The Way of Discipleship

Introduction

We’ll wait just a minute, let everyone get seated. Some of my children and grandchildren are part of that, so I’ll make sure they find a seat. We have a very good crowd here this morning. And we have a number of visitors. I met some of them as I came in this morning. We appreciate very much your presence here. We are here to worship our God. And we’re going to do that in just a minute. Again, that we’ll have some announcements later in the worship. But if you would please bow with me as we begin our worship to God.

And at this time we come to you to praise you, Father. For you are our rock and our salvation. You have done so many great things for us, Father, and the greatest is the gift of your Son and our Savior. Father, we thank you for this immeasurable gift of your love. Father, we give you thanks for the rest of the past night. And for the time that we have this morning to assemble together as your people and to worship you, the one and only living God. May our worship bring you glory, honor, and praise, and express the love that we have for you, your son, and your spirit. Father, cleanse our hearts, wash our hands, that we too can be holy as we worship you this morning.

God, you are the one and only God. And you have made this opportunity of reconciliation that we have to be your children through the sacrifice of your Son, who makes all things possible. And exit in his name I pray. Amen.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast to our confession. So we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.

We’re going to sing them all three verses and then the chorus one time.

Let them praise the previous and dear.

And children small. Let them bring their races him to hold up for his name, since all remote the earth and let us pray. Our holy Lord. As we come to you this morning, we recognize you as our God and our Father. The one who gives us breath each day. The one who goes with us in times of joy and times of sorrow. Lord, we thank you for always being with us. Lord, we thank you for your for the strength that you give us to live our lives in a world that does not know you. We pray that you give us more strength and to continue fighting for you. That when we go into the world and evil is around us, we put our faith and we put our confidence in you, and that we continue finding strength in you.

Lord, we pray that each day that we do all things to honor you, and that we strive to live in a way that glorifies you. Help us to go into this world and be your light in the darkness. That when people look at us, they see you and how great you are. Lord, we thank you, and we pray that you be with us always. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Oh, worship the King.

Oh, worship by the King.

His life honors.

And sweep me, shall be both in me cross nor me to pray mercy out defender. Good morning. We have set this time aside to give back, contribute some which we’ve been very richly blessed. this is not a solicitation of funds from our visitors. This is a duty of members here at Decker Prairie. if you would like to give, we have our PayPal account on the screen. We have a box in the lobby, and soon gentlemen will be passed around trays to do so. So you can please pray with me. Lord God Almighty, we come before you. We are so very thankful that all that we have and everything we possess is only because of you, Lord.

Lord, we ask at this time as we try to give back some that it is used wisely, that is used to spread your word, it is used to bring others closer to you, Lord. This your son Jesus’ own name I pray. Amen.

I have decided to follow Jesus. Number six hundred and forty. Before Burns lesson, we’re going to sing number six hundred and forty-three, where he leads, I’ll follow. And I invite you to stand.

In a general way, all the sermons we’ve been working through the Gospel of Matthew have to do with discipleship. But as we get to this text in chapters 14 and 15, we’re going to see a little bit more development on the growth of faith, what it looks like to be a disciple. And that’s the direction I want us to head this morning as we look through this section, seeing the story of Jesus, how he’s interacting with people, and then what his disciples are doing and following him, or sometimes not actually following him the way that they should. And sometimes that is part of the story as well. Seeing the ways in which the disciples fail, or in which they don’t mimic Jesus is kind of a negative example of how we shouldn’t live.

And so we’re see we’ll see some of that in the text this morning. It’s too big of a text to read all of it. I want to focus our attention in just a few moments on chapter 15, and so I’m going to read that here in a few minutes. But I want to remind you where we came from in chapter 13. It’s a section that has to do with the wisdom of Jesus’ teaching. Something greater than Solomon is here, he says.

They want to follow him and they realize he is the answer. But if you keep reading, sadly, that’s not the case. In verse 57, it says, and they took offense at him. This is just the nature of the kingdom. And it’s the way the story kind of unfolds over and over again through the gospels, not just the gospel of Matthew, but all the gospels, where Jesus is teaching and he’s helping, he’s healing, he’s trying to guide people, and just over and over again they reject him. They’re offended by the things that he’s saying. And unfortunately, this is the way the kingdom works, and it’s what the writers want us to understand. And then this transitions naturally then into the narrative that starts in chapter 14. We’ve just seen in the parables that Jesus told that the kingdom is worth everything.

It’s this pearl of great value. It’s this hidden treasure in a field that someone sells everything and then goes and buys that field. That’s how valuable it is. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come with conflict. And that there aren’t problems that are going to come because you follow the kingdom. And so we’re entering a new section of the story beginning in chapter 14, this new narrative that’s going to begin. And it begins in somewhat of a strange way. But if we understand the transition that they’re taking offense at Jesus, the kingdom, although it’s a message of wisdom, is just something that people don’t really want to receive, then it makes a little more sense to understand how the story of the execution of John the Baptist then fits in here.

