It’s interesting to note how matthew has recorded the meeting between Jesus and the woman from Canaan directly after his comments relating to who is ‘clean or unclean’ and who is ‘defiled or undefiled’…because this woman was most certianly ‘unclean’ as well as ‘defiled’ in the eyes of the Pharisees and even in the eyes of the disciples who just wanted to shoo her away. But not Jesus. Even though it appeared that he wasn’t listening to her, he was, and he gave her what she asked for…and more!

Message

Outline

• Jesus in an unusual place meeting an unusual person
• A turning point in Matthew’s gospel
• This woman – a real ‘outsider’
• See how we are told about their conversation …

1. A discouraging beginning (v.21-24)
2. A challenging middle (v.25-26)
3. A satisfying end (v.27-28)

Saving faith in surprising places…
Outsiders are more than welcome…!

As soon as Jesus was back in the midst of the Jewish people, the Scribes and Pharisees questioned him about his lack of enforcement of the traditions around hand washing. Rather than explain himself directly, Jesus in turn, responded with questions as to why the Pharisees and Scribes failed to comply with God’s commandments about honouring their parents, so that they might escape the full force of their responsibilities. He also went on to explain that external hand washing (as well as any kind of food) does nothing to deal with the problem of our sinful hearts, reminding them that only a complete transformation from within, from the heart, is what God ultimately requires.

Message

Outline

• From miracles and action to debate
• Hand washing?
• Was Jesus a traditionalist just for the sake of it?
• See how the text tells us about traditions, and …

1. The confrontation that began (v.1-2)
2. The critique that followed (v.3-9)
3. The clarification that resulted (v.10-20)

Traditions and us!
Caring more about the externals than the internals…

After Jesus fed the 5,000 with bread and fish, he proceeded to perform another miracle. This one, however was not on land, but at sea, and it was not in the day, but in the dark, and it was not done before the eyes of the crowds, but for his disciples alone. After sending away the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, after also sending away his disciples in a boat to cross the lake. In the middle of the night, when the disciples had found the crossing hard going, Jesus came to them and gave them assurance of his person and power. Disciples who feel as though that they have been abandoned by Jesus, need to think through who it was that Jesus was praying for up there on the mountain, and that there is no barrier to his coming to his disciples in their hour of need.

Message

Outline

• ‘Born to be at sea’…
• Following on from the feeding of the 5,000
• A miracle on land, now one on water!
• See how the text tells us about …

1. The priority Jesus gave to prayer (v.22-24)
2. The encouragement Jesus gave to disciples (v.25-33)
3. The healing Jesus gave to the sick (v.34-36)

Life lesson 101…
Your times are in His hands.

After Jesus received the news of John’s death, he withdrew from public appearances to go away to a lonely place with disciples for some rest and prayer. However, according to Matthew 14:13-21, the crowds twigged where he would be and soon were there too. Jesus, however, as a true Shepherd of the sheep, put their needs before his own and had compassion upon them, even providing them with a free meal. All this happened far away from the eyes of the religious leaders and rulers, but not was not hidden from the eyes of his watching disciples who were taught a number of lessons.

Message

Outline

• A text we know well…
• From John back to Jesus…
• Just one year left for Jesus to live!
• See how the text tells us about …

1. How Jesus demonstrated His compassion (v.13-15)
2. How Jesus instructed His disciples (v.16-20)
3. How Jesus showed His sufficiency (v.19-21)

His ability. Our problem.
‘You give them something to eat!’

After Jesus was rejected by the people of Nazareth, the text of Matthew 14:1-12 shifts to focus our attention on what was happening in the mind and heart of King Herod. Having heard about the miracles and ministry of Jesus, Herod, prompted by his guilty conscience, wrongly assumed that Jesus was John the Baptist ‘raised from the dead’. To fill in why Herod thought this, Matthew then explains for his readers how it was that John’s life ended in martyrdom – ultimately because of a partying King who made an dangerously open-ended promise to a dancing girl.

Message

Outline

• A sad text!
• From Jesus to John…
• Which King Herod is this?
• See how the text tells us about …

1. The awful danger of rejecting conscience (v.1-5)
2. The strange reward for faithful service (v.6-14)

Herod’s conscience and yours
The cross – the cure for all sin and guilt!

There’s no doubt that Jesus was a popular among the people of Israel for a time. But not so among the people of Nazareth, his hometown. We read in Matthew 13:53-58 that they rejected His word and even rejected Him. It was by no means a ‘happy homecoming’ for Jesus. And so the question is ‘why?’. Why did the people of Nazareth turn their backs on Jesus and reject Him and His message? Hardness of heart has a lot to do with it – something that we must always pray that God would keep us from.

Message

Outline

• Our new series
• Resistance becoming hostility
• Jesus’ experience in his home town
• See how the text tells us about …

1. The hardness of their hearts (v.53-54)
2. The danger of their assumptions (v.55-57)
3. The poison of their unbelief (v.58)

Good and bad news from the prophet Isaiah!
The challenge to those who do and don’t believe!