full

They NEVER Saw it Coming! The Religious Teachers Are SHOCKED When Jesus Says This (Matthew 15) | Pastor Rod Gomez

Published on: 17th April, 2025

00:00 Introduction: The Confident Driver

00:25 The U-Turn Dilemma

00:51 Understanding Right of Way

01:42 Lessons from a Driving Mistake

01:58 Transition to Spiritual Lessons

02:18 Jesus Saves: A Study of Matthew 15

02:51 Geographical Context of Jesus' Teachings

05:11 Confrontation with the Pharisees

08:06 True Purity: Heart Over Actions

10:37 Self-Righteousness vs. Christ's Righteousness

15:05 The Wrapper and the Real Gift

18:28 Trusting in Jesus Alone

19:39 Jesus Challenges Traditions

19:47 The Canaanite Woman's Faith

23:15 Testing and Strengthening Faith

24:05 Food Challenges and Faith

27:43 Jesus Feeds the 4,000

31:25 Trusting in Jesus' Care

37:31 Final Reflections and Prayer

Transcript
Speaker:

I fancy myself a really good driver.

2

:

If you ever have the privilege of driving

with me, I will show you several amazing

3

:

things about how you should drive.

4

:

But have you ever had the experience

where you think you know something

5

:

and you would die to be like, this

is the way it's supposed to be.

6

:

This is the way it is.

7

:

This only to be shown that you

are actually wrong about the thing

8

:

that you were so confident about.

9

:

Talking about things

that I never saw coming.

10

:

So here's my dilemma.

11

:

All right here's the situation.

12

:

I'm at a U-turn, and I know some

of you guys don't drive yet.

13

:

You're gonna get there soon enough.

14

:

I'm at a U-turn.

15

:

There's a flashing yellow light in

front of me, which means I can make

16

:

the U-turn, but I have to wait.

17

:

I have to yield to the oncoming traffic.

18

:

But what happens if there's a

person who's making a right turn

19

:

into the flow of traffic, right

where you're making the U-turn?

20

:

Who has the right of way?

21

:

Right turn.

22

:

Seems like all of you know

the correct answer to this.

23

:

I would have argued to my death

saying that the U-turn person

24

:

should go the U-turn person that

they're in the flow of traffic.

25

:

If that right turn person goes and

they get in my way, that's on them.

26

:

I found out after arguing with the

driver on the road that wasn't like

27

:

a, weren't fighting or nothing.

28

:

We exchanged a few gunshots, but besides

that, it was pretty normal conversation.

29

:

I was making a U-turn and the person in

the car was like, what are you doing?

30

:

You could see their face.

31

:

They were mad at me and I'm like,

I'm doing the right thing, homie.

32

:

So I got in front of them

and I brake checked them

33

:

with the compass sticker on my car.

34

:

Anyway, I went home that day

and I gotta figure this out.

35

:

I'm like 99.9%

36

:

sure that the U-turn person is supposed

to go, but I found out that's not true.

37

:

The U-turn has to yield the right

of way to the guy making the right

38

:

turn into the flow of traffic.

39

:

Sir, there's certain things that you

can get wrong and it's not a big deal.

40

:

This is, this is a big deal if you get

in an accident, not a massive deal,

41

:

but there are things that you can

get wrong about God and the Bible and

42

:

following Christ that if you get them

wrong, it's more than just an accident.

43

:

It's really a disaster.

44

:

Tonight we're gonna talk about

what you should not get wrong about

45

:

the way that Jesus saves, about

the way that you are a Christian.

46

:

Tonight, I want to be sure that

you understand what Matthew 15 is

47

:

gonna tell us is that Jesus saves

everyone who trusts in him, not just

48

:

those people who do the right thing.

49

:

In fact, Jesus doesn't say people who

think that they're doing the right thing.

50

:

Jesus doesn't say people

who trust in their works.

51

:

Jesus saves people who believe

and trust in Him and Him alone.

52

:

We're gonna jump into Matthew chapter 15.

53

:

We've got a lot of ground to cover, and

I plan on being fairly short tonight.

54

:

Normally I preach 55 minutes.

55

:

I'm probably gonna be closer

to 53 minutes tonight, so it's

56

:

gonna be a really short night.

57

:

Alright, let's jump into where we're at.

58

:

Let me first orient you as you guys open

up your Bibles at Matthew chapter 15.

59

:

Let me show you where we are in the world.

60

:

Israel is a real place.

61

:

Jesus is a real man.

62

:

He lives in a real city with real people.

63

:

And you'll notice as we enter into this

text here we're still back in Israel.

64

:

In fact, as we zoom in,

this is a modern map.

65

:

There we go.

66

:

I zoomed in too far.

67

:

This is a modern map of this

of this the state of Israel.

68

:

So you see, you have Amman here, you have

Israel down there, you've got Jerusalem.

69

:

There are some cities that has still exist

today that existed thousands of years ago.

70

:

So this is really cool.

71

:

Today we're looking

here a little up north.

72

:

Here we go.

73

:

I can't see from over here.

74

:

All right.

75

:

There's Jericho, the Jerusalem.

76

:

Now.

77

:

Okay, here we go.

78

:

Top of that, top of the screen

here, you'll see the Sea of Galilee.

79

:

The sea of Tiberius.

80

:

That's where Jesus is

spending most of his time.

81

:

It's still there today.

82

:

If you go to Israel, you can still

see the places where Jesus taught

83

:

and interacted with a lot of people.

84

:

It's really actually quite cool.

85

:

So this is the modern map.

86

:

Here's the old school map minus a

lot of the things that we have today.

87

:

So this is not Google Maps anymore.

88

:

This is what it looks like today.

89

:

You'll see the Sea of

Galilee right here now.

90

:

And you have Tiberius.

91

:

You have Razin, you have Beeta.