Jesus is going around teaching in villages and synagogues. And as they see his wisdom and his mighty works, as we already mentioned, you would think they’d want to listen, but they don’t. They’re upset, they’re offended. And so there’s a natural tension then that comes often with speaking truth and people not really wanting to hear truth. And this is illustrated quite well in the story that follows, beginning in chapter 14, where John the Baptist is speaking truth that Herod and Herodias don’t want to hear. That their marriage is not legitimate, that Herodias had no grounds to leave his brother’s as his brother’s wife, and Herod had no grounds to take Herodias as his wife. And John unapologetically speaks this to them in a way where Herod actually wants to execute him, Matthew tells us, but he’s afraid of the people.

And so Herodias kind of configures this whole scenario with her daughter to then bring it about. And what we’re seeing here is that sometimes, even though the kingdom is worth it, there are tensions and there are problems, particularly of a political nature, that sometimes surround us that we can’t get around. And so when we understand how the narrative is slowing, what the story is doing, this sort of strange flashback story where John’s in prison and then he’s beheaded, it all kind of makes sense with what’s happening here as the world is rejecting truth. But then it’s interesting as the story continues, what we see with the presence of Jesus that is that even in the midst of conflict, whether it’s people hungry out in desolate places, or stranded in storms on water, or desperate to have their child healed, when Jesus is present, there are answers for them.

So we see sort of both sides of the nature of how this works. That sometimes when the presence of Jesus, at least, there are physical solutions to the problems, but that is just not the nature of how the kingdom always works. It comes with great reward and it helps avoid eternal condemnation, but it is not a promise or a goal of the kingdom that we have physical blessings and that we never suffer discomfort or problems in this life. And so, in a big way, this story demonstrates some of those ideas while at the same time emphasizing some things about discipleship that I want us to think about this morning. So I want to use three words this morning to really demonstrate what’s being opened up to us in this text in chapters 14 and 15.

1. Trust in the Power of Jesus

Three concepts that show what discipleship looks like. And we see this in the stories with how the disciples and how others are reacting to Jesus, and there are things that still matter to us today. Just three ideas. And the first of these, and I think maybe the prominent one throughout these texts, is the idea of trust. What is demonstrated over and over again in these stories is the reality of the need to trust in the power of Jesus. And we see this even in the story of John the Baptist, as he’s doing kingdom work, he’s paving the way for the kingdom, and yet in the midst of all of that, it doesn’t end the way that anyone thought it would probably end with him. And yet there’s something greater beyond what’s here.

And in following Jesus, it’s gonna be story after story, in which trusting Jesus is the solution to the problem. That is what gives us the answer that we need. It’s not something in the world, it’s not going after other things, but realizing the need to follow him wherever he goes, as we see these people doing in these accounts.

14 and 15, but I want to read this section in fifteen, and it kind of encapsulates everything that we’re going to talk about this morning, beginning with the idea of trust and kind of going against, as we’re going to see in this text. So let’s begin in verse one of chapter fifteen. It says, The Pharisees and the scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. And he answered them, And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father and mother must surely die. But you say, if anyone tells his father or mother what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.

So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the people to him and said to them, Hear and understand. It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person. Then the disciples came and said to him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when you they heard this saying? He answered, Every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone, they are blind guides.

And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. But Peter said to him, Explain the parable to us. And he said, Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.

And when Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon, behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord Son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she’s crying out after us. And he answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee, and he went up on the mountain and sat down there, and great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others. And they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat, and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

And the disciples said to him, Where are we going to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd? And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven and a few small fish. And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Those who ate were four thousand men besides women and children. And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadon.

In that single text in chapter 15, you really pick up the same sorts of things that are happening in 14 as well. And it’s sort of bookended by these two feeding accounts. So if you go back into the early part of chapter 15, that’s the well-known story of him healing people and then feeding the five thousand plus. And these two stories really from a structural standpoint, probably the first one is the feeding of Jews. And we know later on, particularly from the Gospel of Mark, after he goes to the Canaanite woman in Tyre in Sidon, he quickly goes back into the same Gentile region that he had been at, where he catched the legion out of the demoniac and into the pigs, and they run into the water.

This is Gentile territory. And so after healing her daughter, he then goes back into this Gentile territory, and the 4,000, most likely, are a collection of both Jews and Gentiles, the Gentiles now being included in this feeding. Another interesting aspect of this, we’ll get through some of these little details first, is this Jesus being the new Moses. He’s in the wilderness, giving people bread. He’s feeding people, he’s bringing people together as God’s servant. And so in this way, just like we’ve seen before with Elijah and Moses and the ways in which he represents them, or he is the new better version of them. The same sorts of things are happening here in these stories, where thousands and thousands are coming to him, and they are in need, and he is giving them what they need.

