What Jesus Did

One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

He replied, "You know the saying, 'Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.' You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don't know how to interpret the signs of the times! Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is...

 

[After feeding the crowd of 4000,] Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

—Matthew 15:39 NLT

Key Thought​

Sometimes religious insiders — people like me and other church-goers — get to thinking we have the inside track on things. We know the Scriptures. We know the songs in worship assemblies. We know the Sunday School lessons. We know the church lingo. Then along comes a series of events in Jesus' ministry that duly...

 

Jesus asked, "How much bread do you have?"

[The disciples] replied, "Seven loaves, and a few small fish."

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition...

 

Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, "I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way."
The disciples replied, "Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?"


—Matthew 15:32-33 NLT

Key Thought​

I'm not big on summer reruns of TV programs. Jesus isn't too keen on reruns either. After having fed the 5000...

 

Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn't been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.

—Matthew 15:29-31 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus' purpose during...

 

But [the Gentile woman who asked Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter] came and worshiped him, pleading again, "Lord, help me!"
Jesus responded, "It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs."

She replied, "That's true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters' table."

"Dear woman," Jesus said to her, "your faith is great. Your request is granted." And her daughter was instantly healed.


—Matthew 15:25-28 NLT...

 

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely."
But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. "Tell her to go away," they said. "She is bothering us with all her begging."

Then Jesus said to the woman, "I was sent only to help God's lost sheep — the people...

 

Then Peter said to Jesus, "Explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat."
"Don't you understand yet?" Jesus asked. "Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart — that's what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you."


—Matthew...

 

Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?"
Jesus replied, "Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch."


—Matthew 15:12-14 NLT

Key Thought​

The powerful implication of these words of Jesus for his followers is immense. The Pharisees were regarded as the most...

 

Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. "Listen," he said, "and try to understand. It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth."

—Matthew 15:10-11 NLT

Key Thought​

Wouldn't it be nice if we could make ourselves pure simply by eating the right things? Granted, it sometimes is hard to eat the right things. But it's a lot harder for most of us to say and do the right things.

We have all sorts of problems...