92

:

You have this place

called The Desolate Place.

93

:

We'll talk about that in

just a few moments here.

94

:

You've got Cana of Galilee,

of Nazareth down here.

95

:

This section over here is

often called the Decapolis.

96

:

It's a confederation of 10 cities.

97

:

They're a group of cities that say, Hey,

let's work together to do the same thing.

98

:

And way up here is Caesarea Philippi.

99

:

That's gonna become important in a minute.

100

:

And way over here to my

left is Tire and Sidon.

101

:

That's gonna be important too,

'cause that's not Jewish territory.

102

:

That's where the Gentiles live.

103

:

Now, Jesus is somewhere in this

region right here, and I'm not

104

:

entirely sure where he is, but when

we left, we last left off Jesus

105

:

inert, which is about right here.

106

:

So we're probably in this region here

right now in this particular text.

107

:

And if you zoom in just a little

further, here's again here.

108

:

Here's what it looks like today.

109

:

All this place is populated.

110

:

If you wanna fly to Israel, you could see

all the cool places that Jesus spent time.

111

:

We have a reasonable degree of confidence

of where he was and what he was doing.

112

:

Again, here's the zoom in of

what it looked like in the past.

113

:

Okay.

114

:

With that said, Matthew chapter

15, we're gonna look at what

115

:

Jesus says as he communicates.

116

:

Now in response to this group of people

that come to pick a fight with him, the

117

:

scribes and the Pharisees enter the scene.

118

:

They're sent from Jerusalem to Jesus.

119

:

Their official delegation of people.

120

:

They're coming to pick a fight with

Jesus, and here's what they say.

121

:

Essentially, look, your disciples are

not eating their food with washed hands.

122

:

Now when your mom and dad say, Hey,

wash your hands before you have dinner,

123

:

they're not talking about ceremony.

124

:

They're talking about cleanliness.

125

:

They don't want you to eat

food with germs in their hands.

126

:

These guys are saying you're

breaking the tradition of the elders.

127

:

That is the oral tradition saying

every time you eat a meal, you're

128

:

supposed to wash your hands so that

you could be ceremonially pure,

129

:

ceremonially clean ceremonially,

so they could be pure ritually.

130

:

No.

131

:

So that's what's happening here.

132

:

They say, Jesus, why do you

let your disciples do this?

133

:

And Jesus says, whoa, check yourself.

134

:

Because the real problem is not that

my disciples don't wash their hands.

135

:

The problem is that you are breaking God's

law in order to honor your traditions.

136

:

And he talks about one in particular.

137

:

He says, look, you guys say that it's okay

to dishonor your mother and your father

138

:

by not providing for them financially.

139

:

If you say about your money, my money is

dedicated to God, it would be like this.

140

:

Let's say your parents say, look,

you guys, you got a job now.

141

:

You're working at the Whataburger,

you're making two 50 an hour.

142

:

You're loaded with cash.

143

:

This coming Tuesday.

144

:

We want you to pay for dinner.

145

:

We want you to buy dinner

for the whole family.

146

:

And so you say, oh man, mom

and dad, sorry I would do that.

147

:

But I've actually dedicated all

of my money to God going forward.

148

:

And they might say that's really cool.

149

:

What do you mean by that?

150

:

What I mean is that you

can't touch my money.

151

:

You can.

152

:

You can look at my bank account, but

you can't actually do anything with it.

153

:

And what the Pharisees and the scribes are

doing is saying, look, my money belongs to

154

:

God, even though I haven't given it to God

and not planning on giving it to God, even

155

:

in my lifetime, it still belongs to God,

so you can't be supported by my money.

156

:

This was a big deal.

157

:

And so Jesus said, look, you're

breaking the law of God in

158

:

order to honor your tradition.

159

:

And then Jesus calls them in.

160

:

In verse seven, I have

verse 30, verse seven.

161

:

Jesus says something really.

162

:

Actually lemme go back here in

verse seven, Jesus says about them,

163

:

look, you guys are hypocrites.

164

:

He says, you hypocrites, you

guys are fakes and phonies.

165

:

You have the outward appearance of

looking really righteous and really holy.

166

:

You look like you're the right people.

167

:

He says, but in actuality,

the Bible says this about you.

168

:

You guys are actually liars and

hypocrites and he says this,

169

:

people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

170

:

In vain do they worship me.

171

:

Teaching as doctrines,

the commandments of men.

172

:

There's a kind of religion

that someone can have where

173

:

they say all the right things.

174

:

They do all the right things, they go

to the right church, they have the right

175

:

Bible, they have the right study Bible.

176

:

They listen to the right teachers,

they podcast the right sermons.

177

:

They say all the right things, but

Jesus says there's a kind of person

178

:

who might say the right things and yet

still have a very wrong life because

179

:

of what's happening on the inside.

180

:

In fact.

181

:

He says, what actually makes

someone unclean and impure

182

:

before God is not what they eat.

183

:

It's not whether you eat with

wash hands or unwashed hands.

184

:

He says, what really matters is the heart.

185

:

He says, it's not what goes into

the mouth that defiles a person,

186

:

but what comes outta the mouth?

187

:

What you say that defiles you.

188

:

It's what you say that makes you unclean.

189

:

Then the disciples are like, Hey Jesus, we

just want you to know what you're saying.

190

:

Really offensive to the

Pharisees and the scribes.

191

:

Jesus is really you.

192

:

You gotta know that you're

being really offensive.

193

:

When you're saying these things

and he says, you know what,

194

:

they can dig their own grave.

195

:

If they're gonna have an issue

with this, let them have the issue.

196

:

He says, because every plant that

my father has not planted is gonna

197

:

be uprooted, which is to say, those

guys are on the way to judgment.

198

:

Even though they look like they have their

lives in order, their lives are in danger.

199

:

He goes on to say, do you not see that?

