he kept teaching, and he kept teaching and finally he stopped and just yelled out if no one disagrees, how are we going to learn anything? And so in the culture it was expected, as almost a form of respect, to ask questions to the teacher and the rabbi push back, dig deeper, challenge so that you could learn. That would give the rabbi a chance to go deeper. And so it was not out of order at all.

Speaker 1: 5:05

There's this mental idea that Jesus is teaching in a synagogue somewhere and then the Pharisees speak out and ask questions and that was like rude or something. No, they were actually well within their right and well within what they were supposed to do to challenge Jesus. What they didn't expect is the wisdom of the King, and so we're gonna see some of that today. So we're gonna jump into this and see how Jesus is being asked these questions by the Pharisees. But I want to just give credit where credit is due, like call a spade a spade, whatever. They're not out of order at this, but this also gives Jesus a chance to show who he is. So if you're ready, kind of a little bit different perspective now on what's going on, let's read Matthew 15. Here we go. Verse one says this Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus and they asked him why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition?

Speaker 1: 5:58

For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand-washing before they eat. Jesus replied and why do you, by your tradition, violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, god says 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. I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you. In this way, you say you don't need to honor your parents, and so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. Hypocrites, isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as the commandments from God Now pause.

Speaker 1: 6:52

What are they? What is he talking about? Well, what was apparently becoming a common thing is people would go to the temple and they would tell the priest hey, I want to give this portion of land over to the temple and it can be sold and the money be taken to put in the temple. And then agreement would happen where, as long as that person was living, the land would be theirs. However, they no longer could sell it, they no longer could give it to anybody else because it was promised to the temple. And by doing this, what would happen is they would get around having to take care of anyone else, because they would say you can't come live on my land, I can't give you the money that is taken from the land because I've already given it to God when I die. So it was a sneaky little way of them kind of cheating those people around them. And Jesus is saying you act like you're doing something holy, but really you're actually doing more harm than good. So it's a very kind of sneaky way of doing this right. Verse 10,.

Speaker 1: 7:49

Then Jesus called the crowd to come and hear. Listen, he said, and try to understand. It is not what goes into your mouth that defiles you. You are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth. Then the disciples came to him and asked Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said? In other words, do you realize you just kind of told their dirty laundry out loud? Jesus replied Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted. So ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. Then Peter said to Jesus Explain to us the parable that says people are not defiled by what they eat. Do you not understand? Yet Jesus asked Anything you eat passes through the stomach and goes into the sewer. So, in other words, theft, lying and slander, these are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you. So in other words, jesus is saying if you want to put things in a list of hierarchy, what matters most is what comes from the inside. Then think about what is on the outside. A form of godliness is nowhere near as important as what you are truly doing in your heart.

Speaker 1: 9:15

All right, this next part is one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament, so we're going to take some time with this one. Verse 21 says Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. This is where the Gentiles lived, people who had open hostility to the Jewish people. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him pleading have mercy on me, o Lord, son of David, for my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely. But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then the disciples urged him to send her away. Tell her to go away. They said she is bothering us with all of her begging. Then Jesus said to the woman I was sent only to help the lost sheep, god's lost sheep, the people of Israel. But then she came and she worshiped him, pleading Lord, help me. And Jesus responded Isn't it? It isn't right take food from the children and throw it to the dogs. She replied true, lord, but even the dogs are allowed to eat scraps that fall beneath the master's table. Dear woman, jesus said to her your faith is great, your request is granted. And her daughter was instantly healed.

Speaker 1: 10:26

Now pause, take a moment with this, because I have had conversations with people who said I don't think I can serve Jesus. Well, why is that? Look at how Jesus was so very racist and mean to this lady. Can you explain that to me please? And they would say well, obviously she is a Gentile. And he says I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. And even more, he calls her a dog. And that's terrible, because it is true that there were types of dogs in the time, wild dogs, that were dangerous, and so people would just struggle. But this is why digging deeper is so important. That's, first of all, not the kind of dog that he was talking about, but also understand what's happening here.

Speaker 1: 11:09

This lady is not a God fearing, god worshiping person. Most likely, she's a Gentile. She's from Tyre and Sidon, she is most likely polytheistic or a pagan, and she is coming to Jesus and she is saying only you can help me, only you can help me. And she's worshiping and he's saying it isn't right to take what is intended first for the children of God and throw it to the dogs. Well, think about it for a moment. He isn't talking about the Greek word for this. If you do the etymology of this and the morphology, you look deeper into the meaning. This and the morphology. You look deeper into the meaning. This isn't a stray dog that is dangerous. It's a family pet, it is an honored member of the family, it's a lap dog, it's the spoiled dog.

