Matthew 15

Interesting that Jesus went to Lebanon (Tyre/Sidon).  I don't think of him as traveling outside Israel.

What an odd thing that initially Jesus ignores the Cannanite woman.

They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit." Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy." 

Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel." -Matthew 15:22-24

BBC interprets the scene this way:

"Speaking to Jesus, she addressed Him as the Lord, the Son of David, a title which the Jews used in speaking of the Messiah. Although Jesus was the Son of David, a Gentile had no right to approach Him on that basis. That is why He did not answer her at first."

15:23   His disciples came and urged Him to send her away; to them she was a nuisance. To Him she was a welcome example of faith and a vessel in whom His grace would shine. But first He must prove and educate her faith!

It seems uncharacteristic of a man that fed thousands just a chapter before after losing his dear friend (John the Baptist). Christ is compassionate and purposeful in all he does, so this scene puzzles me.


 "This Gentile woman’s faith contrasted with Israel’s leaders who were rejecting Jesus." -BKC

I like this angle---that the simple faith of this woman clearly outside the fold--contrasts with the critical spirit of the leaders of the Jews.

Proverbs 19

Pro 19:2  To act without knowing how you function is not good; and if you rush ahead, you will miss your goal.  -CJB

Pro 19:2  Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.-HSCB

Pro 19:11  A person's insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense. -HSCB

Pro 19:11  A person's insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

"A wise man will observe these two rules about his anger: 1. Not to be over-hasty in his resentments: Discretion teaches us to defer our anger, to defer the admission of it till we have thoroughly considered all the merits of the provocation, seen them in a true light and weighed them in a just balance; and then to defer the prosecution of it till there be no danger of running into any indecencies. Plato said to his servant, “I would beat thee, but that I am angry.” Give it time, and it will cool."-Matthew Henry

Pro 19:15  Laziness induces deep sleep, and a lazy person will go hungry.

See here the evil of a sluggish slothful disposition. 1. It stupefies men, and makes them senseless, and mindless of their own affairs, as they were cast into a deep sleep, dreaming much, but doing nothing. Slothful people doze away their time, bury their talents, live a useless life, and are the unprofitable burdens of the earth; for any service they do when they are awake they might as well be always asleep. Even their souls are idle and lulled asleep, their rational powers chilled and frozen. -Matthew Henry

Pro 19:17  Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will give a reward to the lender. -HSCB

Like this from BKC:

We lose what on ourselves we spend,
We have, as treasures without end,
Whatever, Lord, to Thee we lend,
Who givest all.
—Christopher Wordsworth

Pro 19:18  Discipline your children while you still have the chance; indulging them destroys them. -The Message

This verse is an imperative, unlike most of the verses in Proverbs which are declarative sentences. The command, discipline your son, is a strong warning against parental passivity. -BKC

Pro 19:23  The fear of the LORD leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.

Pro 19:27  If you stop listening to correction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge. 

"Being wise is not a static state." -BKC

Matthew 14

First Reading Impressions:

Resurrection Beliefs

Why did Herod think Jesus was John raised from the dead?  Was he serious? Were “raisings” so common or the belief in them common?  It makes me wonder about Christ’s resurrection in terms of people just throwing those terms around.

Clarke: "He is risen from the dead - From this we may observe:
1. That the resurrection of the dead was a common opinion among the Jews; and
2. That the materiality of the soul made no part of Herod’s creed."

What exactly did the Jews commonly believe about resurrection?

*Sad that such evil is rampant in the world.  John is killed because of a young woman’s wish!   It is in many ways as evil as a shooting spree if not more premeditated, yet the severity of the injustice of this crime fails to register with me  because it’s such a familiar story.  John was  a great man—what a petty reason to take a life!

*Jesus seems to want to get away by himself after learning about John.  He seeks solitude yet the people press in. However, he maintains his compassion despite this, feeding them, healing them, and still seeking out time with God.

*Touching the fringe of his garment seems like such a superstitious thing to do---but for once, this superstition is more than a desperate hope.

Commentary:

Herod

Herod: "This was Herod Antipas, who ruled over a fourth of Palestine (hence the title the tetrarch), including Galilee and Perea. He ruled from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39. His father Herod the Great had killed the Bethlehem babies (Mat_2:16). Herod Antipas judged Jesus when He was on trial (Luk_23:7-12). (See the chart on the Herods at Luk_1:5.)"-BKC



"As for Herod, his crime was finished but the memory lingered on. When he heard of Jesus' activities, the entire episode returned to haunt him." -BBC

Ahh...how the past has a voice!

"She so delighted Herod that he foolishly promised her anything she wanted. Her request, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist, was not her idea, for she was prompted by her mother Herodias. Though this request greatly distressed (lypētheis means to be grieved or sad to the point of distress; cf. Mat_18:31; Mat_19:22) Herod, he was caught in a trap for his oath was at stake (Mat_14:9). So he granted the wish and John was beheaded."-BKC

Interesting that Herod is so pulled and manipulated by the opinions of others that he is willing to choose wrong actions even to the point where it causes him distress.  A ruler who is not a ruler of his better passions!