Matthew 15 - 16
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
15aThen some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4“For God said, ‘aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to 1be put to death.’ 5“But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me 1is given to God,” 6he need not 1honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8‘aThis people honors Me with their lips,But their heart is far away from Me.9‘But in vain do they worship Me,Teaching as adoctrines the commands of men.’”10After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11“aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were 1offended when they heard this statement?” 13But He answered and said, “aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14“Let them alone; athey are blind guides 1of the blind. And bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15Now Peter answered and said to Him, “aExplain the parable to us.” 16And 1Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17“Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? 18“But athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19“aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20“These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
The Canaanite Woman
21aAnd going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of bTyre and cSidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly bdemon-possessed.” 23But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting 1at us.” 24But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and 1,awas bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26And He answered and said, “It is not 1good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27But she said, “Yes, Lord; 1but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed 1at once.
Jesus Heals the Crowds
29aAnd departing from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30And 1large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and aHe healed them. 31So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled 1restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they aglorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “bI feel compassion for the crowd, because they 1have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35And He directed the crowd to 1sit down on the ground; 36and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and agiving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full. 38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
The Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus
16aAnd the bPharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they casked Him to show them 1a sign from heaven. 2But He replied to them, “1,aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3“And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ aDo you know how to discern the 1appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? 4“aAn evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for 1a sign; and 2a sign will not be given it, except the 3sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
5And coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. 6And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.” 7Now they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.” 8But Jesus, aware of this, said, “aYou men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9“Do you not yet understand or remember athe five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10“Or athe seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11“How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.” 12Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the aPharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ
13aNow when Jesus came into the district of bCaesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that cthe Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say aJohn the Baptist; and others, 1,bElijah; but still others, 2Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are 1,athe Christ, bthe Son of cthe living God.” 17And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, aSimon 1Bar-Jonah, because bflesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18“And I also say to you that you are 1,aPeter, and upon this 2rock I will build My church; and the gates of bHades will not overpower it. 19“I will give you athe keys of the kingdom of heaven; and bwhatever you bind on earth 1shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth 2shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20aThen He 1warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the 2,bChrist.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21aFrom that time 1Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and bsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “1God forbid it, Lord! This shall never 2happen to You.” 23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on 1God’s interests, but man’s.”
Take Up Your Cross
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and atake up his cross and follow Me. 25“For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it; but whoever loses his 2life for My sake will find it. 26“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27“For the aSon of Man bis going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and cwill then 1repay each one according to his 2deeds.