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| 1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, |
Scribes and Pharisees – They would have been glad to have recognized him as a Pharisee and do his mighty works in the name of Pharasaism, but his attitude was that of an independent. R3786:2
Prophesying, in the ordinary sense of teaching, afterward became popular with a certain class, and degenerated into Pharisaism. A55
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| 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. |
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| 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
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Transgress the commandment – Make void the law of God. NS843:2
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| 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
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| 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
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| 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
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He shall be free – The commandment had been changed by the Talmud and any man might be free from all obligations to his parents by consecrating himself and substance to God. R5096:6
None effect – Null and void, which they had no right to do. R5096:6
By your tradition – Teaching as commandments of God what are really the traditions of men. OV159:T; Q747:2
Similarly, both Catholics and Protestants are teaching traditions of the "Dark Ages" instead of the Word of God. OV159:T; NS762:5
Every creed tends to take the place of the Bible, just as the Talmud does with the Jews. R5298:5
The theories and opinions that had been formed and handed down from the past, that were not based upon the inspired testimony of the Prophets. Q747:2
As found in the Systematic Theology volumes of Christendom and in the Talmud of the Jews, teaching for doctrine the precepts of men. D64; HG716:4
Handed down through all the creeds of Christendom; the doctrine of Purgatory being a little less unreasonable than the creeds of Protestants. NS763:1
The traditions of men are unreliable, and from these come the errors which hinder the proper understanding of the Scriptures. NS301:3
Satan could not get Israel to forsake the law, so he took the opposite course and, by multiplying the forms and ceremonies of religion, he satisfied their consciences, while he blinded them to the true meaning of the Law. R525:5
The traditions of men speak fear of the Almighty who, they say, has already sent to eternal torment the vast majority of our relatives, friends and neighbors. NS762:4
There are true traditions (Gal. 1:14; 2 Thess. 2:15) and false traditions. Their harmony with the Divine Word determines which are true and which are false. Q747:2, 1
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| 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
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Ye hypocrites – Hypocritically pretending to make a covenant with the Lord, pretending to be his people. Their punishment will be greater because of their hypocrisy; nevertheless, it will be with a view to their recovery and not their destruction. HG684:5
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| 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
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Draweth nigh unto me – There never was a time when Jewish laws and ordinances were more faithfully observed than during that harvest--every form, ceremony and tithe was scrupulously remembered; the Temple of Herod was their grandest, and missionary enterprises were on foot for Judaizing the world. R235:1
The outward show and splendor of civilization called Christendom is, in many respects, impressive. SM245:1
With their mouth – It would be better not to approach the Lord at all than to do so in an improper manner. R5480:1
A Christian should not say prayers, but should pray. He should not think of saying even one word that he does not mean and has not thought out. R5480:1
With what carefulness should we take upon us his worthy name! R1527:6
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." (Ex. 20:7) R1527:2
"Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2 Tim. 2:19) R1527:3
Their heart is far – Few indeed apply their hearts unto instruction; yet, without the least hesitation, multitudes take the name of God and of Christ in vain. R1528:5
The Lord regards anything short of simple candor and honesty of heart with aversion. R1527:6
The command of chief love should be in our hearts. If so, love for God will permeate everything. R4052:3
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| 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
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In vain do they worship – The difficulty is that these improper worshippers have such a wrong fear of God that they cannot love him and hence cannot draw nigh to him with their heart. NS762:3
Teaching for doctrines – What gross and hideous doctrines have not shielded themselves under the name Christian, vainly taken? R1528:5
The commandments of men – Thereby opposing the truth and becoming false prophets or false teachers. A55