They’re in desperate situations, and yet over and over again, Jesus takes care of the things that they are dealing with in a variety of ways.

When we start with the story of John the Baptist, it’s a reminder that the people of God often suffer violence at the hands of a hostile world. And so even entering into this story where Jesus is now taking over, where John is leaving off. John is in prison and he’s executed. Things don’t look good. John’s out preaching of the coming of the Messiah and he is in prison and ultimately killed. This is not what we thought would happen. Right? You know it because you’ve read the stories before and you’ve heard them before. But if you are back in this time and you’re following Jesus, and John the Baptist, the servant of the Lord, is out paving the way and proclaiming that the Messiah is coming, the expectation you have is not that he’s going to be in prison and beheaded.

This doesn’t seem like a great path to be on. And you could understand how there would be some political tensions, unease, both in the Roman surroundings that have taken over the region and the city, and also with religious leaders in the opposition, the Pharisees and the scribes, who often are opposed to the Sadducees. It’s coming in both directions. All of these people who are in leadership positions, who are rulers, not only stand against John, but we see them in confrontation with Jesus. And yet, if you’re following him, now you’re connected to this person who is seen as an insurrectionist. He’s a problem maker. He creates issues. He speaks in ways that the Pharisees and the scribes don’t like, and certainly in ways the Sadducees would not have liked.

And yet at the same time, they know he’s the answer. These people follow him out into desolate places where there’s nothing. We see at the end of the story, which is one reason why I read chapter 15, they’re out for three days with him. I don’t know if they brought food with them and they ran out along the way, or if they just went after him and they ate and eaten for three days. Probably the first one. But either way, they’re out in a desolate place and they don’t have they’re putting spiritual priority in their life over even physical needs, and Jesus appreciates that. They’re out here hungry in the wilderness because they want to listen to him. And there’s an element of trust that goes along with this, whether it’s a hostile world around us, or whether it’s prioritizing spiritual needs over physical, or whether it’s just the storms of life that arise unexpectedly.

All of these are things that we go through in the physical world. And in the midst of all of that, what we’re called to do is trust in the one who is over all.

I mean, these are all the things that are connected here in the story because people don’t want to hear truth and they’re offended by truth. That’s where the story starts at the end of chapter 13. And then we’re going to see even the disciples recognize this. Didn’t you know you offended the Pharisees? He says, Who cares? Everything that God cannot plant needs to be uprooted. Let’s get rid of this stuff that’s not according to the will of God. But you can see whether it would be doubts and fears. Struggles of faith. The disciples themselves facing this time and time again, and even within this story, not quite sure that they’re on the right path at times. And it’s an illustration of how faith has to grow through struggle.

And sometimes it is the difficulties and the things we go through, whatever they may be, whether it is an oppressive world around us, or we go through troubles or difficulties because of our faith, or it’s just things happen in life that are hard. Sickness and death, financial struggles, whatever they may be. Those are moments in which faith is able to overcome fears and struggles to help us grow as God’s people.

Is that this is what kingdom life looks like. And it’s not all good and wonderful and pleasurable. It’s not all the healings and people who are sick being made well, and people who are lame walking. No, those things are there. But that’s not all it is. Sometimes it is going through struggles and difficulties. And in the midst of all of that, just remember, just like people in the Old Testament who served God without knowing that they were going to be blessed afterwards, these people are doing the same. They go out into the wilderness. They don’t know that Jesus is going to take five loaves of bread and two fish and divide it up and give it to them, and yet they’re out there.

The 4,000 plus, they don’t know that he’s going to take the seven loaves and the fish and divide it up and give it to them. They don’t know these things, but they’re trusting him as the one who has the answers. And so the example for us, the application for us is whatever we’re going through, whatever struggles we have in life, the answer to those is to trust in Jesus through them. To find comfort in the reality that it’s not just about what’s here. This may even result in death physically. That’s what we see with John. For the most part, it’s unlikely that any of us will be called to that in this life. Things could change. I’m not a prophet, and I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future.

But if things remain the way they are to some sort of degree over the next hundred years, very few of us, if any of us, are going to be called like John the Baptist to give our heads for our faith. It might happen. But it is a story that reminds us that even if that happens, it’s still fitting with the kingdom. Because the kingdom is not about what’s here. It’s not about the blessings of the present and about the physical things that we have around us. It’s about something so much bigger than that. And God was working a plan through John that was bigger than his life. And as we’ve seen through the Gospel of Matthew, it’s the stories being retold. Think about all the prophets of old.

