(15:1) The Pharisees and the lead-figures of the crooked churches return to vex Jesus and try to confuse his students. Jesus' work here is an accurate and informative example of what we ourselves will likely face when we are following a truthful path. Adversaries are not going to go away, their mission is always to taunt and vex, to confuse and ruin. The gift from God in facing them is the ability to mute them with your wisdom and your kindness. You have to be courageous and knowledgeable in your mission otherwise you will easily be pushed off of your path. You need thick skin, and you have to have the patience and strength to continue own while it grows. Jesus is undeterred by his enemies, but more than that, he teaches them also with patience and truth. We can't be a perfect emulation of Jesus but we can at least try to contain our frustration and to not act or respond in anger. If our mission and our goal is compassion, we must give and nourish compassion, even when it's difficult.
Do not mistake that for becoming someone weak in spirit. Do not become a push-over. Stand by your message and defend it fiercely. Defend your values with facts, wisdom, passion, discernment. Even in argument, try to be the person who is not arguing but is communicating intelligently. Anger and displeasure always cloud our emotions and our reactions, we really have to learn to work through it silently and internally, and then respond to the situation without distraction.
This is why it is so important to determine your authentic values. If you know for certain what you value and what you believe in, that means you also understand why you value what you do and why you believe in it. Knowing what and why you believe in things makes you powerful. You cannot be deterred because your path is clear and you're passionate about keeping it that way.
(15:2) The Pharisees make a common mistake (and by common I mean it happens all the time, even and maybe especially in our time now). Many so-called religious people and religious figures are so concerned and distracted by laws and technicalities that they miss important meaning. Laws and instructions are created to help and support people, not to punish and to imprison them. The students of Jesus are dedicating their lives to His teaching; they left behind their homes and their families for a greater purpose and intend to continue the purpose even after Jesus is gone - surely punishing them for not washing their hands (a law made by the elders, not God) is not enough to punish them and therefore disregard all of the wonderful, inspiring work they are doing. The Pharisees try to create distractions so desperately that they try to use minor, inconsequential infractions to debilitate an entire spiritual teaching system.
This is something done by people who do not have a purpose. This is done by people who do not have good and progressive intentions. They are unworthy of you letting them have power over you.
(15:3) Jesus calls them out for their. Always be aware of a person's word. A lot of people say one thing and do another. Even more people will judge, smirk and scoff at somebody for doing something that they themselves even do! These people are distractions. These people are meandering through life destructing good people with their gossip and their hypocritical judgement. Do not be such a person and do not lose you way because of such people.
Jesus points out to them that they also break laws.
(15:4) Jesus reminds that people should respect and care for their parents (for all people), be patience with them for their mistakes and short-comings.
Side note: That may not be easy or appealing to you but use your good and perspective judgement... if someone is asking for your forgiveness and they are being kind and genuine about asking, try to work on giving it... even if in a small way at first.
(15:5) Here Jesus shows us that in the time of this happening, (and sometimes even today) people of the church suck people dry, spiritually and financially. Some churches are hungry for your money and will instruct you not to give to others but to trust your money with them. Some churches are trustworthy and some are not. Jesus wants to Pharisees and we readers to know that donating money to the needy and to our friends and family is a gift that goes directly to God. You do not need to wedge a church or a religious figure in-between your faith and God. You have a direct connection with Him. Your goodwill toward others is a gift directly to Him.
(15:6-7) Jesus reminds us that we should not point out other people's flaws because we have flaws ourselves. We hear this a lot and we repeat it a lot but almost none of us actually take the advice and exemplify it in our lives. We do not know and understand the complexity that makes up each individual and therefore we cannot judge their actions. We should be supportive but at the very least, we should not contribute to their misfortune and behavior by gossiping and negatively judging.
We each get a lot wrong, too and we cannot know or decide whose wrongdoing is worse than others.
(15:8-9) Jesus takes us back to the Book of Isaiah, reminding us that the New and Old Testaments are linked and corroborate each other.