Their own dreams, imaginings, or the dreams of their forefathers, in neglect of the Word of God. OV158:6
The traditions of men, the propagation of men's theories, the advancement of denominational interests. R5631:1
Through sectarian creeds and catechisms. The result of even mixing truth with error is confusion--Babylon. R442:5
For their own erroneous doctrines they have claimed divine authorship; their words are not acceptable to God because they have not submitted themselves to his plans and methods. R3647:6
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| 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
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| 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
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| 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? |
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| 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
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Hath not planted – The true Church, the New Creation, is of the Father's planting. Our Lord says, "I am the Vine, ye are the branches." (John 15:1-6) F207
Shall be rooted up – "And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth." (Rev. 14:19) F207
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| 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
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Let them alone – Special light in both harvests is for the Israelites indeed. B28
Corresponds to the command, "Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins." (Rev. 18:4) R718:3
Blind leaders – Bewildered leaders of human thought. R5468:2
These words, though applied by Jesus to the Jewish house, were also intended to apply to that of which it was a shadow, the Gospel house. R718:3
Blinded by Satan who, by mixture of dishonoring falsehoods with their little truth, conceals the grandest elements of the divine nature. R525:5
Illustrated by the prophet in likening them to "blind watchmen" (Isa. 56:10); not for lack of natural vision so necessary to watchmen, but of mental perception--"they are ignorant" of the character and purposes of God. R718:3
The Master denounced the religious hypocrites of his time as greater sinners than murderers and thieves. OV390:1
The body of the ministry today has sadly fallen. R5631:5
The end of the Gospel dispensation would be characterized by general declension in religion, especially by the falling of pastors or teachers from the truth. R718:3
Of the blind – The blindness will continue upon fleshly Israel until the Gospel church is completed. (Rom. 11:25) R2615:4
In the coming age, their blindness shall be taken away, their pride shall be humbled, and then shall they seek Him whom, with wicked hands, they had crucified and slain. R606:6
Lead the blind – By the tendency to depart from God's Word. R1717:1
Both shall fall – While the most influential, who betray their trust as stewards, are the greatest sinners in Zion, those who blindly follow their leading become partakers of their sin (Rev. 18:4) and share the same penalty. R1875:1
Into the ditch – Into the ditch of general doubt and unbelief here, as their prototypes did in the trouble which closed the Jewish age. R2948:1, 2615:3, 2036:1, 1792:3
The pit (Diaglott). R718:3
Because Jesus was a "stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel" (Isa. 8:14)--the fleshly and the spiritual house. R862:5
The Federated Protestant "image" will fall into the ditch of anarchy. R4690:3
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| 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. |
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| 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
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| 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
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| 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
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| 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
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| 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
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| 21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. |
Then Jesus went – With the people discussing the wisdom of making him king, with Herod's boldness manifested in the beheading of John, and with the realization that his time had not yet come, he left the parts where he was so well known. R3786:1
Into the coasts of – Into parts of Galilee which bordered upon Tyre and Sidon. R2280:3, 3786:2
Not into the countries themselves, for they were Gentile countries. He was still in Israel, in Galilee, but over toward the border of Tyre and Sidon. R2280:3
Tyre and Sidon – Within the boundary of the land called Phoenicia. R3786:1
Populated largely by Carthaginians and Syrians. R3786:6
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| 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. |
Woman of Canaan – Not an Israelite, therefore "without God and having no hope in the world." (Eph. 2:12) R2653:2, 4627:1
Of Syrian ancestry, by education and language a Greek. In a word, she represented quite a mixture of nationalities, a Gentile out and out. R3786:6
