Although the Lord forsook the rejecting religionists, they still would not cease troubling Him. They came to Him from their religious center, Jerusalem, in order to find fault with Him. However, their troubling afforded Him another opportunity to reveal the truth concerning genuine cleanness (vv. 10-11, 15-20).

This reveals that in following the Lord the disciples did not keep traditions. They cared only for the heavenly King's presence, not for anything else.

The Jewish religionists accused the Lord's disciples of transgressing their tradition, but the Lord condemned the religionists for transgressing the commandment of God because of their tradition. They cared for their tradition, but they ignored God's commandment. In principle, the religious people today do the same thing. The Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant denominations make void the word of God because of their traditions.

The Lord's dealing here with the Pharisees and scribes not only condemned them for making void the word of God because of their tradition but also implied that man should honor his parents. God in His government among men has ordained that man should honor his parents. He has made this the first commandment among the ten commandments that concerns human relationships (Exo. 20:12). Fallen human nature, however, always prompts man to ignore his parents, that is, to rebel against God's government. In order to bring man back to God's government, the Lord as the heavenly King emphasized that man should honor his parents. This corresponds with His word in the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens concerning the fulfillment of the law (Matt. 5:17-19). Hence, the apostle also emphasized this matter strongly (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). We, the kingdom people, must honor our parents and not excuse ourselves as the Jewish religionists did. To make any excuse indicates that we are not under the heavenly ruling but are following our fallen nature and the rebellious trend of today's generation.

Or, slanders, insults.

Lit., decease by death; meaning to die by being put to death. The Greek word for decease means come to one's end. Hence, this phrase means come to one's end by being put to death. It is quoted from two verses in the Septuagint — Exo. 21:17 and Lev. 20:9. In those two verses it was translated from the Hebrew idiom.

An offering to God.

See note Matt. 6:2^2b.

The heavenly ruling of the kingdom requires inward reality, not mere outward practice. Such ruling deals with the real condition of the heart, not with the expression of the lips.

This reveals that some worship offered to God may be in vain. The main cause of this is to consider as teachings the commandments of men. We must worship God according to His word, which is the truth.

The further troubling by the rejecting religionists caused the heavenly King to depart farther from them, even into the districts of Tyre and Sidon, into a Gentile land.

In the kingdom of the heavens, defilement is not related to material things but to moral matters. Material things have nothing to do with the heavenly ruling, but moral matters do. That so many evils issue from our heart proves that we are not under the heavenly ruling.

The self-righteous and arrogant religionists thought that they were clear concerning the way to serve God, not realizing that they were blind guides of the blind. Their eyes were veiled by their religion with their traditions; hence, they could not see the reality of God's economy and thus were not able to enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Their blindness led them to "fall into a pit."

This word from the heavenly King indicates that the hypocritical Pharisees had not been planted by the heavenly Father. Because of their rejection of the heavenly King, they were uprooted from the kingdom of the heavens.

I.e., makes the man common, unclean (Acts 11:8). So in v. 18 and v. 20. In the kingdom life, defilement is not an outward matter but an inward matter.

Christ would not allow His followers to hunger and faint on the way while they followed Him.

Even in the barren wilderness the Lord was able to feed His followers and satisfy them, regardless of how many there were. The disciples had experienced this before, in Matt. 14:15-21 however, it seems that they had not learned the lesson of faith. Here they set their eyes on the environment instead of on the Lord. Yet the Lord's presence was better than a rich store.

The Lord always wants to use what we have to bless others.

If we offer all that we have to the Lord, He will take it, break it, and give it back to us for distribution to others, to whom it will become a satisfying and overflowing blessing (v. 37). Whatever we offer to the Lord, however little it is, will be multiplied by His blessing hand to meet the need of a great multitude (v. 38); thereby His desire is fulfilled (v. 32).

This indicates that in the eyes of the Lord all the heathen are dogs, which are unclean in the eyes of God (Lev. 11:27).

The heavenly King's ministry in all His visits created opportunities for Him to reveal Himself further. In the situations created in chs. 9 and 12, He had opportunities to reveal Himself as the Physician, the Bridegroom, the new cloth, the new wine, the Shepherd, the real David, the greater temple, the Lord of the harvest, the One who is more than Jonah, and the One who is more than Solomon. Here another opportunity was created for Him to reveal Himself, this time as the children's bread. The Canaanite woman considered Him the Lord — a divine person — and the Son of David — a royal descendant, great and high in His reign. But He unveiled Himself to her as small pieces of bread, good for food. This implies that as the heavenly King, He rules over His people by feeding them with Himself as bread. We can be the proper people in His kingdom only by being nourished with Him as our food. To eat Christ as our supply is the way to be the kingdom people in the reality of the kingdom.

This second time she addressed Christ only as "Lord," not as "Son of David," because she realized that she was not a child of Israel but a heathen.

As she would worship God.

The Lord was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. However, at this time He came to a Gentile region, thus affording the Gentiles an opportunity to participate in His grace. This bears dispensational significance, showing that Christ came to the Jews first and that because of their unbelief, His salvation turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; Rom. 11:11).

The title Lord implies Christ's divinity, and the title Son of David, His humanity. It was proper for this woman, a Gentile, to address Christ as "Lord." However, she had no right to call Him "Son of David"; only the children of Israel were privileged to do so.

Because of the rejection by the religious Jews, the opportunity to contact the heavenly King came to the Gentiles, even to a weak Gentile woman.

The Canaanite woman, not offended by the Lord's word but admitting that she was a heathen dog, considered that at that time Christ, after being rejected by the children, the Jews, became crumbs under the table as a portion to the Gentiles. The holy land of Israel was the table on which Christ, the heavenly bread, had come as a portion to the children of Israel. But they threw Him off the table to the ground, the Gentile land, so that He became broken crumbs as a portion to the Gentiles. What a realization this Gentile woman had at that time! No wonder the heavenly King admired her faith (v. 28).

Because He had been rejected by the Jewish religion, the Lord remained in Galilee of the Gentiles as the healing light. He would not go to Jerusalem, the Jews' religious center, to heal the Jews (Matt. 13:15).

Lit., cast.