200

:

Whatever goes into the mouth, passes

into the stomach and is expelled?

201

:

Jesus is saying, when you eat the food,

you drop it in the toilet afterward.

202

:

That's it.

203

:

You, the food doesn't make you any

better with God or any worse with God.

204

:

He says What actually matters though

is what comes outta the mouth,

205

:

which perceives from the heart.

206

:

This is what defiles a person for.

207

:

Out of the hearts come evil thoughts,

murder, adultery, sexual immorality,

208

:

theft, false witness and slander.

209

:

Catch what Jesus is saying here.

210

:

What's really important to see.

211

:

He says that what your heart is doing

on the inside is what will produce

212

:

the words that you say on the outside.

213

:

Have you ever said to somebody,

oh, I didn't mean what I said.

214

:

You said something mean to them, and you

said, oh, I, I didn't mean what I said.

215

:

Jesus is saying, no, you did though.

216

:

You did, because what comes out of

your heart at, or what comes outta

217

:

your mouth is coming from your heart.

218

:

That is, it comes from who you are.

219

:

And if what you say scares you, you

said something to your mom like, oh, you

220

:

I remember when I was in high school.

221

:

I literally meant it to my mom.

222

:

We had this terrible fight

and I said, I hate you.

223

:

I remember that.

224

:

I remember.

225

:

'cause it's such a powerful word, right?

226

:

You don't say that to people

unless you really mean it.

227

:

And even then, it's

probably not a good thing.

228

:

I said it to my mom and I realized,

man, that's a powerful word.

229

:

But I was looking for any word I

could to stab her in the heart the

230

:

way I felt like she stabbed me.

231

:

Jesus says that when you hate, when

you have evil thoughts or murderous

232

:

thoughts or adulterous thoughts or any

kind of thoughts that are evil, they're

233

:

not coming from out there somewhere.

234

:

They're coming from within you.

235

:

Your heart is the problem.

236

:

And so Jesus is saying that their

issue is not whether you have

237

:

clean hands or not clean hands.

238

:

The issue is whether

you have a clean heart.

239

:

These are what defile a person, but to eat

with unwashed hands doesn't defile anyone.

240

:

Jesus is making a big distinction here.

241

:

There's a difference between

a good kid and God's kid.

242

:

There's a difference between

a church kid and Christ's kid.

243

:

There's a difference between a

kid who does all the right things

244

:

versus a kid who, because he loves

Jesus does all the right things.

245

:

There's a kid who does all the right

things on the outside, dresses the

246

:

right way, she says the right things.

247

:

Again, she prays the right prayers, but

doesn't have her heart dedicated to God.

248

:

Here's the big mistake against

Jesus, saves everyone who trusts in

249

:

him, not those who obey the rules.

250

:

Number one, you ought to be sure

that you trust in Jesus not in rules.

251

:

Don't put your trust in having

the right clothes or the right

252

:

words or the right attire.

253

:

Having the right church that you go

to, you can have all the right things.

254

:

You can even have the right parents.

255

:

You have great parents who train you well.

256

:

They teach you the right things.

257

:

You can have parents who, who

go out of their way to send

258

:

you to the right schools.

259

:

You get catechized with the

right words, and you have in

260

:

your mind all the advantages.

261

:

The Jewish people once came

to Jesus and said, Jesus, we

262

:

have Abraham as our father.

263

:

We're great.

264

:

We're good with you, aren't we?

265

:

And Jesus says, try again.

266

:

That's the wrong answer.

267

:

Your pedigree, your family affiliation

does not make you right with God.

268

:

Even if your family's the Godliest

family that goes to the church.

269

:

I want you to be sure that you trust

in Jesus and not in obeying the rules.

270

:

Obeying the rules is good.

271

:

You should obey the rules.

272

:

It's better than disobeying

the rules, that's for sure.

273

:

But if you're obeying the rules and

you think that doing the right thing

274

:

makes you right with God, you have to

think again, this is the critical error

275

:

that most youth group students make.

276

:

They think I must be right

with God because when I'm

277

:

in worship, I lift my hands.

278

:

I even feel the emotions sometimes.

279

:

We're singing some of those great songs.

280

:

The worship pastor picks some

of the best worship music I've

281

:

ever heard, and it's so moving.

282

:

Sometimes I just get really emotional.

283

:

That must mean that

I'm a Christian, right?

284

:

Jesus would say no.

285

:

Doesn't mean that you're a Christian.

286

:

Having the right emotions doesn't

mean that you're a Christian.

287

:

Having the right church doesn't

mean that you're a Christian.

288

:

Having the right Bible, again, if you

have a nice ESV Bible, you might feel

289

:

like, man, I feel pretty good about that.

290

:

I'm not one of those weird people

with an LSB or A CSB or an NIV.

291

:

No, I got the right Bible.

292

:

I got an ESV and I got an ESV

John MacArthur study Bible.

293

:

Be sure that you're not

trusting in anything.

294

:

Besides Jesus,

295

:

one of my favorite Christmas presents

that he ever got was wrapped in a

296

:

big box, something like this, and

it sat there for the whole month

297

:

of December and I just could not

wait to figure out what was inside.

298

:

My family has this weird tradition where

on Christmas Eve we stay up all the way up

299

:

to midnight and then my mom would let us

all open one present, and so we did that.

300

:

It was Christmas Eve.

301

:

The heater was on.

302

:

We were drinking some or chatta

and some chocolate milk, I think.

303

:

I forget what it was.

304

:

It was just one of those really sweet,

like the things that you imagine

305

:

in your memory, what Christmas is.

306

:

That's what it felt like.

307

:

And so Christmas Eve comes,

it turns to midnight.

308

:

It's now technically Christmas day.

309

:

And so she's like, all right,

you guys can open one present.

310

:

So I go for the big one.

