Matthew 15:7-9

“You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, “This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.”

He then brings His verdict on them from the Scriptures. Once again it is Isaiah that is in mind and specifically cited. For Isaiah had spoken of men who honoured God with their lips, while being far from Him and His will in their hearts, just like these men were. They talked as though God meant a great deal to them, and then behaved as if He meant nothing at all. And Isaiah had then declared that because of it their worship was in vain, because the teaching that they taught was that of men, not of God.

‘Of you.' That is, of you who claim to be God's people Israel. He is conjoining His hearers with those of old, for the Scriptures speak to all. They were no different in this way than their forefathers.

The quotation is probably based on a Hebrew text available to Matthew which was fairly close to that on which LXX was based, examples of which are found at Qumran.

‘You hypocrites.' They pretended one thing, while the truth was quite different. They put on a show of godliness without it being true godliness.

Jesus Stresses That It Is What Is Within A Man That Defiles Him, And Not What Enters Him From Outside.

Jesus now goes to the root of the question of religious defilement. The Pharisees saw it in terms of the laws of cleanness and uncleanness, and by applying those to their utmost limit. Jesus in contrast stresses that such things affect men little. What is most important to God is what is within a man, the things which fashion his attitudes and behaviour.

The fact must not be overlooked that the laws of cleanness and uncleanness (e.g. Leviticus 11-15) had been very important to Israel. They had not only undoubtedly prevented a good deal of disease, but they had inculcated the ideas of positive uprightness and wholesomeness of life. At one end of the spectrum was the living God, at the other was death and unwholesomeness. The One was to be approached, and they must seek to be like Him, and the other was to be avoided. In days when hygienic cleanliness had been very much a secondary consideration, especially under the conditions in which men in those days lived, this had made Israel unique among the nations as a nation that sought after wholesomeness. But by the time of Jesus this had become no longer quite so relevant. What was now more important was what was in men's hearts. And that is what Jesus now proceeds to deal with.

But nothing brings out more the sensible nature of the laws of uncleanness than working in a hospital. Let the standards of ‘cleanliness' drop and the hospital becomes a place of death, just as could so easily have happened to the camp of Israel. The difference is that we recognise better the reasons that in this case lie behind it.

a And he called to him the crowd, and said to them, “Hear, and understand” (Matthew 15:10).

b “It is not what enters into the mouth which defiles the man” (Matthew 15:11 a).

c “But what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Matthew 15:11 b).

d Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?” (Matthew 15:12).

e But he answered and said, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant, will be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

f “Let them alone. They are blind guides” (Matthew 15:14 a).

e “And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14 b).

d And Peter answered and said to him, “Declare to us the parable.” And he said, “Are you also even yet without understanding?” (Matthew 15:15).

c “Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the digestive system, and is cast out into the draught? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings. These are the things which defile the man” (17-19b).

b “But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man” (Matthew 15:20 b).

a And Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon

Note that in ‘a' He called to Him the crowds, and in the parallel He went from there and withdrew. In ‘b' He declares that what enters the mouth does not defile a man, while in the parallel eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man. In ‘c' it is what proceeds from the mouth that defiles a man, and in the parallel a full explanation of why that is so is given. In ‘d' the Pharisees are said to have stumbled at this saying, and in the parallel the disciples also want an explanation. In ‘e' the Pharisees have not been planted by His heavenly Father and will be rooted up, and in the parallel they are blind guides and will fall into the pit. Centrally the Pharisees are to be left alone because they are blind guides.