Mindfully Meditating on Matthew Catalogue , the collection of these studies
(First 100 days of 2023, day 46, Feb 15)

Passage Matthew Chapter Fifteen

It doesn’t matter which version you choose. It can be digital or paper. You can use one of those fancy coloring bibles and do a page or coloring along with the passage.

I will mostly do Holman Christian Standard Bible because of their copyright freedoms.

• Matthew 15
  • Mt 15:1-20 Clean hands or clean hearts?
    • 1-9 Reprimanding the Pharisees
      • make rulings to undermine the point of the law and benefit themselves.
      • “‘These people honor me with their lips,
            but their hearts are far from me.
        ⁹ They worship me in vain;
            their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”
    • 10-20what washing hands was a foreshadowing of:
      • ¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
      • ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
  • Mt 15:21-28  The Faith of the Canaanite Woman – how to press in for answers
    • Came to Jesus – request #1
      • ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
    • Ignored
      • ²³ Jesus did not answer a word.
      • So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
      • ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
    • Request #2
      • ²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
    • Rebuked – potentially a denial
      • ²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
    • Request/Response #3
      • ²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
    • Rewarded for persistent Faith
      • ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
  • Mt 15:29-31 Jesus Healing multitudes
    • ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
  • Mt 15:32 – 38 Feeding the Four Thousand
    • Jesus’ practical compassion
      • ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
    • disciples forget previous miracles
      • ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
    • What DO you have?
      • “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
    • Prayer of Thanksgiving
      • ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.
    • How many ate?
      • ⁷ They all ate and were satisfied.
      • ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.
    • Exceedingly Abundantly above what you ask or think:
      • Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
      • NO WASTE – LEFTOVERS!
  • Mt 15:39 – Moving on to the next place
    • • ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
  • Here is an excellent comparison between  the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand.

Mindful Meditating

1. choose a verse,
2.  set a timer for 5 minutes, or whatever works for you.
3.  example: Matt 15:18
4. repeat to yourself, and at each word, enunciate the next word in the sentence starting with the first word…

example:

• ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them
• BUT the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.
• But THE things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them,
• But the THINGS that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart
• But the things THAT come out of a person’s mouth come fr0m the heart

Life and death are in the power of the tongue! Prov 18:21

…and so on.  This will cause you to look at the verse more intently, and may have you memorize it before your five minutes are done.

A Matthew Coloring Page by Ministry to Children  – though it can be good for adult meditating.

Various coloring pages of Jesus feeding the 5000 to choose from by Coloring Home

Quick Questions – if  you have time, or to think about over the course of the day, and jot down thoughts later.

1. How does the whole conversation about words and hands defiling you make you feel?
   1. Your Answer
2. Does this irradicate the Laws that the Pharisees made that ruled their every day?
   1. Your Answer
3. A very interesting Article in BibleAsk about the Clash between Jesus and Pharisees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

• Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
• Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

• Naomi’s Heart Ministries
• Obed’s House Ministries
• The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.