Thy Kingdom Come: Sola Scriptura (Part 2) Matthew 15:10-20 *All Scripture ESV unless indicated
v.1-9 Review
v.10-20 What Defiles
v.10 He called the people
v.10 Hear and understand
v.11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person
Contrast Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14!!!
v.11 What comes out of a mouth defiles (More in a moment)
v.12-14 The offense of the Pharisees
Pharisees' holiness sensibilities are offended (skandalizo)
No doubt the scribes Scriptural sensibilities are offended too
There are times when offense can and should be avoided
1 Corinthians 10:32 11:1 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
But when the offense comes from Gospel truth faithfully lived or spoken, it must remain
1 Corinthians 1:23...but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles...
For those hardened in their blindness, the offense must not only remain, but there are times when they must be left alone (v.14)
v.15 Explain the parable to us
v.16 Are you still without understanding?
Even disciples!!
v.17 Whatever goes into the mouth is expelled
Excursus: Clean & Unclean Foods (Lev. 11 & Deut. 14)
The OT Torah emphasized the difference between things that are holy and common (unholy), clean and unclean.
In simplest terms, holy describes God and the things that belong to God.
Things that are not holy are common, and common things can be clean or unclean.
Clean is a normal or neutral state, whereas unclean signifies something abnormal or unusual.
What is clean may be sanctified and become holy, but it may also become defiled through something unclean.
It is prohibited for the unclean to come into contact with the holy.
There have been many explanations for why some animals are clean and some unclean.
*Hygeinic *Allegorical *Theological *Ethical *Aesthetic *Consumptive *Morphological
The morphological understanding seems to fit best:
(1) It fits the above overall understanding of clean/unclean.
(2) It fits the only indicators that Leviticus and Deuteronomy give.
(3) It has explanatory power.
The most important aspect of the divisions of animals was how they paralleled the divisions of humanity...
Unclean animals paralleled the Gentiles, who were barred from the holy God.
Clean animals paralleled the Israelites, who were sanctified and made holy to God.
The more narrow group of clean animals which were also able to be used for sacrifice paralleled the priests among Israel who were able to make those sacrifices.
With the coming of the Kingdom in Christ, the clean/unclean distinction between Jew and Gentile was erased...
...and with it the Torah concerning clean and unclean foods.
Mark 7:19b (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
See Acts 10 11; 15!!!
Acts 15:9...and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
v.18 Whatever comes out of the mouth defiles
Words!!
Because they proceed from the heart.
Because they proceed from the heart. The heart of the matter is our heart in the matter!
Matthew 12:33-37
v.19 Things that come out of the heart
Jesus' list includes not just words but also thoughts and actions
Jesus' list includes not just words but also thoughts and actions Sin in every dimension
v.20 These are what defile
Sin is what truly makes us unclean
Romans 1:24a Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity...
Sin is what truly separates us from the Holy God
Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Context: The Gospel Of Matthew
The Gospel Of Jesus
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus? The Exegete Of God
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
Sola Scriptura Solus Christus
The Gospel Of Authority (v.5-6,10-11)
Who is Jesus? The End Of The Law
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The Gospel Of Fulfillment
The Gospel Of The Kingdom
Who is in the Kingdom?
The Inside-Out Gospel (v.1-9,12)
Who is in the Kingdom? Those who have been purified, regenerated, and reconciled.
Ezekiel 36:25-29a I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will
Ezekiel 36:25-29a put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleanness.
Who is Jesus? Savior
Titus 2:13b-14...our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
The Moral Gospel (v.4-6,19-20)
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
1 John 1:5-9 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as
1 John 1:8-9 he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thy Kingdom Come: Sola Scriptura Matthew 15:1-20 *All Scripture ESV unless indicated