This scripture is simple and some of the most important advice you will ever receive. Do not say one thing and do the opposite of that thing. You confuse yourself and you confuse others. You do not accomplish anything by pretending to be something you are not. You make no progress.
Some people, even and sometimes especially, church leaders, talk a good game... they pretend to be so holy and perfect but the inside of them is dark and neglectful of kindness and truth. Be who you are. If you do not like who you are, your actions determine who you can be, not your fancy words.
(15:10) Hear and understand Jesus says to everyone around. Big announcement coming and it brings the discussion full circle:
(15:11) What you eat does not make you a sinner. You cannot condemn a person for such a trifle and unimportant thing as not following an unimportant societal norm (such as eating bread without washing hands). What matters, what determines who you are, is what comes out of your mouth. Make sure they words that you speak are true to who you are, are kind to others and is progressive toward humanity's future.
Do not get confused by technicalities and silliness. Know the truth. Stand by it. Defend what is important. Defend and support what matters... the big issues, feeding people, loving people, helping people...
(15:12) Do not make it your mission to offend others but if you are truthful and your truth is good but offends somebody, what you spoke needed to be said regardless. People will eventually learn from it or they will not, but you contributed to the greater purpose of defending humanity.
(15:13) This plant metaphor should be read as reassurance by us: everything which does not come from God, which is not of God and his honest compassion, will be removed from us, will be removed from us entirely.
There are ways (plural) of achieving this. Here on Earth, our trust in God can enable us to live unencumbered, undisturbed by that which creates adversity for us. Although the physical presence of trouble may appear before us, we are given the courage, wit and wisdom to overcome it. The wonderment of God is not simply that He can remove evil but that He has made us stronger than it. We are not weak and trembling before our enemies, God has given us the armor to face them if only we will wear it proudly.
(15:14) Jesus tells the disciples not to become overly-concerned with understanding people who try to corrupt and confuse good things. He reminds the disciples and us that a person who will not see and act in truth is metaphorically blind. God's path is made clear to those who seek it but those who wish to destroy and hide it are lost as if they have no sight.
What (who) should we put our faith in more than even our sight? God. Let Him be your set of eyes because He sees more than you can, in fact He sees everything, and He also knows how to overcome it. Let's jump quickly to:
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight.
Do you walk by faith? When you trust God, you give yourself and your worry over to Him. When you believe, truly from your soul, that He has your best interest at heart, how can you ever fear a thing? He'll never let his beloved struggle if you trust Him. He waits for your permission to heal, protect and strengthen you.
(15:15) Peter asks for clarification. He wants to get it right. When you hear something that confuses you, do you abandon it or do you investigate it further? Seek knowledge diligently. You are capable of understanding but the cost is your passionate effort.
(15:16-17) Jesus explains further upon realizing that Peter still needs clarification. Jesus is passionate, 'Do you still not understand?' His soul is energized and passionate... he's saying, listen to me deeply: a bad teacher, a corrupt situation might go into you, an evilness may come into this work but I and God can remove it completely. I can heal and cleanse your body, heal and cleanse this world...
(15:18) ... but who YOU are and what YOU produce, what comes out of YOU, is a definition of your character. If evil comes OUT of you, you are responsible and it ruins you. What ruins you is not your circumstance, you might be blameless in it, but if you support injustice and you speak hatred, you construct your own demise. This relates to the bread metaphor from above: what is around you, what someone tries to put into you can be removed by your goodness and your wisdom.
(15:19) Jesus here is saying, when you put your faith into your own intelligence instead of into God's, you get yourself into trouble. You fall victim to arrogance and greed by being too prideful. The Pharisees make the mistake of trusting in themselves, they feel high and powerful because of their governmental positions... they trust their own authority rather than the pure, impartial authority of God's.
Do not be mistaken, God wants you to love yourself and to believe in yourself but do not be arrogant. Your good fortune, your talents, and whatever wealth and happiness you have has been orchestrated by Him. Remember that He is in every piece of this world and is in every piece of everything you have... do not believe yourself to be a higher authority than someone who has created Earth and stars and planets. Our God is universal, magnificent and kind. There is no safer place you can place your trust and therefore, derive your wisdom from His heart.
