THEY CALL ME “BANDAID”

When traumatic things are no big deal

Jesus and the 12 disciples had just crossed the big lake called Galilee. They had weathered the storm. Jesus had literally walked on water and called Peter out of the boat and invited him to walk on the water with Him. They came to a place Matthew calls Gennesaret. 

It’s the very place where the miracle of “cast your nets to the other side” happened (Luke chapter 5).

This is place where the first disciples were called and it’s where their boat landed after this terrible storm. So, it’s GAME ON for the disciples and they are ON FIRE!!!! 

At the end of Matthew 14, it says as many as touched King Jesus got healed. 

Matthew15:1-2 – Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

• Here, an official religious delegation came way up north to visit Jesus. They were coming to investigate. They are bewildered at the miracles. They are scared of how the people are coming to him and they are quickly outraged that He doesn’t do things they way they do things. 
• You’re a different denomination!!!!!
• The thing they focus on is a tradition–a custom or a cultural way that they do things–and of all the silly things they focus on, they’re questioning if they are washing their hands before they eat!
• Many ancient Jews took this tradition of the elders very seriously. “The Jewish Rabbi Jose saith, He sinneth as much who eateth with unwashen hands, as he that lieth with a harlot.”

DO NOT CANONIZE YOUR CULTURE 

Matthew 15:3 – He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”

He answers their question with a question.

Matthew – Jesus asked 109 questions

Mark – Jesus asked 68 questions 

Luke – Jesus asked 107 questions 

John – Jesus asked 55 questions

Jesus asked a total of 339 questions

“Just recently this thought occurred to me: All of the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit) were involved in the Creation. Therefore Jesus, who created the brain, understands exactly how it works. When he asks a question, he is actually leveraging the design of the brain he created! He knew that asking questions was a far more effective way to connect with people, to engage people, to help them discover truth, to help them come to their own conclusions, and to make their own decisions than it ever would be to tell them what to do!” – Bob Teil leadingwithquestions.com

Offense is a trap. Like a hose that is tied in a knot, it stops the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Offense is a snare, an occasion to fall or stumble–a stumbling block. Offense is a tool of entrapment the enemy uses on believers to bring them into captivity.

TO BE OFFENDED AT GOD MAKES YOU UNABLE TO RECEIVE FROM GOD.

Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” 

Yet we learn from over a dozen Scriptures they were offended because of Him. What was the net result? They were unable to receive! The spirit of offense works to keep people from receiving salvation, healing, and miracles from the Spirit of God. 

It’s recorded in Mark 6:2-3 that “they were offended at Him.” 

A SIGN OF THE LAST DAYS 

Matthew 24:10 – “And then shall many (not just a few, but many) be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” 

LATER ON IN THEIR SAME CHAPTER, JESUS LEAVES THESE OFFENDED JOKERS AND TRAVELS A LONG WAY TO SHOW HIS DISCIPLES WHAT HE IS WILLING TO DO TO BE AN UN-OFFENDABLE PERSON. 

The great faith the woman in Matthew 15 has is that she will not be offended at God. 

SHE REFUSES TO BELIEVE ANYTHING OTHER THAN JESUS IS THE ANSWER

Matthew 15:21-28 – Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 

That’s more than 50 miles. 

“Let us always plow to the very end of the field, and serve our day and generation to the extreme limits of our sphere.” (Spurgeon)

 It was unlikely for Jesus to go to the region of Tyre and Sidon. “At that time, or not much later, Josephus could write: ‘Of the Phoenicians, the Tyrians have the most ill-feeling toward us.’” (Barclay)

22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

“Matthew’s use of the old term ‘Canaanite’ shows that he cannot forget her ancestry: now a descendant of Israel’s ancient enemies comes to the Jewish Messiah for blessing.” (Carson)

23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

He pointing out a cage, but it is not her cage. It’s the cage of everyone around her. 

She pressed through every offense.

Like I said before, offense is a trap. And like a hose tied in a knot, it stops the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

 The definition of the word offend is — a trap stick, referring to the part of the trap to which the bait is attached. 

Again, it is a snare, an occasion to fall or stumble, or a stumbling block. Offense is a tool of entrapment the enemy uses on believers to bring them into captivity.