15 Then scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus. They
asked, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
They do not wash their hands when they eat bread. Jesus answered, Why
do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? God
commanded: Honor thy father and mother. Let him be put to death who
curses father or mother. But ye say that whoever says to his father or
mother that it is a gift by whatever thou might profit by me,
dishonoring the father or mother, shall be free. Your tradition has
made the commandment of God useless.
Ye hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy: This people draw nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are
far from me. In vain do they worship me. They teach the commandments of
men as doctrines.
Jesus then called the multitude and said, Hear and understand. Nothing
that goes into the mouth defiles a man. But that which comes out of the
mouth defiles a man. His disciples approached him and said, Do you know
that the Pharisees were offended by your words? Jesus said, Every plant
that was not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted. Ignore
them. They are blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind,
both will fall into the ditch.
Next, Peter approached Him and said, Explain the parable to us. Jesus
replied, Are ye still without understanding? Do ye not yet understand
that whatever goes in at the mouth goes into the belly and is expelled.
But those things which come out of the mouth come from the heart. They
defile the man because out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. These
are the things that defile a man. To eat with unwashed hands does not
defile a man.
Then Jesus went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. A woman of Canaan
came to Him and said, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My
daughter is grievously tormented with a devil. Jesus said not a word to
her. Finally, His disciples came and said, Send her away for she cries
after us. Jesus replied, I am not here for the lost sheep of the house
of Israel only.
She came forward and worshipped Him. She said, Lord, help me. He
answered, It is not fit to take the children's bread and cast it to
dogs. She answered, True, Lord. Yet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
their masters' table. Jesus said to her, O woman, great is thy faith.
Be it done unto thee as thou wilt. So her daughter was made whole from
that very hour.
Jesus left and went to rest in the mountains near the sea of Galilee.
Soon, great multitudes came to Him. They brought those who were lame,
blind, dumb, maimed, and many others. They placed them at Jesus' feet
and He healed them. The multitude wondered when they saw the dumb
speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind
seeing. They glorified the God of Israel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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