This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

The religious leaders accuse Jesus’
followers of being ritually unclean

because they don’t wash their hands
according to the “tradition of the elders”.

This isn’t a command from the Bible but
from another large body of Jewish teaching.

But Jesus says the real problem
isn’t unclean hands but impure hearts.

Dirt and grime can be swallowed and still leave
the body, but sin grows up from a defiled heart.

Jesus then travels far north into Gentile
territory where he meets a Canaanite woman.

You have to remember, the Canaanites were
Israel’s constant enemy throughout the Old Testament.

The traditions of the Jewish people would have
kept Jesus from interacting with this woman.

But her courageous faith moves Jesus,
and he heals her demon-oppressed daughter.

Jesus then repeats what he did in the wilderness
among the Jews, but this time among the Gentiles.

He heals the sick, and they
worship the God of Israel.

Jesus then miraculously feeds 4,000
men, as he did before with the 5,000.

But the Jewish religious leaders don’t understand
what Jesus is doing, and they demand a sign.

Jesus tells his disciples
to beware of their “leaven”.

He warns them to not let the unbelief
of the Pharisees and Sadducees spread to
them, as leaven spreads through dough.

Jesus reminds them that
they picked up 12 baskets

in the wilderness among the
Jews, and seven among the Gentiles.

The 12 baskets would have
reminded the Jews of the 12 tribes,

which was a sign that Jesus was
bringing salvation to all of Israel.

Likewise, the seven baskets
represented a sign of heavenly favor.

Jesus was not just saving the Jews
with their laws and their  traditions.

He was saving the entire world, even those who
did not know the laws and traditions of the elders.

No matter where you come from, Jesus
can provide healing and provision for you.

He does not perform his
miracles or bring his Kingdom to

a select kind of person, but
to all nations and all people.

This includes those who are unclean.

Whether you have broken the religious traditions
you grew up around or the very commands of

God found in the Bible, Jesus shows us here that there
is forgiveness for anyone who comes to him in faith.

Traditions and rule-following cannot save
you. To think otherwise is to have the leaven
of the Pharisees and Sadducees within you.

Only Jesus can save you.

And when he does, he
will give you a clean heart

that will bring about clean actions
that heal the world around you.

So, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your
eyes to see the God who saves unclean people

from every nation and that you would see Jesus
as the one who took our uncleanness so he

could provide the bread of his body to
anyone who would come to him in faith.