(15:20) What ruins a person is when they become haughty and greedy in defending their power or their wealth. When a person thinks they are so proper and important that they cannot even be kind to an all-around do-gooder (Jesus), they have corrupted themselves.
This brings me to an important verse: 1 Corinthians 8:2
And if any man think that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
What does this mean? It means if you think you are really intelligent, smarter than all around you, if you are so prideful as that, you are so far removed from common sense and wisdom that you know nothing of value, nothing of importance.
What ruins a person, speaks Jesus, are evil/mean-spirited thoughts, murders, cheaters, immoral behavior, stealing, lying and general wrong-doings. These are what a person should be concerned about because these are the acts which destroy a person, not some silly technically in which they did not follow a food-rule of the governmental leaders.
Do not tear a good person down for something trivial if their soul is good. What counts is what someone does, if they contribute to happiness and compassion in the world. Maybe you swear, maybe you have tattoos or like certain music... none of that matters if on the inside, in your heart, you are good. Do not condemn a good person for small matters.
(15:21) Moving swiftly on, Jesus brings His wisdom across many borders to reach many peoples. It's easy to overlook this seemingly simple verse. Jesus isn't using a car, bus, airplane, train or even bicycle to travel these distance - no one is carrying Him... he's walking. Do you put that much effort into helping people? Do you go out of your way at the price of exerting yourself for another's benefit?
(15:22) A woman comes before Jesus. This woman is from far away, on one of the cities not yet traversed by Jesus. Jesus is on a mission to complete before His Crucifixion and that means He must follow a scheduled itinerary. Jesus must teach in certain places, chosen by God, where they most good will be done after he leaves. Jesus is teaching in the places where He believes His teaching will most inspire the inhabitants to teach and spread compassion after He is gone. He wants this message to reverberate throughout the world for all of humanity's time here. This woman is from a city where He did not intend to go. Eventually, when His students were prepared and ready, Jesus wanted them to spread out everywhere to teach, but they were still learning and He had to prioritize as He could not possibly walk the entire Earth, through every city before dying on the cross. He simply did not have enough time.
This woman wants Jesus to heal her daughter. Now this "demon" possession can be thought of metaphorically. This woman's daughter is either suffering an ailment not yet understood medically by the people of this time, or has been corrupted by pride or greed and needs to teaching and presence of Jesus.
(15:23) In this verse, we will dissect a metaphor. Jesus is teaching a lesson, as He always does, to both the woman and the disciples simultaneously. He is testing the faith of the woman while also testing the compassion of the disciples.
(15:24) Jesus continues His test, He wants to know if this woman is truly faithful, kind and persistent. Likely it was difficult for Jesus to put her off when we know that He loves to act immediately. He reminds her of His important mission, still needing to be accomplished: He's required to teach the potential teachers so that the word does not die with Him. "The lost sheep of the House of Israel" speaks of those people who believed in God from the very beginning, when no one else did, they have strayed from Him but He knows they will return with some coaching to do great things for the world.
(15:25) The woman is persistent, she is kind and she has faith that Jesus is capable of healing her daughter. She does not give up.
Do you give up? God's help in our lives is careful and calculated. He does not rush things or do sloppy work. Trust that His mission is to help you and He takes the measures and the time to ensure that His help is pure and lasting. Do not abandon Him when it doesn't seem to you that He has answered in the manner or speed in which you command Him to. He needs your trust and your faith; He requires your patience to do wonderful and permanent goodness in your life. He has to set every piece in your life up to guide you precisely to where you should be. To where the best place for you is.
(15:26) This verse can be read as crude but what Jesus means is that God wants Him to use this short and valuable time to teach where it will do the most good in the limited time. Jesus is saying, this woman is asking me to change direction from where I can help multitudes of people to a place where I might only convince and help one. God and Jesus care and love every individual, specifically and intently. They plan to reach everyone -- but they have a particular plan and time frame to accomplish it all. Jesus is saying, this woman is from a place where people choose evil and do not and will not accept me, right now, going there, would be wasted time.