311

:

I open it up, and at first

I'm surprised like this.

312

:

What am I looking at?

313

:

As I start taking pieces out of the box,

I realize, oh man, this is a boom box.

314

:

It's a stereo system.

315

:

You guys don't do that

today, I don't think.

316

:

But this thing played CDs and cassette

tapes, and it connected to the radio.

317

:

It was so cool.

318

:

And on top of that, I had

this Michael Jackson cd.

319

:

It was my introduction to Michael Jackson.

320

:

It was the best.

321

:

It was such a cool gift.

322

:

I loved it.

323

:

Now imagine it's Christmas to this year.

324

:

2025 is Christmas, which

is not too far away.

325

:

You have a gift just like

this wrapped under the tree.

326

:

It has your name on it, and it says to my

beloved daughter or son to my fluffy kins.

327

:

'cause that's what your parents call you.

328

:

They call you fluffy kins,

and they and you see it there.

329

:

And then comes Christmas day and

they're like, all right, fluffy kins.

330

:

You can now open this amazing

present we got for you.

331

:

And so Carson begins to unwrap it.

332

:

Carson Fluffy kins begins to unwrap it

only to find out that what's inside.

333

:

Is absolutely nothing.

334

:

What a terrible gift, right?

335

:

Nothing.

336

:

What a,

337

:

This is what Christianity is

like for someone who's only doing

338

:

the good things on the outside.

339

:

A great looking rapper, a great

presentation, but nothing on the inside.

340

:

There's no changed heart.

341

:

There's no changed life.

342

:

It's just someone who's just

going through the motions.

343

:

The difference here is self-righteousness,

saying that I can do enough good deeds.

344

:

I can have the right pedigree versus

saying I trust in Christ's righteousness.

345

:

Matthew 15 shows us that the

Pharisees were diluted thinking

346

:

I could be good enough if the

bar to go to heaven is this high.

347

:

I could do it.

348

:

They thought they were righteous

enough in their own works to do

349

:

what was right, but Jesus wants

you to know that your righteousness

350

:

is never gonna be good enough.

351

:

You are not good enough.

352

:

Contrary to most of the things

that you're hearing today, you're

353

:

not sufficient in yourself.

354

:

You don't have, you don't

have anything to offer.

355

:

God.

356

:

This is why the gospel is so

sweet, because Jesus says, even

357

:

though you don't have anything

to offer, God, I can give you all

358

:

that you need to be right with God.

359

:

I can forgive all of your sin,

and I can give you 100% of the

360

:

righteousness that you need with

one second of decision on your part.

361

:

You submit yourself to Christ,

trusting in him fully and completely,

362

:

and suddenly everything changes.

363

:

So don't get it twisted.

364

:

Bible reading is good, but don't

trust in your Bible reading.

365

:

Praying is good, but don't put

your trust in the act of praying.

366

:

Going to church is awesome, but don't

put your trust in church attendance.

367

:

Don't put your trust in the fact that you

come to True North on Wednesday nights.

368

:

These are all good things, but

these are much like a protein bar.

369

:

Just like a protein bar.

370

:

This is a terrible illustration,

but I'm gonna use it anyway.

371

:

Okay, here we go.

372

:

Let's say you are starving and you come

to me like, pastor Rod, I'm just starving.

373

:

Will you please feed me something?

374

:

And I go into my bag and I always

have, I always have something in there.

375

:

I have a protein bar, and so I say, oh,

here's a pre a pure protein bar for you.

376

:

And so I give you the protein bar

and you carefully unwrap it and

377

:

then you begin to eat the wrapper.

378

:

I say no.

379

:

No.

380

:

You're supposed to eat the bar.

381

:

No, but I really wanted the

wrapper though, so please just

382

:

let me be, I'm speaking my truth.

383

:

I was eating my, and you start eating

the wrapper and I'm concerned about you.

384

:

'cause now all those microplastics

are in your body and I just

385

:

read a report about that.

386

:

You're probably gonna get brain cancer.

387

:

Obviously the wrapper's not the point.

388

:

The wrapper is important.

389

:

Keeps the food fresh, protects the food,

shows you what's inside and how many

390

:

macros and there are, and all that stuff.

391

:

But the wrapper's not the point.

392

:

The wrapper leads you to

the stuff on the inside.

393

:

That's the idea.

394

:

It tells you what's inside.

395

:

It helps you to get to

the food that's inside.

396

:

So that's what that's what Bible reading

and prayer and church attendance is like.

397

:

It leads you to what's truly

nourishing on the inside.

398

:

All of those things are like the wrapper.

399

:

They're important, they're necessary,

but if you're doing them as an end

400

:

in themselves, you're totally mi

you're totally missing the point.

401

:

The wrapper is meant to say,

eat what's inside Bible Reading,

402

:

prayer, church attendance is

meant to say, feast on Jesus.

403

:

He's the sustenance that you need.

404

:

He's the one that you should trust.

405

:

Not in the church attendance, not in the

things that you do, but trusting in Jesus.

406

:

But don't put your trust in the rapper.

407

:

Let the, let all these things

point you to Jesus himself.

408

:

That's the idea there.

409

:

Scripture says things like this,

when you become a Christian,

410

:

Jesus becomes your righteousness.

411

:

That is your right.

412

:

Standing before God doesn't wax and wane,

it doesn't grow or shrink based on whether

413

:

you're having a good day or a bad day.

414

:

Not ultimately.

415

:

When you die and stand before God,

you're gonna, you're not gonna say, look.

416

:

God.

417

:

Here's what I did.

418

:

I went to Wednesday night youth ministry.

419

:

I went to Sunday morning,

heard pastor PJ preach.

420

:

I served, I helped.

421

:

None.

422

:

None of us are gonna say that.

423

:

What we're gonna say is Jesus

Christ is my righteousness.

