Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, 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. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. You 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 commands from God.’”
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s 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?”
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 aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” Matthew 15:1-20
First to the notes for this scripture … and yes, I’ll briefly speak about last Sunday’s ‘counselling’ session.
Note on verses 8, 9
The prophet Isaiah also criticized hypocrites (Isaiah 29:13), and Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to these religious leaders. When we claim to honor God while our heart is far from him, our worship means nothing. It is not enough to act religious. Our actions and our attitudes must be sincere. If they are not, Isaiah’s words also describe us.
Note on verse 9
The Pharisees knew a lot about God, but they didn’t know God. It is not enough to study about religion or even to study the Bible. We must respond to God himself.
Note on verses 13, 14
Jesus told his disciples to leave the Pharisees alone because the pharisees were blind to God’s truth. Anyone who listened to their teaching would risk spiritual blindness as well. Not all religious leaders clearly see God’s truth. Make sure that those you listen to and learn from are those with good spiritual eyesight – they teach and follow the principles of Scripture.
Note on verse 16-20
We work hard to keep our outward appearance attractive, but what is deep down in our heart 9where others can’t see) is more important to God. What are you like inside? When people become Christians, God makes them different on the inside. He will continue the process of change inside them if they only ask. God wants us to have healthy thoughts and motives, not just healthy bodies.
Today, I must ask each of you to forgive me. I have sinned in such a way that I have gossiped against my husband most of the time that I have written to you. Yes, our marriage has pretty much failed, though we are trying counselling. However, though I was only trying to cope, I was trying to ‘support’ myself and say what I believed – in other words, I wrote about what I believed the Word says regarding a wife submitting to her husband in all things, I didn’t do a very good job at doing what I believed. I have justified my actions at times and I have made myself out to be the victim, it is for these reasons that I am sorry and asking forgiveness. God knows my heart and will judge me accordingly.
I still believe that a wife should submit to her husband. I still believe that God will protect her. But our faith must be an active faith. If it becomes completely impossible to honor God, then we must step back and face our own ugliness and determine what route from this point forward will honor God the most?
That is where I am right now. I have been a victim, in part, because I played the victim and victimized myself. For this, I confess my sin. My innermost self simply wanted to be recognized as being hurt, being taken advantage of, being unloved by the man that was supposed to love me. Instead of enduring patiently, I spoke out.
Anyway, to briefly give you an update on Sunday’s counselling session…
The pastor seems to really know the Word and seems to rightly divine the Word. Since it is only the first session, I don’t want to express much more of my first impression than that, I don’t believe in first impressions… I do believe that you need to give many more opportunities to people to determine their actual personality and character.
In any case, we were both told to ask forgiveness of each other, though my husband was given more on his list to take care of than I was on mine. That may change in the future…we’ll see.
Well, I decided that I’d give it one more try this weekend and essentially go from week to week to gage the efficacy of the counselling sessions. If it turns out that either 1) my husband or myself is unwilling to follow the pastor’s advice or 2) the pastor is clearly not scripturally founded, then the sessions will need to be terminated.
So, that is where my marriage stands. As for me, I want to very much be drawn to God and to walk daily in Him. So, I am going through a time of deep self-examination. Hence, the earlier part of the post…I am asking you to forgive me for the darkness in my heart. These things are important to share so that I can be held accountable.
I do not, nor have I ever wished to use this blog as a place to rant. This blog was initially thought of as a way to reach other women in particular to help them, to strengthen their walk with the Lord, to uplift them and edify them. That has been and always should be my desire…to help others, not to make myself feel better. My motivation should be God-centered, not self-centered.
So, we all know what is in my heart…you’ve read it over the past year. I want God to come in and change my heart, make me into a woman worthy of being called His daughter. So, as the last note says, I want to have a healthy heart, not just a healthy body…May God be given the glory in all things.
Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24 I give my body to You because of all You have done for me. Let my body be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind You will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship You. I won’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but I will let You transform me into a new person by changing the way I think. Then I will learn to know Your will for me, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 Amen.
May God provide the increase.
Please pray for me!
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