Cried unto him – In a loud voice, and probably with weeping. R2653:2
Not only overcoming the prejudices of her own heathen ideas, but also everything akin to pride and the fear of being rejected as one unworthy of the favor she sought. R2653:2
As a poor and uneducated woman she would naturally have great diffidence in approaching a learned man, especially one so notable as this great Prophet of Israel. R2653:2
Have mercy on me – Jesus ignored the petition. R4627:1
Thou son of David – "The Lord shall give him the throne of his father David." (Luke 1:32) C257[C256:4]
The long-promised king of David's line, the Messiah. E130; C257[C256:4]; SM210:2[SM210]
Grievously vexed – In danger of entirely losing reason. R4627:5
A devil – A fallen angel. It is a great and important truth that many humans are more or less obsessed by evil spirits--demons. R4627:5
In a sense, all sin and sickness are afflictions of the devil, the result of Satan's lie. R4627:5
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| 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. |
Not a word – Perhaps the delay was in order to consider well the path of duty, the work which the Father had given him to do. R2280:3
To test the woman's faith as well as to manifest to others, then and since. R2280:3
We consider it not unreasonable to suppose that he thoroughly understood the case from the beginning and adopted the method he did to draw out her faith. R2653:3
To many, this would have been sufficient to have discouraged faith and sent them away weeping. R2653:2
How apt the majority are to speak and act without one moment's thought respecting the will of the Father. R2280:6
How different in our case! We, who were once aliens, have, upon making a covenant, been adopted into the Lord's family. We need not importune for favors; they are ours for the taking. R2653:6
If, in our case, the Lord see not best to grant a prompt response, we may be sure it is not from lack of interest in our welfare. At the very latest, by the Millennial kingdom, deliverance will be granted, not only to us, but to all mankind. R2653:4
With us, too, we may see that it will be better if he should for a time ignore our petitions, that thus we might become more earnest and perhaps increase our faith. R3787:4
Besought him – Whether from sympathy or from vexation because she was interrupting their opportunity for study and communion with the Lord we cannot judge. R2280:6
Send her away – Grant her request, and let her go away. R2280:6, 2653:3
Crieth after us – Her importuning of the disciples would imply that Jesus had left the house. R3787:1, 2653:2
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| 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
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I am not sent – To manifest God's favor towards. R4627:2
When our Lord sent forth his Apostles to preach and heal, he told them to pass by all who were not Jews. R4627:1
Not because of narrowness on his part, nor because of insufficiency of time on God's part, but because time and order have to do with every feature of God's plan. R4344:2
The time had not yet come for giving Gentiles a place in God's family as children of Abraham. OV365:T
Unto the lost sheep – Those who have wandered from the Lord and were lost in the wilderness of sin and darkness. R2084:3
Individuals, not tribes. R2085:1
The house of Israel – Until the full end of Israel's 70th week of favor. C170
Gentiles and Samaritans were passed by. With a few exceptions, our Lord's miracles were confined to the Jews. R4627:1
They alone were God's covenanted people. R4627:1, 2512:2
"Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not." (Matt. 10:5) A72, A97; R2872:1, 1451:2, 257:2; HG343:2; OV224:5
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth." (Amos 3:2) A97
Our Lord said not one word about the "house of Judah," which he manifestly considered was merely a part of the whole nation of Israel. C300
The whole twelve tribes, all of whom were represented in Palestine. B207; C252, C293
No longer represented by our Lord and the Apostles as the "ten tribes" merely, but, as it is expressed, "all Israel." R1341:1; B206; C252
When the apostles were finally sent out to preach the gospel to all the world, they were told to begin at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47) R1783:6
It was not until Israel had stumbled through unbelief and been rejected of God (Matt. 23:37,38) that he authorized the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. R2518:6
So, in this harvest, the message is only to spiritual Israel. R1742:4
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| 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. |
Then came she – The faith was there, hence the persistency of the request. R3787:1
Lord help me – Her importunity, when she recognized the Lord as the only help. R4627:5
She left it entirely to the Lord's wisdom how the help and mercy should be bestowed. R2281:1
Her daughter's cause was her cause. R2280:6
However degraded and outcast from God's favor, we may still know of the divine compassion. R4627:2
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| 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs.