424

:

I trust him and him alone

425

:

because of him.

426

:

You are in Christ Jesus who became

our righteousness, young person.

427

:

This is so critical.

428

:

It's so simple, but so critical.

429

:

You're trusting in anything else

in this life besides Jesus for your

430

:

salvation, you will go to hell for

that trust because it's a false trust.

431

:

If you're trusting in anything else

in the world besides Jesus for your

432

:

salvation, your trust is misplaced and

it's ultimately going to destroy you.

433

:

Heavy place to start,

but a very necessary one.

434

:

This is why Jesus said, look,

you guys got it all wrong.

435

:

You think that your traditions

make you right with God.

436

:

They don't.

437

:

What does make you right with God is a

new heart that Jesus alone can give you.

438

:

So Jesus now takes us into this next

section here where he interacts with

439

:

this gal that is so interesting.

440

:

It actually looks like Jesus is mean.

441

:

At first.

442

:

Jesus is gonna move northward

again to the region of tire and

443

:

seiden far up here to the left.

444

:

So this is.

445

:

This is the Sea of Galilee down here.

446

:

Jesus moves all the way up to this

region over here and he is gonna

447

:

meet a woman, and his interaction

with her is gonna challenge the

448

:

way that you understand Jesus.

449

:

But I need you to see something

really important because the way

450

:

he interacts with her, there's

more than what meets the eye.

451

:

Jesus went away from there and withdrew

to the district of Tyra inside.

452

:

And what I just pointed out to you,

behold they canon, that woman came from

453

:

that region and came out and was crying.

454

:

Have mercy on me.

455

:

Oh Lord, son of David.

456

:

Okay.

457

:

Canaanite woman.

458

:

Canaanite is a bad word.

459

:

It means she's an outsider.

460

:

She's not Jewish.

461

:

She's one of the people that Israel

was told to destroy when Israel went

462

:

to take their land that God gave them.

463

:

And so this Canaanite woman comes

to Jesus, and she doesn't just know

464

:

him as a teacher, she says, oh Lord.

465

:

Which is a, it could be a respectful

way of saying sir, or it could be Lord.

466

:

I think she's saying Lord as in Lord

Jesus because of how she calls him.

467

:

Son of David.

468

:

Think for a second.

469

:

What does the term Son of David mean?

470

:

It means that she recognizes that

he's Messianic, that he's the Messiah,

471

:

son of David, means the offspring of

David who would build the shore house.

472

:

So she calls him son of David.

473

:

She says, my daughter is

severely oppressed by a demon.

474

:

But Jesus, look at this,

did not answer her.

475

:

He didn't say a word to her.

476

:

He just gave her the cold shoulder.

477

:

This woman though, is undeterred.

478

:

His disciples came and begged him saying.

479

:

Jesus send her away for

she is crying out after us.

480

:

In other words, this

woman's not going away.

481

:

She's advocating for her daughter.

482

:

She's begging Jesus, son

of David to do something.

483

:

And then he answered to the

disciples, look, guys, I can't

484

:

do what you're asking me to do.

485

:

It seems like the disciples are saying

just heal her and send her away.

486

:

She's becoming super annoying.

487

:

Jesus says, I was sent only to the

lost sheep of the house of Israel.

488

:

Remember, she's a Canaanite girl.

489

:

She's actually Phoenician.

490

:

She's just from that region.

491

:

Not technically a Canaanite,

but she's an outsider.

492

:

And Jesus says that I'm

not sent to the outsider.

493

:

Not yet.

494

:

I'm sent to Israel.

495

:

But she came and knelt before him.

496

:

Now she's kneeling in front of

him and she says, Lord, help me.

497

:

She's now pleading with

Jesus on her knees.

498

:

And then Jesus says something shocking.

499

:

He says, it's not right.

500

:

It's not right for me to take the

children's bread that is Israel's

501

:

bread and throw it to the dogs.

502

:

That's kinda harsh, Jesus.

503

:

Still, the woman is undeterred.

504

:

She said, yes, Lord.

505

:

Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs

that fall from their master's table.

506

:

Jesus answered, oh woman,

great is your faith.

507

:

This is one of the few people

in the gospels that Jesus

508

:

says, your faith is awesome.

509

:

The disciples had little faith.

510

:

Oh, you of little faith.

511

:

He said to them and to many of the crowds,

but to her, she says, oh woman, great.

512

:

Is your faith, be it as be it

done for you as you desire.

513

:

And her daughter was healed instantly.

514

:

This woman who pleads before

Jesus is initially rejected

515

:

by Jesus at least so it seems.

516

:

But instead of Jesus actually sending her

away, he invites her closer to himself

517

:

and ultimately answers her prayer request.

518

:

You should expect Jesus to do the

same to you if you have real faith.

519

:

If you have a real faith in Jesus,

you should expect point number two for

520

:

Jesus to put your faith to the test.

521

:

He won't just let your

faith stay where it is.

522

:

Jesus is gonna call you to a deeper

and stronger and more robust faith.

523

:

And here's what that's gonna

mean for you short term.

524

:

If Jesus saves those who trust

in him and not on the rules, he's

525

:

gonna call you closer to himself

by causing you to trust him more.

526

:

Your faith does not have to be

large for it to be effective.

527

:

Lewis talked about that right?

528

:

The plane situation, right?

529

:

If you're a scared person in the plane,

you're still gonna get to the destination.

530

:

It's not the quality of your

faith that makes or breaks you,

531

:

it's where the faith is placed.

532

:

You need to expect Jesus to test

your faith, which means Jesus is

533

:

gonna put obstacles in your life.

534

:

He's gonna challenge you because

he wants you to trust him.

535

:

Speaking of challenges.

536

:

One of my favorite pastimes, I don't

have many hobbies, but I guess I would

537

:

call this one kind of a hobby, is I

love watching Food Challenge videos.

