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An Authentic Conversation With Jesus

An Authentic Conversation With Jesus

Feb 23, 2025

Passage: Matthew 15:21-28

Preacher: Rob Holster

Series: Gospel of the Kingdom

Summary:

We move this week from Jesus offending the religious leaders––saying that their religious traditions and rituals don't get to the real problem––and that is our hearts. They spent their time trying to avoid anything 'unclean,' but neglected to see that it's not what enters from the outside (the stuff we avoid) that makes us unclean––or defiled–-it's the words that come out of our mouths, which come from the heart. So it's the heart that religious rituals can't do anything about. That issue must be addressed, for all of us have the same desperate heart condition. The long and short of it is that we need a new heart––one that Jesus can give us. But he wasn't done with offending, for in Matthew 15:21 he would then go to the Gentiles––50 miles north––to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Talk about unclean! These people were Gentiles––they were to be avoided, not encouraged. They were the very definition (to a first century Jew) of unclean. But we're going to listen in on a very authentic conversation that Jesus has with a Canaanite woman––a pagan woman living in a pagan land. It's very surprising for two reasons––for Jesus' harsh words and the woman's great faith.

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