Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

Verse 1. Then the scribes and Pharisees who were of Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying— Our Lord had been busily engaged in healing the sick, and now these pettifoggers came round about Him to try and worry Him. They were a kind of mosquito swarm to Christ—had He not been a perfect Man they might have worried Him.

2. Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. "Why do Your disciples transgress the traditions of the elders?" Generally a good man is held responsible for the acts of his followers. If they cannot find fault with Christ, they will find fault with His disciples, who must have been men of admirable character when even scribes and Pharisees had no worse charge to bring than the following—"For they wash not their hands when they eat bread." The Savior must have been gentle, indeed, to bear with such people as these! It would have given us the fidgets to have such folks round about us. Here He is, healing the sick, curing the lepers, feeding the hungry—and these people are talking about washing their hands! Oh, how many religious people there are that are occupying their time about nothing of vital importance at all, questions of washing their hands or something of that kind.

3. But He answered and said unto them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? He did not deign to answer their question, but posed them with another.

4-6. For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and he that curses father or mother, let him die the death But you say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift to God, by whatever you might be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. They actually taught that a man might escape the happy duty of succoring his father and mother, surely the first duty of a son, by saying, "I have dedicated so much of my goods to the Temple and the worship of God that I cannot afford it." There are not many in these days that talk that way—they generally cannot afford to dedicate anything to the Temple because they are keeping their father and mother! They go the other way but one way or another, men will, if possible escape from moral or religious duty. Now God loves not that we should bring one duty to Him smeared with the blood of another, and for a man to give his money to the Temple which he ought to have given to his father and mother was a violation of the strict Law of God, and could not possibly be acceptable to Him. Thus they made void the Law of God by their traditions!

7-9. You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, this people draws near unto Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. Christ spoke very plainly to them. There is no dealing with hypocrites with kid gloves—these nettles must be boldly grasped and the Savior did so! Brothers and Sisters, stick to the Scriptures in Doctrine and in precept— what have you to do with modern thought, the imaginations of men, the vain thoughts of crazy brains? Hold to God's thoughts, which are as high above men's thoughts as the heavens are above the earth! One Word of God is worth a whole world full of the thoughts of men—and time shall yet show us that it is so. We have but to wait and we shall see that the thoughts of man are vanity, but the Word of God abides forever. "And He called the multitude"—one of the finest ways of rebuking the Pharisees and scribes—He seemed to turn His back on the gentlemen who knew so much!

10, 11. And He called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: that which goes into the mouth defiles not a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Religion stands not in meats and drinks and divers washings or anything external—it lies in the heart! It is that which comes out of the heart that is the true index of the character, not that which is done externally.

12, 13. Then came His disciples and said unto Him, Know You that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up. They stand like a grove of trees—men take shelter under their great knowledge, but God never planted them and, therefore, they shall be plucked up. And He did pluck them up without ceremony.

14. Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. So you need not trouble to shove them in—just leave them alone, it will come to an end. There are some forms of error which Christ may denounce, but which His disciples had better leave alone—there is a ditch ready and waiting for them somewhere or other.

15-20. Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are you also yet without understanding? Do you not yet understand, that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draft? But these things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man. By-and-by in the Chapter we shall see thousands of people eating with unwashed hands who would not have eaten at all if it had been requisite, for them to wash their hands first, for they were in a desert place! Not but what it is well even to wash the hands and every other part of the flesh. It should be true of every Christian, "Having your bodies washed with pure water," cleanliness should always go with godliness. But this was a mere ceremonial rite, a washing of the hands whether they needed it or not for form's sake, and the Savior pours contempt upon it!