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It is not meet – Because the appointed time had not yet come, according to God's Plan, for favor to be shown to any people but Israel. R1451:2
The children's – Israelites'. R2604:3, 1000:4
Bread – Favor. R1451:2
The children of God will be first fed from this table. R4627:4
Cast it to dogs – Customary Jewish phraseology respecting Gentiles, signifying their inferiority. R4627:2, 5444:4, 5004:6, 2604:3, 1451:2
This did not signify that the Lord had no love for the remainder of mankind; their blessing would come in due time. R4627:4
Our Lord used the form of word which indicates the little pet dogs of the family. R3338:4
The word here used by our Lord, and also by the woman, signifies house dogs or little dogs, pet dogs, and not the objectionable wild dogs of Rev. 22:19. R2653:6
Not ferocious dogs, but house dogs--dogs which were friends and companions of the children. R2281:1
A rebuff, calculated to dishearten one of little faith, but correspondingly to strengthen a great faith; not of disdain, contempt or indifference, but implying interest and sympathy, explaining a reason for rejection. R2653:5
Had pride been in her heart, this response would have been sufficient to put her on her dignity, so that she would have ceased her importunity and tiraded against the Lord and the Jew as ecclesiastical bigots. R3787:2
Are we humble enough to accept his mercy on his conditions, acknowledging ourselves nothing, that we have no merit to plead with him? R3787:4
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| 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. |
Truth, Lord – Her faith, while persistent, was not intrusive nor assertive; as a result, her prayer was granted. R2281:1
Note the difference between this attitude and the curious and unbelieving desire for miracles of the people of his home city, Nazareth. R2579:5
Yet the dogs – She was willing to confess herself one of the Gentile dogs, that she had no right to claim any of those blessings of healing for her daughter because she was not of the Jewish nation. Q601:T
Eat of the crumbs – What perseverance was manifested: she believed the Lord to be the Messiah. R4627:2
Jesus granted the woman a crumb from the divine table. R5004:6
"There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, laid at his gate, full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs." (Luke 16:20,21) R2604:2
As he let some of the crumbs of knowledge and blessing fall to the Samaritans in John 4; an illustration of the Apostle's words, "Do good unto all men as you have opportunity." (Gal. 6:10) R2574:5
Offering a clear explanation of how the Gentiles, pictured by Lazarus in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, ate of the crumbs of divine favor which fell from Israel's table of bounties. R1087:1, 1086:6, 1000:4, 802:3, 284:2; HG385:6; Q600:1
In God's due time not only crumbs will fall for the remainder of the race, but rich and bountiful provision. R4627:4
Master's table – The table, or food, spread before fleshly Israel, God's fleshly children, consisted of those special favors and promises of God to them as his Chosen People. R4782:1
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| 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. |
Great is thy faith – She had more faith than a majority of the Jews. R4627:2
God's chiefest blessings are for the faithful. R4627:1
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| 29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. |
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| 30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: |
Lame, blind, dumb – All "afflicted of the devil" (verse 22), for all afflictions are either directly or indirectly of Satan. R2281:2
To unstop the mental ears is more wonderful than to open the physical ears; to cause the dumb to sing praises to God is greater work than the giving of natural speech. R5104:5
He healed them – If the laws of nature can be controlled to some extent by man for his own convenience, how much more able is God to control the operation of his own laws. R2281:5
His mission was not to heal the sick and cast out devils, but to give his life a ransom. The miracles and cures were merely incidentals, and not his real work; incidental in that they illustrated his great kingdom work. R5104:2, 2281:4
It was not so important that certain persons be physically healed, nor that the multitudes not go hungry over night, but that the apostles should get the needed lessons and see the Lord's power. R5920:5
It would have been still greater to have opened the eyes of their understanding and their deaf ears; but this work could not be accomplished at that time. R5104:4
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| 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
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The God of Israel – Of the whole twelve tribes. C252, C293, C300
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| 32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
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I have compassion – The necessity prompted our Lord to use of the divine power communicated to him by the holy Spirit; but he had refused to use this same power selfishly. R4617:2, 2006:4
On the multitude – He created food for the multitudes, but not for himself or his disciples. They undoubtedly ate of the food, but its object was for the relief of the multitude. R2006:5
Three days – What other teacher ever had 5000 people leave their employment and, negligent of food, follow him three days in the wilderness?. R575:2
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| 33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? |
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| 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye?
And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. |
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| 35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. |
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| 36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. |
Loaves – Of ground whole wheat, about the size of our large buns. R5104:5
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| 37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. |
They did all eat – Hungry and thirsty, yet feeding thousands. R1063:2*
Quite possibly some of us would find ourselves equally healthy and strong on similarly plain food. R5104:5
And were filled – From the Bible standpoint, these miracles are most rational. The power of God, which produces as much as 250 grains from one kernel, is surely sufficient to produce many times as much if the necessity occurred. R4617:5
Jesus refused to use this same power selfishly for his own comfort, even when he hungered after having spent forty days in the wilderness at the outstart of his work. R4617:2
They took up – The Master displayed frugality and encouraged economy on the part of his followers. R5104:5
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| 38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. |
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| 39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. |
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