Speaker 1: 11:58

And so actually, what he's saying, and so you can imagine Jesus is saying this with a smile on his face, kind of a wink wink, whereas other people would have called her a dog, but a different type of dog. He is saying a sweet little puppy. And so he is smiling when he says this and he's saying you know, it's not right to give what is intended right now, cause he cause he says at this particular season, I'm here to preach to the Jewish people, but it is going to go to the rest of the world, like that's already been established in the book of, in the book of Matthew. But he's saying during this season, you know, I'm supposed to be here just for the people of Israel. It's not right to give it to sweet people like you. And then she says I know, but even people like me need what you have. And he says, okay, there you go. You said it right. So he's not, he's not being mean to her, he's pushing on a little bit. He's. He's, he's actually kind of, he's being sweet to her. In a way, if you really look at the definition of what's going on, he's not being hateful. He's saying do you, you know why? Do you think I should do this? You know, I'm only supposed to be here for the Jewish people right now. And she's like I know, but we need you too, jesus, you're right, you do Go ahead. So, if you look at it very differently, this is not a story of Jesus being mean to her. He's actually being very kind to this lady. All right, verse 29,.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Jesus returned to the sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak and many others. They laid them before Jesus and Jesus healed them all. The crowds were amazed. Those who hadn't been able to speak were talking, those who were crippled were made well, the lame were walking and the blind could see again, and they praised God, the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples to them. I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days and they have nothing left to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry. They will grow faint along the way. The disciples replied where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd? Well, how much bread do you have, jesus asked. They replied seven loaves and a few small fish. And then Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them and broke them into pieces and he gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd and they all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up the seven large baskets of leftover food and there was 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to women and children. Then Jesus sent the people home and he got into a boat and he crossed over to the region of Magadon. Well, wow, there's a lot there to look at.

Speaker 1: 14:41

We could look at how Jesus says on the first part. He says hey, make sure that you don't do things just to be seen by others. Make sure you don't do good things in order to cheat people of what's actually right, because you can do the right to be seen by others. Make sure you don't do good things in order to cheat people of what's actually right, because you can do the right things for the wrong reasons. Then he looks at this lady and he challenges her to really push in a little bit deeper. Do you want this healing? Well, push in, seek after me just a little bit more. Don't give up the first time you experience some kind of resistance, but seek a little bit further. And then, when he ends it, he challenges even his disciples let's feed the people. Well, remember, he's already fed 5,000, but they're still going. How are we going to feed these people? By trusting what God's already done in the past. That's why we call this chapter kingdom faith, because faith causes us to be righteous in what we do. Faith causes us to not give up at the first sign of resistance and faith causes us to remember what God has done in the past, to trust what he's going to do in the future.

Speaker 1: 15:42

So my question for you is what next step do you need to take? Is it possible that sometimes you find yourself caught up in doing the right things but, for the wrong reasons, thinking that the end justifies the means? That's not what the kingdom of heaven is all about. The kingdom of heaven is about righteousness, peace, joy and the Holy Spirit. You need to take a course correction.

Speaker 1: 16:06

Maybe you're one of these people who, because of trouble you've experienced in the past, at the first sign of resistance you tend to fold, tend to give up, you struggle with having spiritual resilience. Can I tell you, don't give up. If God has given you a promise in his word, he will perform it. And so just because you experienced resistance doesn't mean that God has changed his mind. It might just mean that it's time for you to dig in a little bit deeper. And then, if God has done something before, he is fateful and will do it again.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Now it'll look different. The first time when Jesus fed the 5,000, he used five loaves of bread and two fish. This time, with 4,000 people, he used seven loaves of bread and it says a few small fish, so it wasn't the exact same thing. We should never expect God to do the exact same thing the exact same way every single time. God is a creative God. God is the king over all the universe. He'll always do things a little bit differently, just because he can. Our job is to not figure God out, even though we never stop seeking after him as a form of worship. Our job is to trust him that if he did it before, he'll do it again. Let's pray together right now.

Speaker 1: 17:14

God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, for your wisdom and your kindness toward us. Thank you, god, that you never give up on us. Thank you, god, that a sign of resistance is not a sign of failure. It's not a sign you're not going to do something. But even in those moments, god, you're doing more than we realize. My prayer today, god, is that you will help us to trust you more. You are faithful in all things. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Matthew 28, verse 19,. If you've got it memorized, say it with me. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Matthew, chapter 16.