Open My Eyes, LORD
Scripture Reading: Matthew 15:1-20
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat
bread.”
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because
of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who
curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or
mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not
honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your
tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 Not
what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when
they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be
uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind,
both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that
whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which
proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20
These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Before I really get into the sermon today, I’d like to just go back to touch base on one
scripture that we went over last week. Hebrews 5:13-14, 13 For everyone who partakes
only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to
those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil. You remember that we’ve been talking about maturing in Christ.
This scripture mentions that those who are ‘spiritually grown-up’, so to speak, are so
because ‘by reason of use’ have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
The writer of Hebrews is telling us that, first, those who have their senses exercised
do so because the use them. He’s not talking about our natural senses; he’s talking
about our spiritual senses. There could be someone who is totally blind in the
natural, but can see clearly the things of the spirit. Likewise someone can be
completely deaf yet they can hear clearly the things of God. Those spiritual sense
are going to get stronger if you use them. I remember when my husband Jeff broke
his leg. It was in a full leg cast for 3 months. When that cast came off he could barely
stand up. It took some time before he could walk. Why? Because of lack of use, his
muscles had gotten weak. You’ve heard the saying, use it or lose it. We have to
practice on the small things to graduate to the big things.
Second, He tells us that their senses are strong so they can discern good from evil.
This is such an important thing, to be able to discern that which is good and that
which is not. Both Matthew and Mark record Simon Peter being led by the Spirit of
God and then, almost immediately, being led by the spirit of satan. If a disciple that
was so close to Yeshua, so close he could touch Him, who’d been taught directly from
His lips; if he could miss discerning the spirit of the enemy…..then so could we if we’re
not prepared
Now, let’s get into today’s scripture. The very beginning of this reading starts with the
scribes and Pharisees trying once again to find fault with Jesus. They ask Him why
His disciples don’t follow the traditions of the elders by washing their hands. Let me
just point out that they were talking about a ritual cleaning. It wasn’t that the disciples
were eating with filthy hands or something; their hands could have been completely
clean. There was a tradition where they would dip their hand in a bowl and wipe them
with a towel. Jesus, as usual, answers their question with an even better question.
He asked why they didn’t follow the commandments of God. Did you catch that? The
scribes had asked about a tradition of man while Yeshua asked about the
commandments of God. He’s like, ‘So what if they don’t do what man says, you don’t
do what God says.’ Ouch! He called them hypocrites, which means actors. They
were acting as if they cared about the things of God when they really only cared
about the things of man.
His disciples came to Him and asked if He knew they were offended. Dah! Of course
He knew! Didn’t they remember that He was Jesus? But seriously, I’m sure the
disciples were probably shocked that He’d spoken so obviously harshly to the
religious leaders. They still did not understand that the kingdom of heaven is not like
the world. They were still expecting Yeshua, as Messiah, to lead the rebels into
Jerusalem to take it by force. They were still anticipating their salvation to be Jesus
saving the nation from the Roman occupation. Jesus basically tells His disciples not
to worry about them because they are the blind leading the blind. But they still don’t
understand. Peter asks Him to explain the parable.
Let me just point out what Jesus says in verse 10 before He talks about what defiles a
man. He says hear and understand. He’s not just talking about hearing with our
natural ears and understanding with our natural minds. Still today there are so many
people who try to understand scripture with their brain and not their spirit. They try
their best to make things make sense to their human mind so they can be comfortable
with it. He explains that it’s not what enters a man’s mouth that defiles him it’s what
comes out of his mouth that defiles him. Do you remember when we learned about
what it means to be unclean from foods we eat? Nowhere does it say that something
you eat will make you less holy. It only said that you would be unclean until evening.
They had turned it into something much more pious than God had ever intended it to
be. What goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and out the body (naturally),
while what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart (spiritually). Jesus had
already told them (Matthew 12:34) that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaks. He’s showing us here that the traditions of man mean nothing in God’s
economy, while the commandments of God mean everything. Scripture tells us time
and again to guard our hearts above all else. He’s showing them a picture of how
important it is to be more concerned about our spiritual senses (the things of God)
than our natural ones (the things of man).
We are quick to go to God for our physical needs in the natural. When we need
money, we go to God in prayer. When we need physical healing, we go to God in
prayer. When we need a particular thing; a car, a house, a particular cell phone, a
certain toy, we go to God in prayer. Jesus made it perfectly clear that the kingdom of
heaven was unlike the natural world we live in. Listen to what He said to the
Samaritan woman at the well.
John 4:23-24, But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who
worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Yet, most people spend their time praying in the natural about the things of the world.
My daughter Kristen has a very special gift of prayer. Just in the last year or two she
has prayed for some pretty sizeable things for a teenager; two different cell phones
and a video iPod, and she got them in an almost supernatural way. She even prayed
that she would get her car at the auction even though, in the natural she never should
have been able to afford it, she ended up getting it for less than her maximum. I was
really shocked because all the other cars had been going up so high but once I made
what I thought would be my first bid on this one, no one bid against me. We’ve joked
that if you need something just have Kristen pray for it. That’s a nice gift but it’s
absolutely nothing when compared to praying in the spirit for the things of the Spirit.
Since we have no trouble going to God for our natural needs let us be just as quick to
go to Him for our spiritual needs. Those are the things of real value in our lives; not
the money or the houses or the cars or the cell phones or iPods or anything else
physical. Those things will one day be turned to rumble, but the things of God are
eternal. LORD, open my eyes so I can see the spiritual things you want to show me.
Open my ears so I can hear Your voice as You lead me. Open my mind so I can
receive and understand the revelations You have for me. Make me aware of all my
spiritual senses so I can spiritually discern the things of God from the things of the
world.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: September 10, 2006