2. Truth: A Sincere Heart Seeking Truth

How many of them had wonderful lives of comfort, in which people accepted the things they heard, and they went from place to place and they had everything they needed all the time and they never suffered oppression. No, I mean, beginning to end, they were oppressed because they spoke truths that people didn’t want to hear. And that’s where John the Baptist leads us into the idea of what the kingdom is like. Which then brings us to the second word I want us to think about. Trust is such a key element of the story from beginning to end. But in the middle of that, I think is kind of the hub. It’s the emphasis of what’s going on here, the contrast between the world and even the religious world that is at odds with Jesus and those who actually follow him.

So Jesus spends a significant amount of time dealing with this idea of what a true heart, a sincere heart seeking truth is like, as opposed to someone that’s simply after tradition or ritual or going through their motions or externals or appearances. Those are not the same things.

The Pharisees often had good motivations. And there are some good Pharisees, but we’re getting the ones here who are opposed to Jesus. They struggle with the reality of what Jesus is and what he’s trying to accomplish. And so at least the ones that were often presented to in Scripture, they stand as an example of those who hold their rituals and traditions, their own man-made ideas above the teaching of God Himself. They valued appearance over sincere obedience from the heart.

We could have called this the way of the heart, because that’s the central idea in chapter 15. But what Jesus is after are our hearts, our desire to submit ourselves to his will and to do things in his ways. And it’s not just going through some motions. He does have expectations for us and things he wants us to do, but it’s not always just about those things, it’s about the desire we put into them. We can keep a lot of rules and laws and still have no actual desire to do what God wants us to really do. This is the whole point of the quotation from Isaiah 29, as he’s criticizing the way in which they’re living. They hold others to these high standards, they do things that look good before men, and yet inside they are decrepit and empty.

And so he chides them in verse 7, you hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines, the commandments of men. Isaiah 29 is a text that has to do with the siege of Jerusalem. Condemnation is rolling down upon God’s people because they have not actually done what God wants. They went to the temple and they offered sacrifices and they did all the things that you’re supposed to do from an outward perspective. But the reality is their hearts were nowhere close to honoring God. Their lips said the right words, but their heart isn’t aligned with the will of God. And so all their worship is vain.

And beyond that, as we’re seeing in a very specific way with the Pharisees, they’re not interested in the things of God. They’re much more interested in their own opinions and their own ideas. And so they teach their opinions as God’s commandments. And that’s where we find this confrontation here between Jesus and the Pharisees. They’re so worried about his disciples not eating with washed hands. Now we probably view this in a little bit different way culturally, just from a kind of germ dirtiness sort of thing. That’s not really the concept here. This has to do with ritual and the various washings that they went through. And, you know, maybe God is doing this or has these some of these instructions in the Old Testament for their own physical health.

Sometimes those are points that made.

Oh, you know, I don’t have to take care of my father and mother, which is a fundamental basic principle in the Old Testament to honor your father and mother. And yet they could kind of skirt around that by saying, Oh, all of this money, these possessions here, they’re an offering to the Lord. No, they would use those. You know, it was like this dedication, it’s like a trust, right? When I when I finally die one day, this offering, now I don’t have to, because it’s an offering, it sounds really good. And I’ve really dedicated myself to the Lord. That looks great to everybody, but actually, what’s really happening is you are neglecting what God actually wants you to do. That’s that’s what Jesus is telling them.

You’re violating clear principles with it within Scripture to keep your man-made traditions. And so for these people not working on the Sabbath in the ways they had deemed to be work was more important than someone eating. Or even being helped from a sickness. You remember that from Matthew 12? The stories in chapter 12, 1 through 14. The disciples are plucking the heads of grain and they’re eating, and the Pharisees come trotting along. You’re breaking the Sabbath. You know, they’re all upset about this. And then the next story where he has a man with a withered hand that Jesus heals. And again, you think people would be astonished. This guy has a withered hand, and Jesus says, Stretch it out, and boom, he’s healed. No, they’re angry.

They’re offended. Because he violated their rules. How sad. That they put their own traditions and their own ideas and their own opinions above the actual truth of God’s word. Jesus points this out, and as we already mentioned, the disciples, who actually are a lot like the rulers in this story, a lot more like the rulers than they are Jesus. They struggle with this. Don’t you know they’re offended, Jesus. I think this statement applies in so many areas of life. So I’m going to keep it pretty broad. You apply it as needed. Being offended doesn’t make anyone right. Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right. What makes us right is actually following Jesus, actually seeking truth. And so I can be offended all I want, and I can still be completely wrong.

Misguided, blind. This is the way Jesus talks about it here, right? And maybe his encouragement in verse 14 is an example of some pretty good wisdom. Let them alone. You know, people like that, you just let them alone. They’re blind guides. And the blind are going to lead the blind to fall into a pit. You just stay away from that kind of junk.

