Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Often, I read the Bible through the lens of someone desperately attempting to understand an infinitely complex and immeasurably applicable set of divinely inspired writings. After all, Scripture is the living Word of God, and anyone whose read John 1 knows that nothing was created that wasn’t created through the Word of God. No pressure, right? While these descriptions may be accurate, this perspective often leads to a lack of understanding of the “big picture.” A more user-friendly method to study the Bible is the “Onion Approach.” As we peel back each layer of scripture, piece by piece, the Lord reveals His word to us in return. David says in Psalm 42:7, “Deep calls to deep.” The further we dive into God’s Word, the further its roots extend into our hearts.

An overview of Matthew 15 is as follows:   

• Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ obsession with tradition and physical purity, citing their lack of spiritual purity.   
• A Gentile woman’s faith moved Jesus to save her daughter.   
• Jesus healed many and performed miracles 
• Jesus fed the multitude...for the second time.

While it is important to understand the basics of this chapter, it is easy to miss one of the very first layers of this “onion.” Matthew 15 paints a beautiful picture of the Gospel as a whole. 

Jesus enters stage left and is immediately tested by the Pharisees. He calls them out on the root of their sinful nature (and ours, for that matter). Sin is a cancer that grows from the heart. Jesus brings to light the idea that for someone to truly be clean, their heart must be clean also. A feat that is only accomplished through salvation. 

Jesus then encounters a Canaanite woman. At first glance, it seems that Jesus is being a bit harsh toward this woman, but in verse 28, it becomes clear that He is giving her the opportunity to put her faith on display. For those who are unaware of the history, Canaan is about as “Gentile” as it gets. What a contrast she is in comparison to the Jewish religious elite that Jesus had clashed with earlier in this passage.   

Skip forward to the end, and we see Jesus feed the four thousand. While many think of the first “multitude miracle” in Matthew 14, the miracle in Matthew 15 is equally important and can be viewed as a parallel, or even a climax, to the overall storyline. In Matthew 14, Jesus uses five loaves and two fish to feed over 5000 Jewish men. In contrast, Matthew 15 describes Jesus using seven loaves and a “few small fish” to feed over 4,000 Gentile men. If these two miracles were bookends, the middle of the story would be the Canaanite woman’s faith. When read in an overview, one can easily see the reinforcement of Luke 4:16-30, in which Jesus was rejected by His own people. The connection here is that Jesus breaks bread with both Jews and Gentiles, foreshadowing the breaking of bread at the Last Supper. Jesus exits stage right.   

In summary, Jesus calls out the religious by highlighting the root of sin for all mankind. He puts the faith of a Gentile woman on display and then foreshadows His body broken, distributed for the salvation of all who are “hungry” for it. This salvation is offered to the “Jews first and then the Gentiles,” as mentioned in Romans 1:16. It is both overwhelming and exciting to think that this is only the first layer of the “onion” this chapter presents. Keep reading, keep studying, because there is still so much more to unpack in God’s Word. 

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.