Matthew 15:1-39
1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them,Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them,Hear, and understand:
11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13 But he answered and said,Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16 And Jesus said,Are ye also yet without understanding?
17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said,I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said,It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her,O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said,I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
34 And Jesus saith unto them,How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.
After the power and grace of the Lord Jesus has wrought so great, refreshing blessing, the cold, barren criticism of scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem is an example of how the deadening principle of legality is always active in strongly opposing the pure work of the grace of God. They challenge the Lord Himself directly, not simply disciples, but being incensed against Him because He did not require His disciples to conform to Jewish tradition by the washing of their hands before eating. This they considered a binding religious tradition, whether men's hands were clean or not.
For they transgressed the commandment of God by their tradition. He does not refer to the washing of hands, however, for this was a mere empty decree hardly worth speaking of: but He does reprove a tradition of theirs that boldly made void the commandment of God. To honour father and mother was one of the initial ten commandments. Yet the Jews had concocted a tradition that allowed a son or daughter to say that some resource he had by which he could relieve the need of his parents was "Corban," that is, a gift devoted to God, and by this subterfuge to avoid helping his parents. Edersheim says that this was commonly done though the money was not actually given to the temple service at all, and that the Jewish elders had officials ruled that a declaration of this kind nullified one's obligation to his parents.
This was plain despising of the word of God, and the Lord does not hesitate to call the Pharisees hypocrites, quoting fromIsaiah 29:13 as to men's mouths and lips outwardly honouring God while their hearts were far from Him. Their warship was vain, for their doctrines were merely the commandments of men. Their insensibility to the seriousness of this condition makes this the more painful.
Yet not only the Pharisees, but the crowd is in need of the word that He now declares. Calling them to Him, He urges them to hear and understand that it is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, but what proceeds out of his mouth. By eating material things, no-one is defiled spiritually. If something is not good for one's physical health, that is a different matter. But the things that come from one's mouth indicate what is actually in the heart: if things morally corrupt come from the mouth, these certainly defile the man.
The disciples report to the Lord that the Pharisees had taken offence at what He had said. But the solemn truth of it is not to be in any way watered down. If the truth offends, it is because one prefers falsehood to truth. The Lord's reply is most decisive and incisive. Every plant which His heavenly Father had not planted would be rooted up. Enemies of the truth are not the planting of the Father. They may be very meticulous about religious tradition, get in heart thoroughly Opposed to God.
"Let them alone." He says,--terrible sentence from the lips of the Son of God! Yet if men want this haughty independence, God may let them alone to indulge the folly of their choice, with no restraining of His wise and loving hand, of which the believer feels the need, and appreciates. "Blind leaders of the blind" is a striking and appropriate designation. They will fall into the ditch, and those who blindly follow them will do the same. This is warning enough not to follow such men. The leaders of course are the most solemnly responsible. but others are responsible for allowing themselves to be led.
Peter however thinks of verse 11 as a parable, and asks for an explanation. This is painful ignorance, as the Lord tells him, but he is not alone, for there are many Christians who consider only externals, and forget that the real index of what is defiling is that which one allows to proceed out of his mouth. For these come from the heart., which is the source of evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. It may not be that every one of these is always expressed from the mouth before the act takes place; but every one proceeds from the heart, which commonly expresses itself in the words of the mouth. If the mouth expresses hatred, this is the principle of murder (1 John 3:15). One who is adulterous will usually betray it by corrupt language. A thief will likely express himself covetously. Wisely indeed does Proverbs 4:23 tell us, "Keep thy heart more then anything that is guarded, for out of it are the issues of life" (J.N.D. trans.). The Lord then closes the subject with the declaration that to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
Coming to Tyre and Sidon He meets with hypocrisy of a different kind in a Gentile woman of Canaan. Which of us is not afflicted with that terrible disease in some measure? She cries to Him on behalf of her daughter who was oppressed by demon power. But she uses His title as King of Israel, "Son of David," as though she was Jewish. On this basis the Lord could not even listen to her. He will allow no-one to slip in on false ground. Her continual crying induces the disciples to ask Him to send her away, no doubt implying that He should answer her request, for they knew the grace of His heart.
As the Son of David He answers (not the women, but) His disciples that He had been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The women then gave up her use of His Jewish title, and worshipping Him, said, "Lord, help me." On this ground He could speak to her, for He was her Lord. Yet He must impress on her that, being a Gentile, she was not entitled to Jewish blessing. Still, He does it in a way that not only humbles her, but encourages her. For while He speaks of its being not fitting to take the bread from the children (Israel) and to throw it to dogs (Gentiles), the dogs He speaks of are not the roaming dogs of the street, but he use dogs used as pets. She is willing immediately to take her place as a Gentile dog, for she sees the opening He gave her to request the crumbs that dogs are commonly given from their master's table. This is exquisitely beautiful, and the Lord warmly commends her great faith, assuring her that she is blessed with what she desires. Her daughter is immediately released from her oppression.
Making a lengthy journey to the vicinity of the sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus ascended a mountain and set down. This is followed by abundance of grace in healing the lame, blind, dumb and maimed, and many others. This dispensational picture is different than in Ch.14:13-21, where the feeding of the five thousand is typical of the present dispensation of grace. ForMatthew 15:29 follows grace shown to the Gentile (v.27,28), and emphasizes in v.31, "they glorified the God Of Israel." Therefore it pictures the coming blessing of Israel as the world to come is introduced. The great healing of the nation is first indicated, and then the great provision made for them in the feeding of four thousand. For the number four is the number of earth (as its four directions remind us), so that this shows the blessing of God's earthly people Israel.
The similarity of the circumstances between this and the feeding of the five thousand is evident, but the differences are therefore more accentuated. Here He does not say, "Give ye them to eat," for this seems specially the work of disciples in the dispensation of the grace of God. The number of loaves and fishes differs also (seven rather than five, and a few rather than two), while the seven baskets of fragments are larger baskets than the twelve hand-baskets of the former miracle. Do these seven baskets speak of the fullness of blessing remaining for the Gentile nations after Israel is satisfied? This seems consistent, just as the twelve previous baskets spoke of the remaining grace for the twelve tribes of Israel after the church was blessed.
Verse 39 seems to be typical of His leaving Israel again after having established them in millennial blessing, as we know He will personally do, while leaving a representative ("the prince"-- Ezekiel 46:1) in charge of the nation. For personally He will have taken His own throne, the church being associated with Him in heavenly glory, reigning with Him over the earth.