Paul warns about some similar things to the brethren in Colossae. He says, Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that comes from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spheres of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, you submit to regulations, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things that all perish as they are used. According to human precepts and teachings, these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 2, 18 through 23. True discipleship is not about me making up a bunch of rules to follow. It’s about seeking the heart of Jesus and doing the things the way he tells us to do them. And let me make something clear here about what Paul’s saying in Colossians 2 when he says this thing about don’t do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. He’s not saying that there’s not moral things we have to stay away from. Actually, quite the opposite. Sexual immorality and all those kinds of things are still very clearly things that God’s people need to stay away from. What he’s talking about here is things that humans make up and say we can’t do. That’s the idea of asceticism, an oppression to the body, withholding things that are good from us, thinking that somehow that makes us more spiritual.

It’s dangerous to follow blind guides. And both Jesus and Paul warn clearly about this. In contrast, you know, we have the religious rulers, the elites, the people who are supposed to know Scripture and project themselves as those who were aligned with the law of Moses and all of that. The crowds ignore them and they follow Jesus. Pretty amazing. Now they have some reasons for that. You know, they’re dealing with life. They’re sick. They’ve got problems. And what they know is the tradition of the elders doesn’t help those problems. That’s not the answer. But they do know going to Jesus is the answer. And so whatever it is the religious elite are pumping and preaching, they’re not that interested in that because it doesn’t actually help anything.

What they’re really interested in is someone who has real answers and actually makes a difference. And tradition is kind of center stage in chapter 15. That’s the big point in the early part of the text. But don’t miss the reality also that these crowds are willing to make themselves uncomfortable. They’re willing to go beyond comfort, go beyond what is easy. They’ll make difficult choices, which requires trust, which you’ve already talked about, and sacrifice to be in the presence of Jesus. If I said, hey, we’re gonna now some of us have tried, Sherry’s tried this to get us to go hiking, you know, out into the wilderness. Most of us are like, eh, I don’t know. It’s like, hey, it’ll be great. Let’s go hike out there.

We won’t have a lot of food, we’ll have fun. Who’s with me? You are, okay, that’s good. It is fun. There’s some parts of that are fun, but usually, you know, kind of getting out of our comfort zone, doing things that aren’t easy, that are difficult, that require sacrifice, that’s kind of tough. It could be really good for us. But it is tough. But just think about the trust it takes. Think about the desire for truth it took for these crowds, for these thousands of people to leave what they had known. What the Pharisees and the scribes had told them forever. And now they’re going to leave. They realize this guy’s different. I mean, we’re seeing things that he’s doing that is not like those people.

He speaks with authority. We’re going to follow him out to desolate places. Takes a lot of faith. It’s a lot of trust. And in these stories, their trust is rewarded rather quickly. That’s not always how it works, but at least in these stories, we see that with Jesus in their presence. He’s giving them bread, he’s taking care of them in this way. And so there’s kind of this immediate reward that takes place. But the trust was still there. The desire for truth was still there. They’re seeking truth over comfort. And so maybe that is a challenge for all of us, something that we have to work through. That sometimes it’s hard to accept the need to go beyond comfort, the ease of life, make sacrifices for what is best, what is most helpful in our lives.

Maybe challenging things that we’ve thought before, right? That’s the kind of the tradition part of the early part of the text. But just the rely, the really reality of what I’m seeing and what I’m hearing is true, and I want to go after that, no matter the cost. And so Jesus wants us to understand that as disciples, it’s about trust, but it’s also about truth. Putting our trust in him that if we seek him, we will find truth. Truth that is not caught up in human thinking and human ideas and human traditions and the spirit of the age and all the various things that go on around us that are tempting and that draw people in. That if we have a sincere heart that is dedicated to him, doesn’t mean we’re always going to find it quickly or right away.

But if that is our desire, we will get there. And that’s what I encourage all of us to do this morning. Not to seek to confirm what we already believe, not to take comfort in the belief system we already have, but to actually seek truth even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it doesn’t feel good, even when it pushes me on boundaries that I’ve had before, because we see that in this text too.

So I’m not going to spend a long time on that. But I will say, even the most infantile understanding of water tells us that we cannot walk on it. And yet Peter goes beyond all belief because of his trust of Jesus to step out to him on water. That is a lot of faith. Because the disciples, at Jesus’ command, go out into the Sea of Galilee, the storm hits them, no fault of their own. In the middle of that, they’re desperate, and Jesus comes to them. And now Peter sees Jesus. They all think he’s a ghost, but he’s if you are truly the Messiah, if it’s really you, called me to come out to you, and I will. That is an extraordinary amount of faith to do that.