21, 22. Then Jesus left there, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, You Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil He made a long journey to go and meet one woman! An instance of how far you and I ought to be willing to go to save a soul. "And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts." She came a little way but He had come a long way. Perhaps some sinner has come here today. Ah, Christ has come too! The woman "cried unto Him." Sinners and the Savior will meet, for the sinners are seeking Him and they will perhaps meet sooner than they expect. Perhaps she meant to have gone a long journey, but He met her and she cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, You Son of David."She knew His Deity—"O Lord." She knew His Humanity—"The Son of David." She knew His royalty, "The Son of David." She had but one prayer, "Have mercy on me." That prayer suits me very well, too, today—is it too humble for you? I pity you then. "Have mercy on me, O Lord, You Son of David."And yet her prayer was not for herself. "Have mercy on me, for my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." Many a mother feels that the greatest mercy to herself would be salvation for her child. How we are wrapped up in these who are the offspring of our body! How we desire their salvation! How careful we should be if they are saved! How should we pray for the children of others, that God would have mercy on mothers by healing daughters! "But He answered her not a word." You may pray, and pray acceptably, and yet not get an immediate answer.

23. But He answeredher not a word. AndHis disciple came and besought Him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us.She makes too much noise. Oh, the poor disciples! "She cries after us." That she did not—she cried after the Master, not after them! Oh, the big disciples, how large they are, and how easily troubled. "She cries after us."

24. But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel My mission as a Prophet is to Israel, not to the Gentiles just now.

25-27. Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered, andsaid, It is not right to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Splendid faith, to make it out that to heal her daughter would be, after all, to Christ nothing but to give her a lot of crumbs! She thought so much of Him—He was so great in her estimation that as much as she valued the healing of her daughter, she reckoned it to be to His Royal Majesty only as a bit of dog's food. Oh, splendid faith!

28. Then Jesus answered andsaid unto her, O woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will Andher daughter was made whole from that very hour Write, Sir, out a blank check! She may fill it in just as she likes—there is no limit to what God will give an unlimited faith! If we limit our faith, then we limit the Holy One of Israel. "And Jesus departed from there." He had done His business. He is always on the move and never loiters.

29, 30. And Jesus departed from there and came near unto the Sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto Him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others, and cast them down at Jesus feet; and He healed them. What an assemblage and in the middle of a great hospital! What a sight for Him to see all these sick people carried like so many burdens and then laid down at His feet! Cannot we today, each one, bring somebody? Think of somebody, some friend of yours that is yet unsaved. Take him on your back, no, carry him in your bosom and bring him by faith and lay him down at Jesus' feet just now. Who shall it be? Think about it!

31-34. Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they gloried the God of Israel Then Jesus called His disciples unto Him and said, I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way. And His disciples sais unto Him, Where shall we get so much bread in the wilderness to feed so great a multitude? And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have you? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And I daresay they thought, "We shall need all these ourselves!" It was noble on their part that they were willing to give away all they had—every bit of it, little fish and loaves and all—none too much for the company, and yet they parted with all at the Master's bidding.

35. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. I think I see Him rising from the place where He sat, and saying, "Now you have been standing up and you are all hungry, sit down all of you." What a sight to see them all dropping into their places. According to Mark they fell into order by rank, by hundreds and by fifties. What a Commander-in-Chief Christ is! When He makes a banquet it is not a scramble, it is always orderly, and when there is anything very disorderly it is generally because Christ is not there—if He is there, everything seems to fit into its place.

36. And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and broke them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. "They did all eat and were filled." I remember a country Brother putting it, "And they did all eat," which I think is very likely—they were very hungry, they did all eat—and were filled! They were ravenous, but they were not stinted.

37, 39. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken food that was left, seven baskets full And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. And He sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. And if the women and children bore any proportion to most congregations, they would make a larger number than the men! And then comes the finish, "And He sent away the multitude." You and I, if we had done this, would have let them stay for an hour while somebody proposed and somebody else seconded a vote of thanks for this good dinner that they had had, but not He! He fed them and then He sent the multitude away and took ship and came into the coasts of Magdala. May we learn Our Lord's blessed absence of self-seeking!

Psalm 42. Verse 1. As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after You, O God. Hunted, hot, weary, thirsty. It must drink or die. You see the poor creature with the big tears in its eyes, with the sweat distilling from it, moving to and fro as it pants in its longing for the water, "even so does our soul long after God." I must have my God! I must die if I have not God. It is the refrain of our hymn, "Give me Christ, or else I die." It is not verbal. It is the soul that is panting. And when you grow very weary with the world and very heavy of heart—yes, and when without any trouble you are led to see the emptiness of all carnal joys—then is the time when this panting comes.