538

:

Eric The Electric is one of my favorites.

539

:

Matt Stoney always a character.

540

:

I like him too.

541

:

Randy Santel, one of my favorites as well.

542

:

He recently proposed to

Catina Katina, who eats carbs.

543

:

I forget her name, the

name of her channel.

544

:

She's another competitive eater.

545

:

Anyway, Randy Sanel.

546

:

I recently found out I.

547

:

What goes into a food challenge

that is these guys have massive

548

:

stomachs, but they don't just have

that, they actually train for that.

549

:

So I watched a video about how you

train to be a competitive eater, and

550

:

he said you, you prepare at least the

week ahead, but especially the 24 hours

551

:

before you have the challenge, he eats

at least a pound to a, to two pounds

552

:

more the night before for what he's

going to eat the day of the challenge.

553

:

That means if his challenge is eight

pounds, he's trying to eat 10 pounds

554

:

of food before the day before to make

sure that his stomach is stretched

555

:

out large enough, excuse me, so

that he can put more food down.

556

:

And of course the

training is uncomfortable.

557

:

You might think man, doesn't he

feel like he's gonna throw up?

558

:

And yes they learn, they train

to, to turn off that signal

559

:

for their stomach to throw up.

560

:

'cause if you throw up,

you're disqualified.

561

:

So he trains to eat tons of food.

562

:

As you might imagine, this guy,

he gave like a ton of weight.

563

:

But the training is uncomfortable

and painful, but it's not pointless.

564

:

So just like food competitors stretch

their stomachs with more than they

565

:

think that they need, Jesus will often

stretch our faith through trials that

566

:

we think are bigger than we can handle,

and the fact that usually is the case,

567

:

Jesus doesn't give you easy believism.

568

:

He's not just giving you a bar

that you could just walk over.

569

:

Jesus is giving you challenges that are

gonna, like Jesus, this is too much.

570

:

I can't handle this.

571

:

I can't eat all this food.

572

:

Jesus, I can't do this.

573

:

And Jesus is saying, you're right.

574

:

You can't.

575

:

But if you rely on me, if

you trusted me, you can't.

576

:

You could do it by faith in me.

577

:

And so one of the things that you need

to know is that Jesus is gonna test you.

578

:

It's gonna happen.

579

:

If you have real faith.

580

:

You need to remember that

the tests are coming.

581

:

So recognize that Jesus is in control.

582

:

You should trust his leadership.

583

:

If Jesus puts a challenge in front of

you and you say, Jesus, I can't do it.

584

:

He's saying, I know you can't by yourself,

but trust me and I'll take you through it.

585

:

The Canaanite woman the cyro Venetian

woman came to Jesus because she

586

:

knew he could handle her problems.

587

:

She knew who he was.

588

:

She knew what he was about, so she

said, I'm gonna take my issues to Jesus.

589

:

You ought to do that too.

590

:

You need to respond to the

challenges that Jesus takes to do

591

:

by pursuing him through prayer.

592

:

Remember, prayer is not

a means in and of itself.

593

:

It's not the rapper that you're going for.

594

:

Prayer is the rapper

that leads you to Jesus.

595

:

It leads you to say,

Jesus, I depend upon you.

596

:

Prayer is the means by which you

connect with the God who made you.

597

:

Tests are coming.

598

:

Your teachers tell you this at the

beginning of your semesters, right?

599

:

Hey, we're gonna have

tests here, and here.

600

:

You need to be ready for them.

601

:

Some of you're doing

star testing this week.

602

:

Tests are coming.

603

:

You know that they're there.

604

:

And so the Bible is giving you a heads up.

605

:

This is how he treats his people.

606

:

Jesus is a good leader.

607

:

He's also a good fa.

608

:

He is not the father.

609

:

The father's a good father, and any

father cares about you is going to

610

:

willingly put you in painful situations.

611

:

To grow you, not to heart, to

hurt you, and the way that he

612

:

grows you is through your faith.

613

:

Take a lesson from the Canaanite

woman and learn to put your

614

:

trust in Jesus going to him.

615

:

What made her so tenacious?

616

:

This Canaanite woman who didn't,

she didn't have the internet,

617

:

didn't have Twitter, didn't have

Facebook, didn't have any way of

618

:

following and no, no YouTube channel.

619

:

She knew something about him that I

wonder if some of you guys really know

620

:

and it's that Jesus actually cares.

621

:

Jesus isn't just testing us.

622

:

He's providing for us and that's

what this last section's about

623

:

Jesus is providing for our needs.

624

:

Take a look here.

625

:

He is gonna come back.

626

:

Now I think Jesus is probably up here

in the norther northern region of

627

:

the Sea Galilee in the Bea region.

628

:

I'm not sure if you could see

that, but Jesus is probably there.

629

:

He's in a largely gentile territory.

630

:

So what we're looking at is

probably a, a more Gentiles.

631

:

Here's what happens.

632

:

Jesus went on from there and walked

beside the Sea of Galilee and he went

633

:

up on the mountain and he sat down

there and great crowds came to him.

634

:

Bringing with them the lame, the blind,

the crippled, the mute, and many others.

635

:

And they put him at his feet and he

healed them so that the crowd wondered,

636

:

they were in awe of Jesus' healing power.

637

:

And when they saw the mute speaking,

the crippled, healthy, the lame,

638

:

walking in the blind, seeing

they glorified the God of Israel.

639

:

This doesn't guarantee that

this is a Gentile audience, but

640

:

it does give at least the hint

that's what's happening here.

641

:

In fact, if we're gonna

take Mark's account.

642

:

He's in the region of the De Capitalis.

643

:

That's right.

644

:

I forgot to mention that.

645

:

He's in the region of the de Capitalis,

which would make this a largely,

646

:

if not completely gentile audience.