Can you imagine just like the storm is raging around you? A couple Saturdays ago, we had a pretty raging storm. If you’re out on water, would you step off the boat into the lake? I mean, that is seems like insanity. But the point of that passage is that Peter desperately wants to be with Jesus. If he’s going to be in a storm, if it’s going to be a struggle, if it’s going to be difficult, he wants to be with Jesus through the storm and the struggle and difficulty, not on his own. And not only is that trust, but it has certainly a desire to seek what is true, to pursue the things that are right and sincere and honest with a heart that’s loving God. But along with that is also the reality of the need to mimic Jesus Himself and how he interacts with others.

3. Compassion: Love and Action

The third word is compassion. Twice in this text in chapters 14 and 15, 14, and 15, 32, we’re told that Jesus had compassion. He looks out at the crowds and he feels pity. He sees their desperate situation. In other places, he said they’re like sheep without a shepherd. And he feels for them. He wants to help them desperately. Do I feel that way about people? Just a quick little interjection here. Or do I look down on other people who are struggling and going through difficulties? Is it like Jesus where I have this feeling of sympathy and I look at them and like I know they haven’t been guided in this life? They’ve had no direction. They haven’t had people to help them. Or is it merely a value judgment where I hold myself about above them?

That’s what the Pharisees and the scribes do. They look down on the people around them, and unfortunately the disciples in this story. But twice we’re told within the feeding stories, it’s the healing and feeding stories at the beginning and the end of these sections, that Jesus feels compassion. But the reality is the entire story demonstrates the compassion of Jesus. He heals the crowd and feed, then he feeds them in the first part of the story. He saves the disciples on the water. They’re out in the middle of the sea, and there’s the storm. He goes out to them in their desperation and he saves them. He stands up for his disciples against accusatory hypocrites. And then he helps, maybe in the most surprising way. He helps a desperate Gentile mother.

Someone that his disciples wanted to discard and throw off to the side. Jesus’ compassion isn’t restricted by human thinking. He goes beyond known boundaries. That is easily seen in the walking on the water story. But maybe that story is actually meant for what comes later with the Gentile woman, which would have been unheard of. I mean, Samaritans and Gentiles, these are not the types of people you go to from a Jewish standpoint, and yet Jesus is beginning to include them in his ministry. He’s bringing them in, and he’s wanting them to see what his kingdom is actually like. And I think that’s the explanation for what we see, what’s happening in the story with the Gentile woman. This is an encounter that would require a lot more time to go in detail on.

If you’re interested, I’ll talk to you about it later. But I think what Jesus is doing here is actually acting like the rulers. He’s acting like the Pharisees and scribes, in a sense, kind of baiting the disciples to expose the harshness of their own hearts. And so this lady three times asks for help. Jesus doesn’t even answer her the first time. Just kind of ignores her request as if she’s unimportant, like she doesn’t even exist.

And he’s very dismissive with her. And in the midst of that, the disciples who’ve just seen this story where Jesus backs them up. He defends them because they’re guiltless before the Pharisees and scribes. And this whole scenario about what is clean and what is unclean with washing hands, they now encounter this unclean woman, and the disciples want to cast her aside, just like the Pharisees did to the disciples, because they hadn’t washed their hands. And yet in the end, unlike the disciples, this woman demonstrates great faith. When Jesus delivers the disciples from the storm, the raging storm. Again, there’s a little bit of coinness here, I think, in some of these statements. But he says, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And yet, this desperate Gentile woman who throws herself at Jesus’ feet, begging for help.

He says, Oh, woman, great is your faith. The disciples, though they’ve seen the compassion of Jesus over and over and over, unfortunately stand as a negative example of what religious establishment can sometimes look like. Harshness and a lack of heart. Their heartlessness and apathy toward this poor woman, not poor financially, but desperate. Looks like the Pharisees and the scribes, not like Jesus. But I want us to see also with the compassion of Jesus that his compassion meets real needs. It’s not about image. It’s not about how things look. Compassion is not just emotions and feelings. It’s love and action. People are legitimately hungry and he feeds them. They are hurting. They are sick. They are injured and he heals them. They are attacked unfairly. And they are guiltless, and so he defends them.

This is not kind of the modern virtue signaling type thing where we try to sound more holy or we twist scriptures to promote self and attack others. This is the kind of thing that Jesus hates and rejects. Jesus shows real compassion, the kind of passion that actually helps the people around him.

So what happens with all the virtue signaling is, are you compassionate? What are you doing? Without thinking about myself, I want to condemn other people and the things that they do. Instead of what Jesus calls us to do, which is to look at him and see the things that he’s doing and then to be like him. Without regard for how other people want to live and act and whatever they’re going to do, I’m called to just be this way myself. And I’m not asking you to be naive, neither is Jesus. In fact, he’s already told his disciples when he sent them out on the limited commission to be wise as a serpent and innocent as doves in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 16. I’m not the person who’s going to tell you that you have to help every single person who ever asked you for money.