(15:27) Finally this woman's faith is revealed as true and strong. She says, yes, I know that where I am from, and maybe even who I am, is no good... but even we, even the lost and corrupted, need and crave your goodness. I may not be good all the time, but I am faithful to you, I do try. I know that you are God and I know what you are capable of.
(15:28) She has appealed to Jesus' compassion and He accepts her faith as true. He gives her what she is asking for-- it is accomplished as it is granting it. Be well, he blesses them. And so, they are well. Jesus gives his precious time to them because of their strong faith. God will always find the time and compassion to help you when your faith is strong. Be kind, be persistent, be faithful.
(15:29-31) Jesus continues on...onto a mountain, which yes!, can be thought of as a metaphor. Mountain in the Bible is a symbol for nation. So, Jesus and His teachings reside over the nation of people.
And these people are broken in many ways -- they need His love and wisdom. He gives it. He gives all of himself to make these people whole. He heals physical ailments, mental ailments and He fixes and supports the soul of people. He makes it so those who do not understand, understand. He gives them the wisdom and strength to be compassionate and purposeful.
(15:32) Here Jesus says to the disciples, these people have given me their whole selves. They have devoted their time to learn from me, their energy, their patience... everything they have they have given to me... and now, Jesus wants to give back to them.
Give your entire self to God, too. Watch Him fill you up with the best of what you can be, with the best of what He is, when you pour and empty your broken self out for Him. Let him cleanse and correct you, guide and support you.
(15:33) The disciples have not learned yet, God has a surplus. He can and will feed everyone.
(15:34-35) For our clarity, this verse tells us that there were only 7 loaves of bread and a few fish. Not nearly enough to feed a mass of people. Jesus is above that, God creates all... He can feed His people even when they doubt. You might often hear this verse and verses that are similar to it, taught in a way that teachers God can just "poof!" create food. Go way, way deeper than that. God is an intricate creator, He uses time and science and human compassion to accomplish things such as feeding and teaching humanity. There is a strong message in every verse. Let's look more deeply.
Jesus says: everyone sit down, prepare to eat, do not worry about quantity of food. Why waste time worrying if you know that God can sustain your body and your soul? Just live, bask in the blessings of being a kind and faithful person.
Also, let's think deeply about this metaphor of bread and fish. Bread can be thought of as a symbol for spiritual wisdom/ knowledge and fish can be thought of as a symbol for the people who are brought into God's world, love and embrace.
The disciples are worried. They're thinking: Jesus, there are not enough teachers of your word and because of that, there are so few students of your word. There are not enough teachers or students to accomplish this great thing of changing the world for the better! They're very worried and not at all optimistic. They're also forgetting to remember the abilities of God.
Jesus answers their worry in the next verse:
(15:36) ... (interpreted metaphorically) Jesus teaches the disciples, He gives them His wisdom so that they can pass His wisdom onto others. Jesus does not give the bread directly to the people because He can't or doesn't want to, but because He knows it is more productive and lasting, more valuable for Him to have many teachers of His word to reach all of the billions of people that are to come and be born on the Earth... through generations, centuries, ages.
God gives His love to all of us. We should be so proud and happy that he gives us another thing: the ability to TEACH and therefore SPREAD His word... so that He doesn't just gain our heart, but also that through our efforts, He can gain many, many other hearts as well. This is a blessed responsibility.
There is enough wisdom for everything. Jesus created many teachers and therefore the word and instruction of God did not die a long time ago. There have been teachers bringing forth and saving His message right up until and through this time that we are in now. That's incredible. That's special.
(15:37) Everyone was fed; everyone was taught and again, there were leftovers... there is always more. There is more love, more room, more hope for every single living thing. God's house will grow in proportion to the people who want to live in it.
(15:38) Count every person there, count every person everywhere... there is room, there is food, there is teaching for all.
(15:39) Jesus again makes the effort to continue His travels to reach more people, more potential teachers of His word. If you become a teacher, always teach the truth, selflessly. Teach people to teach other people. Remain humble, pass on what you have worked for to learn: compassion, kindness, humility, truth.