647

:

And then what you have here is a miracle

that Lewis preached on just last week.

648

:

We're seeing it again, but

in a different audience.

649

:

Jesus calls his disciples to him and said,

look, I have compassion on the crowd.

650

:

And the word for compassion is

something that Jesus felt in his gut.

651

:

Have you ever seen a person or

maybe an animal suffering and you

652

:

feel something in your gut that

just says, man I care about that.

653

:

It feels like there's something in

your guts that makes you feel bad

654

:

or feel some something for somebody.

655

:

Jesus feels compassion

for people in his gut.

656

:

This is not just a oh,

I feel bad about that.

657

:

He feels in his gut, the compassion

for the crowd, and he says,

658

:

they've been with me now three

days and they have nothing to eat.

659

:

That's a problem.

660

:

There is no seven 11.

661

:

You can't go grab, a big cup, a big

slurp, a big whatever they're called.

662

:

You can't go to the qt.

663

:

You can't go to the local

Walmart and pick up some talkies.

664

:

You're in trouble if you have no

food and you're in a desolate place.

665

:

This is actually kinda

reckless of the people.

666

:

They're with Jesus and

they have nothing to eat.

667

:

What are they doing?

668

:

This shows you how powerful Jesus'

ministry was because people were willing

669

:

to say, look, we don't have any food,

but this is more important for us.

670

:

I'd that'd preach to you guys.

671

:

Jesus is more important than

your bellies most of the time.

672

:

So he says, look, I don't wanna send them

away unless they faint on the way back.

673

:

That's how little food they have.

674

:

They're going on empty.

675

:

The disciples said to him Jesus

where do you want us to get enough

676

:

bread in this desolate place?

677

:

Now you're thinking wait, didn't he

just multiply the fish and the loaves?

678

:

How do they not know?

679

:

There's a lot of things that could

be happening here, but probably

680

:

what's going on is that they're

saying, Jesus, these are gentiles.

681

:

Do you really are you gonna

multiply bread for them too?

682

:

That I, I, we get it for the

Israelites, but for these guys too

683

:

we don't think that's gonna happen.

684

:

So what do you propose that we do?

685

:

Jesus.

686

:

Jesus said to them,

how many loaves he got?

687

:

Seven and a few small fish.

688

:

And so then he did the same

thing that he did with the 5,000.

689

:

He distributes the fish and the loaves.

690

:

And here's the cool thing, verse 37.

691

:

All those people ate and here's

words that really stood out to me.

692

:

They were satisfied.

693

:

They feasted on bread and

their bellies were full.

694

:

Jesus was not a stingy giver.

695

:

He wasn't just Hey guys, we're

having Chick-fil-A tonight.

696

:

You only get one sandwich per person.

697

:

Jesus is the Chick-fil-A person

that's Hey, you can have as

698

:

many sandwiches as you want.

699

:

You'll be satisfied.

700

:

You want five sandwiches?

701

:

All of 'em spicy, fantastic.

702

:

Jesus is not stingy.

703

:

He gives and he gives until

their hearts are fully satisfied.

704

:

Their bellies actually.

705

:

So they took up seven baskets

full of broken pieces.

706

:

Those who ate were 4,000 men besides

women and children, which means

707

:

this could have been closer to about

10,000 people all accounted for.

708

:

Jesus does his great miracle.

709

:

Here's the point I think that you ought to

take home when you see things like this.

710

:

I want you to recognize that even

though Jesus is long gone from earth,

711

:

he's not long gone from heaven.

712

:

He's still around.

713

:

And here's the thing, you

might not believe this, but

714

:

Jesus actually cares about you.

715

:

He cares about Israelites, he

cares about Gentiles, which is

716

:

most of us in this room here.

717

:

Jesus cares about you.

718

:

You ought to point number three, never

doubt Jesus genuine care for you.

719

:

Jesus will save those who trust in

him, and one of the things that prevent

720

:

people from trusting in Him is that

they don't think that he really cares.

721

:

You might think Jesus is just a religious

vigor who stands over me and promises

722

:

to judge me if I don't do what he says.

723

:

That's partially true,

but that's not all of it.

724

:

Jesus genuinely cares for you.

725

:

The reason that you should become a

Christian and stay a Christian for the

726

:

rest of your life is because you're

not gonna find anybody else who will

727

:

care for you the way that Jesus does.

728

:

And all you have, sorry about that.

729

:

Excuse me.

730

:

All you have to do is look at

your life to this point and look

731

:

at how God has provided for you.

732

:

Look at how Jesus has taken care of

your needs, practically, physically,

733

:

emotionally Jesus has been there for you.

734

:

I want you to imagine that you have a dog.

735

:

If you do have one, you're blessed.

736

:

Imagine it's that dog and you, and

your dog is actually really sick,

737

:

and you finally take your dog to

the vet and the vet tells you that

738

:

your dog needs several painful shots

to bring about the healing process.

739

:

And so there's your dog.

740

:

He's sick, he's unhappy.

741

:

And so the vet says here the way that

this works, I'm gonna need you to

742

:

hold your dog close to your chest.

743

:

Not let him move.

744

:

And I'm gonna stick these really

big needles in his butt to heal him.

745

:

And there's gonna be several.

746

:

And so the doctor says, can you do this?

747

:

And you say, I think so.

748

:

What choice do I have?

749

:

I need to do this in order

to save my puppy, my dog.

750

:

And he says, yes.

751

:

It's exactly the way you need to do it.

752

:

So you're holding your dog.

753

:

And then he is jamming these bigs honking

needles in his, in your dog's butt.

754

:

And he is sticking the

good stuff inside of him.

755

:

Your dog.

756

:

If the dog could think,

what's your dog thinking?

757

:

When you're holding him down and this

guy's inflicting pain on his rear

758

:

end, what's your dog thinking like?