But I will say this when Jesus knew people were hungry, he helped them. When he saw people who legitimately had need, he was there for it. There are limits to how we can help people who are sick or hurting. I certainly can’t heal people, and neither can you. Jesus is remarkable in that way. But if we are like Jesus, we will do what we can for people in those situations. This is a challenging one, especially in our day and age. Not every attack or injustice is my battle to fight. But here’s what I do know. When Jesus knew attacks were based in tradition and not truth, he defended the guiltless. He stood up for them. And so I’m not telling you to get on every Facebook discussion and argue with people and all of that.

But as people who follow Jesus, we do need to stand for truth. We do need to support the guiltless. We do need to feed the hungry. We do need to help those who are sick and who are struggling, because that’s what Jesus did. And what we’re seeing in these accounts, we’re going to see this even more as we move forward in chapters 16 and 17, is the developing of the identity of Jesus, of who he is. We’re seeing this by example by the way he lives and the way he interacts with people, and we’re going to see it in a much grander way as we get particularly into chapter 17. But it’s also a story that’s about the way I should be living as someone who’s following Jesus and the identity that he’s developing throughout his ministry.

Conclusion

It’s contrasting stagnant traditionalism with growing faith. It’s demonstrating that true discipleship is a matter of heart, not external appearances. Discipleship means trusting through difficulty and struggle, desiring truth, even when it will requires change, even when it’s hard, and loving people the way Jesus loved people. All of that is what’s contained in these two chapters in Matthew 14 and 15. And I think if we’re honest, I can’t speak for you. I can only speak for me. I think if we’re honest, we realize some of those things are pretty tough. Some of those decisions are hard to make. That’s just a reality. It’s hard to know when it’s my turn to help or when I need to help in a situation. But again, go back to the story.

Am I sincere in my desire to do what needs to be done? Maybe I’m sincerely make the wrong choice sometimes. That can happen. But God is after the heart, and Jesus is after the heart. He wants a heart that wants to worship and to serve him as best as it knows how. Meanwhile, understanding that as we see in these stories themselves, it’s something that takes growth and learning along the way. I think I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again. I think one of the most encouraging things about the Gospels is how they tell us how the disciples failed. Not because we want to be failures, not because we want to do it wrong, but just think about that for a moment. I mean, these guys are walking around with Jesus everywhere, and yet they still make the wrong choices sometimes.

He’s right here. And they’re on a boat with him. And they’re walking from village to village with him and they’re hearing him teach. I mean, like they’re in person with him as he’s teaching people, and yet they’re still casting off this Canaanite woman. They don’t get it. They don’t understand. And so, if I don’t understand or you don’t understand, there’s a reality that our discipleship and following Jesus, it requires a growth, but it’s a growth that comes from God only if we attach ourselves to him who is the head, Christ Jesus, and not the human traditions and the teachings of men. And that’s the answer. And so my expectations for myself and for you this morning is not that you’re perfect, you never make mistakes and never make bad choices, and that you never ever do something that Jesus wouldn’t have done.

We realize that’s actually just not possible. But my expectation for myself and for you is that we are growing in our desire to want to follow him and do things in his way and have an obedient heart, submitting ourselves to his will every step of the way. And when we fall, we get back up and we keep trying. Maybe this morning you realize you need that. You need to be revitalized in your life for Christ. Maybe you’ve been baptized already into Jesus Christ, but you know you haven’t been living like it, or you’ve been struggling, your motivation hasn’t been good. You’re you need to see these stories and you’re seeing them and you realize that’s not how I’m living. It’s not the end. That’s why we do this.

That’s why we look at these stories and we have sermons and we read our Bibles and we study. You can make a change this morning. You can rededicate yourself to him. Or maybe you haven’t done that yet. You haven’t given yourself to Jesus Christ. I want you to see that he’s the answer. And all these stories, nobody goes to someone else. They don’t go to the Pharisees or the scribes or the Sadducees or so Roman official to get healed from their sickness or to get food. That’s not the answer. The true answer is Jesus. And if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have the true answer. We want to help you this morning. We want you to submit your life to him, die with him in baptism, and be resurrected in units of life.

And we help you come now as we stand and we sing.

Please be seated. Time in our service to remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. Did everyone get a chance to get the emblems as they came in? If you did not, please raise your hand, and we’ve got some guys that can bring those to you.

Neil de Grasse Tyson, who’s a very famous scientist, was once asked in an interview, do you believe in God? And he said, God is often described as being all-knowing, all powerful, and all good. One example I have is that on the first of November in 1755, so 270 years ago yesterday, in Lisbon, Portugal, an estimated seven point seven magnitude earthquake hit. And it was Sunday morning, so most people were in church.

Along with many other buildings.