2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?Not sacraments, not sermons, but God! Not books, not even prayers, but God! Three times He puts it, "for God"—"for the living God"— "that I may come and appear before God." We could not pant after an idol or an image, but we do thirst after a living God that He would come to our living souls. We feel as if we could not live without the living God. Is it so with you? You shall have your desire! If for a while He delays, He must come at the cry of His children.

3. My tears have been mymeat day andnight, while they continually say unto me, Where isyour God?That is a very stinging question and the enemy knows that and he takes care to put it often to the Christian. "Where is your God." "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" That was the bitterest bitter in Christ's cup. When our adversaries think that we are altogether left, and to cry, "Where is your God?" it is not amazing that we begin to weep until our tears become the salt meat of every meal. "My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is your God?"

4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me.You could not help it. It is not the best thing in the world. Meditation is always good, but it needs to be done in a wise way, else we may meditate ourselves into still deeper griefs. "I pour out my soul in me."

4. For I had gone with the multitude. Here were memories which made him sorrowful, but yet made him hopeful. 4. I went with them to the House of God.Time was when I had many with me, when I did not stand alone—when they were glad of my company and I of theirs. I did not go the wrong way, but I went with them to the House of God. And the House of God is all the more delightful because of the many that go to it—

"At once they sing, at once they pray They hear of Heaven and learn the way."

4. With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day.And I felt it to be a true holiday. There are some that turn holy days into holidays. Blessed are they that turn holidays into holy days! It is, indeed, a great solace for the heart to enjoy Christian fellowship, and to go with the many to the worship of God. But if he cannot—if his pathway is to be a lonely one, then let him still trust in God though I should not wonder that he has his grief.

5. Why are you cast down, O my Soul, and why are you disquieted in me? As old Master Trapp says, "David tries to talk David out of the dumps—and he does well." Here were two Davids—David that was down and David that was up, and David draws David up! So you, too, if you are a little low tonight, should let your better, godlier self talk to yourself!

5. Hope you in God. If you cannot do anything else, yet hope. The New Zealanders call hope "the swimming thought," because when everything else is drowned, up comes hope at the top of the wave! You cannot drown hope.

5. For I shall yet praise Him for thee help of His Countenance. Snatch from the altars of the future fire-brands with which to kindle the altar of today! "I shall yet praise Him." I am not always going to be low. I have hung the harp upon the willows, but I have not broken its strings. I shall take it down again. "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His Countenance." If He does but look upon us—if He does but have pity upon us—let us be content with that and abide His time.

6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Is it not a blessed thing that even when he is down, he says, "Oh, my God"? He gets hold of his God! He has lost his company, but he has not lost his God! See—"mysoul—"myGod." His God is as much his as his soul is his! He puts them together—"my God"—"my soul."

6. Therefore will I remember You from the land of Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar. Were these places where he was then wandering? He would remember God wherever he was. He would remember happier days—seasons long past when he did walk in fellowship with God. So let us remember how He kept His tryst with us in former days of sorrow—how He manifested Himself unto us as He does not to the world! He will do the same now. Let us be of good courage.

7. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your biilows are gone over me. They are God's waves and God's billows, so he will not mind them. Our Father rules the stormiest deeps and the noisiest depths of the soul only speak as He permits them. Be of good cheer!

8. 9. Yet the LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my Rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?He had tried his "whys" on himself. Now he comes with his "whys" to his God, and God will answer him. Our Father permits His children to plead with Him. You are permitted to say, "O God, show me why You contend with me." And He will be pleased to let you see the reason, or, if not, to give you faith enough to be satisfied without a reason.

10. As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is your God?Rather monotonous this. "Where is your God?" is all they can say. They are rather short of wit when they must always hang on to the same old taunt. If ever you hear of a new heresy, it is only an old heresy with a new soul put to it!

11. Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope you in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God