759

:

You hate me.

760

:

You no longer love me.

761

:

You're the worst master I've ever had.

762

:

I'm disowning you effective immediately.

763

:

Please take me to the pound.

764

:

We're no longer friends.

765

:

Your dog would honestly think

you're the problem, right?

766

:

You're the issue.

767

:

If your dog could talk, you

could reason with your dog.

768

:

You'd say, look fluffy kins, Patrick,

look, I'm doing this because I love you.

769

:

I'm taking care of you.

770

:

And in fact, if your dog could understand,

you would say, fluffy kins, we've

771

:

cared for you every day of your life.

772

:

Fresh food, fresh water, every day.

773

:

I picked up your poop in the backyard.

774

:

I've done everything for you.

775

:

Fluffy, kins, everything.

776

:

Why would we stop now?

777

:

Tru, trust us.

778

:

We're trying to help you.

779

:

That's what you would tell your

puppy who has to go to the vet

780

:

and get the shots in the rear end.

781

:

This is often.

782

:

How we interact with God.

783

:

We sometimes think because God's sending

us through painful situations, or life

784

:

is hard, there's another school shooting,

or my friend who I knew from this

785

:

other school got stabbed in the chest,

or other issues that we go through.

786

:

We think, oh, maybe God doesn't care.

787

:

Maybe God is forgotten about

me or something like that.

788

:

And the reality is, no, God is

doing what God needs to do in order

789

:

to strengthen you and to deepen

your faith and your trust in him.

790

:

That's his mo.

791

:

You ought to never doubt.

792

:

Jesus genuine care for you,

and all you have to do is just

793

:

look backward at your life.

794

:

Look at in, in order

to make to go forward.

795

:

Look backward.

796

:

Look at the way that Jesus has

taken care of you in the past.

797

:

Now, look at the way

that he's cared for you.

798

:

Look at the way that

he's answered prayers.

799

:

Look at the way that he's

cared for your family.

800

:

Look at the way that he's given

you guys food every night.

801

:

You never lack a meal

most of the time, right?

802

:

You have shoes on your feet,

you have clothes on your body.

803

:

What you know about Jesus ought

to carry you through when you're

804

:

not sure what to feel about him.

805

:

There are gonna be seasons where

you feel distant from God and you're

806

:

not sure that you can trust Jesus

because your heart doesn't feel it.

807

:

Trust what you know, not what you feel.

808

:

Lastly, you ought to feed

on what truly satisfies.

809

:

Jesus gave this gentile crowd

bread that satisfied their bellies.

810

:

Jesus is the living bread that promises

when you feast on Jesus, he will satisfy

811

:

your soul in ways that nothing else

can, and that really is the point.

812

:

Jesus is the bread of life.

813

:

Whoever comes to me, he

says, shall not hunger.

814

:

And whoever believes in

me shall never thirst.

815

:

Jesus wants you to feast on him.

816

:

He wants you to trust him because Jesus

will save everyone who trusts in him,

817

:

not those who trust in the rules, not

those who only look at the outside.

818

:

The religious leaders in Matthew

15 were shocked at Jesus' Word.

819

:

They were offended is what the disciples

said, because Jesus says, your rules,

820

:

your external tradition don't matter.

821

:

What does matter Is your relationship

with God, the heart Jesus exposed.

822

:

The real reality is that their

hearts were far from God.

823

:

They said all the right things.

824

:

They wore the right clothes.

825

:

They washed the right hands.

826

:

They did all the things that someone

would expect of a religious person.

827

:

Please don't talk while I'm preaching.

828

:

Okay.

829

:

Please focus.

830

:

Okay.

831

:

Thank you.

832

:

So he rejects the religious authorities,

but an outsider, a Canaanite woman

833

:

comes to him and she's accepted.

834

:

Only after she pursues him, Jesus

gives her the stiff arm until

835

:

she pushes hard enough to say,

that's exactly what I wanted.

836

:

Great is your faith.

837

:

Jesus says, everyone who trusts in

him, the gentile crowd comes to him.

838

:

They trust him so much that they're

willing to forego their food.

839

:

And Jesus answers swiftly by

saying, I'm gonna give them

840

:

all the food that they need.

841

:

I'm gonna satisfy their bellies.

842

:

They're gonna be stuffed with good food.

843

:

All of this points to the fact that

Jesus wants you to trust in him.

844

:

Not the rules, not the church.

845

:

I guess the true church, but all

those things are, again, the wrapper.

846

:

They lead you to Jesus.

847

:

So tonight, I'm gonna encourage

you to not let another night go by.

848

:

If you're unsure about where

you are with Christ, tonight's

849

:

a good night to figure it out.

850

:

It's a really good night.

851

:

If you're unsure about what's happening

in your heart with Christ, tonight's

852

:

a really good night to figure it out.

853

:

Don't let another night go by.

854

:

What do you gotta lose?

855

:

You have everything to

gain and nothing to lose.

856

:

Tonight is a great night for

you to figure some things out.

857

:

Jesus cares for you.

858

:

The fact that you're here is

evidence that Jesus cares.

859

:

I hope you see that.

860

:

I hope you see what they can't see.

861

:

Let's pray.

862

:

God, please help us as we

now go to our small groups.

863

:

Give us grace to spend good time

thinking and praying and talking.

864

:

Help us to have some

honest, real conversations.

865

:

Let other be transparency and

vulnerability appropriately help us

866

:

to have great small groups where we

walk away feeling great about our

867

:

interactions and deepened in our

understanding about who you are.

868

:

We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Compass Student Ministry Sermons Podcast

About the Podcast

Compass Student Ministry Sermons Podcast
Compass North Texas Student Ministry Podcast
All the sermons preached at Compass Bible Church North Texas in the student ministry.

About your host

Profile picture for Compass Bible Church

Compass Bible Church