So there’s tsunami and the fire and burnt many buildings down, not already destroyed by the earthquake and the tsunami. But Dr. Tyson continues 80,000 people died. So either God is not all knowing or all powerful or all good, but he cannot be all of those things. Now, Dr. Tyson is a very smart man. But in this case, he has not thought this through very well. The premise has been repeated many times by many atheists that if God exists, and if he is good, all powerful God, then why doesn’t he stop bad things from happening to good people? Today we will settle this argument. In Portugal, as the first earthquake studies scientifically for its effects over a large area, as it destroyed 85% of the city, it led to the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering, science.

That Dr. Tyson loves so much. And second, there are no good people. Jesus says in Matthew 19, 17, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

No one is good. We all need grace. We all make mistakes. Since God does not differentiate levels of evil, sin is sin, no matter how minute. Just imagine a world where God stops every bad thing from happening. You ever go to church and pass all the cars on the road and think, well, all these people, they’re not going to church. Well, God is now going to stop that from happening. It’s going to be very crowded here.

Not when many will stay after the closing prayer because they don’t want to be here. Tomorrow on your way to lunch, why take the elevator down? Just jump off the roof. God will save you. He won’t allow you to hit the pavement. Drive 100 miles per hour to lunch. God will not allow you to crash. No need to have brakes on your car either. While at lunch, have a whole chocolate cake. God will not allow you to gain weight. On your way back to work, well, why work anyway? God would not allow you to be evicted. How ridiculous. The world will also be forced to go to church and forced to speak nice things to people and forced to love their spouse and forced to love God.

This is called the end of free will. It makes life senseless and meaningless. You no longer have the power to choose or make mistakes or have consequences. Everything is done for you. You are a robot. But people turn from sin when bad things happen to them, not good things. This is the same God who ordered his only son to come to earth and to starve himself for 40 days and nights, to be tempted by the devil, to be hated, to be spit on, ridiculed, plotted against, scourged, and finally crucified. God let bad things happen to the only good person who ever who lived a sinless life and sacrificed himself for all of us. This is the God that does not operate on the superficial plane that the wise of the world think he should operate.

They believe God should be our servant instead of the other way around. God wants us to love him because we want to, not because he makes us. Our greatest commandment is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live. Let us never forget what a great sacrifice Jesus was and why we are here. Let us pray for the bread. Lord, we ask you now to bless this bread, the body of your beloved Son, your only Son, who you gave to be sacrificed for us. Help us to never forget his sacrifice, that we may have life through him. And we pray that all who partake do so in a manner well pleasing unto you.

Jesus’ name, amen.

Spilled for us at your command. In Jesus’ name, amen.

It’s been good to be with you all this morning. Thank you all for coming out to worship our Lord. Visitors, we’re especially happy that you chose to worship with us today. We hope it’s not the last time. Got a few announcements in no particular order here. Most of these are in the bulletin. If you grab one of those, Julianne Baker’s father, Jeff Vincent, had successful gallbladder surgery yesterday, so we’re happy about that. Please keep him in your prayers during his recovery. We’ve got an upcoming gospel meeting with Chuck Durham, March 29th through April 1st of 2026. I know 2026 seems far away, but it’s going to be here before you know it. Group one meets upstairs tonight. That’s the group led by Daniel Baker and Micah Prine.

So if you’re in group one, make sure that you plan to do that. We have several in the bulletin for ongoing prayer needs, please take a look at that. Specifically, wanted to let you know that Micah Stone is not here today. Her granddaughter is sick, and I believe her daughter is sick as well, and she’s taking care of them. So if you want to check with Micah and see what needs she might have as she’s caring for some sick folks in her home. We’ll be back at 5 p.m. today for Bible classes. And then the last thing I have here is Ed Giles is going to have disc fusion in his neck. that surgery has not been scheduled yet, but please keep Ed and your prayers that surgery goes well.

That’s all we have today. Thank you.

Before the closing prayer, we’re going to sing the first and last verse. If you’re looking in the book of number 756, the unclouded day.

Oh, they tell me of the home.

Oh, they tell me how they are.

Oh, my God.

Oh, they tell me I’ll love when the sword clouds rise. Oh, they tell me on the Oh, they tell me that he smiles on his children there. And he smile drives their sorrow. And they tell me that no tears ever come again.

Oh man. Oh the land of thou. Oh, they tell me on the home when the storm clouds rise. Oh, they tell me on when I cloud. Let’s pray. Almighty Lord, how great you are. Thank you for this day that you have given us that we can be here together as family, as friends, as visitors. Worshiping you, praising you, listening to your words spoken. So that we too can examine ourselves and see areas that we can grow, areas that we can be more compassionate with those around us. Father, we pray that we have been edified this morning and we have given glory to you and your Son. Jesus’ name, amen.