Sermon On the Net

 

 

WORSHIP IN VAIN

 

 

Matthew 15: Some Pharisees and teachers of the law approached Jesus and questioned why His disciples were not washing their hands before eating which was a practice at the time. He answered them with a question as to why they don’t honor their father or mother in a proper manner, because when they do they say it is a gift devoted to God. He tells them that they nullify the word of God because of their tradition. Jesus says in verse 9: “They worship me in vain, their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

 

Jesus then exhorts the crowd in verse 11: “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of the mouth, that is what makes him unclean.” People generally speak from the heart; therefore what they say should be considered before they say it. When people speak evil thoughts it is these words that make a person unclean, not eating with unwashed hands.

 

A woman from Canaan approached Jesus because she had a daughter who was sick and she knew, because of her faith, that He could heal her. Jesus used a parable to explain to her that the time of the Gentiles was not at hand yet and He was concerned only with the Jewish nation; verse 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” But she insisted and begged for His healing and He did heal the girl because of the mother’s faith.

 

Jesus continued to preach and teach the crowds and then He realized they had been following Him for three days and needed to eat. The disciples told Him they only had seven baskets of bread and a few fish. Jesus told them to bring them to Him and He gave thanks for the bread and then had the disciples pass the food around. When they finished eating they still had seven basketfuls of leftover bread. The number that was fed was 4,000 plus the women and children.

 

A very interesting lesson in this chapter deals with religions and the religious people creating rules and regulations which place a heavy burden on people taking their attention away from the things pertaining to what God wants. It is obvious throughout the New Testament that God does not want sacrifices nor does He want people to sacrifice. Yet we find the religious world teaching this very thing. I believe that if we were to reduce the entire New Testament to what God desires, it could be achieved with two commandments that Jesus gave us which super cede everything: ‘Worship the Lord your God and love your neighbor as you would yourself,’ notwithstanding the fact that one must believe in and accept what Jesus did on the cross. My friends if you are among those who have yet to accept Jesus as Savior I pray that you will make that decision soon. Pray, if you will, that Jesus does come into your hearts because you believe in Him. Just a simple request is all that Jesus desires from you and He will do the rest.