< Matthew 15 >

Jesus proved that, while they worshipped God with their lips, their heart was far from him. For example, God commanded them to “honour father and mother” but they released people from this obligation upon paying money into the temple coffers! Consequently Jesus, quoting Isaiah 29:13,Waiting for response for Isaiah 29:13 declared that their worship of God was unacceptable. Unfortunately, this type of mistake is all too common, with religious leaders giving every appearance of being true worshippers of God but in reality being “blind leaders of the blind”, leading their followers “into the ditch” i.e. the grave. This serves as a dire warning to all of us not to “put our trust in man” but to study God’s word for ourselves and to ensure our feet are on a path that leads to life, rather than to death.

The scribes and Pharisees insisted that the people keep the religious traditions they themselves had established, whereas Jesus kept, and taught his disciples to keep, the actual commandments of God. These religious leaders therefore charged Jesus and his disciples with breaking the tradition of the elders, and one particular complaint concerned the washing of hands and of pots and pans. This cleanliness, of course, has its place, but while concentrating on it the Pharisees neglected the immensely more important requirement for men to cleanse themselves of moral defilement.

The disciples appear heartless but this because of the translation and is inconsistent with Jesus' response. They wanted him to respond positive to her request but Jesus explained that he was sent to the people of Israel and this woman was a Gentile. They begged him to "release her" [Gk. 430] from the distressing situation she was in because of her daughter's mental illness. We see the same compassion expressed for the people in the wilderness when they requested Jesus to "release them" [Gk. 430] so they could obtain food, Matthew 14:15.Waiting for response for Matthew 14:15

Jesus was sent only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” but in the purpose of God the gospel would later be preached to the Gentiles and, while the miraculous feeding bread to the Jews represented feeding them the word of God (Matthew 14:15-21,Waiting for response for Matthew 14:15-21 Matthew 15:32-39),Waiting for response for Matthew 15:32-39 the Canaanite woman eating, as it were, “the crumbs falling from the master’s table” represented Gentiles being permitted to feed on the bread of life rejected by the Jews.