Matthew 15

Mt 15:1-20.

DISCOURSE ON

CEREMONIAL

POLLUTION.

Mr 7:1, 23).

The time of this section was after that Passover which was nigh at hand

when our Lord fed the five thousand

(Joh 6:4)

--the third Passover, as we take it, since His public ministry began,

but which He did not keep at Jerusalem for the reason mentioned in

Joh 7:1.

1. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of

Jerusalem--or "from Jerusalem." Mark

(Mr 7:1)

says they "came from" it: a deputation probably sent from the capital

expressly to watch Him. As He had not come to them at the last

Passover, which they had reckoned on, they now come to Him. "And," says

Mark

(Mr 7:2, 3),

"when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to

say, with unwashen hands"--hands not ceremonially cleansed by

washing--"they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except

they wash their hands oft"--literally, "in" or "with the fist"; that

is, probably washing the one hand by the use of the other--though some

understand it, with our version, in the sense of "diligently,"

"sedulously"--"eat not, holding the tradition of the elders"; acting

religiously according to the custom handed down to them. "And when they

come from the market"

(Mr 7:4)

--"And after market": after any common business, or attending a court

of justice, where the Jews, as WEBSTER and WILKINSON remark, after their subjection to the Romans,

were especially exposed to intercourse and contact with

heathens--"except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there

be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots,

brazen vessels and tables"--rather, "couches," such as were used at

meals, which probably were merely sprinkled for ceremonial

purposes. "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him,"

saying--as follows:

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?--The charge is retorted with

startling power: "The tradition they transgress is but man's, and is

itself the occasion of heavy transgression, undermining the authority of

God's law."

4. For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother--

(De 5:16).

and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death--

(Ex 21:17).

5. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is

a gift--or simply, "A gift!" In Mark

(Mr 7:11),

it is, "Corban!" that is, "An oblation!" meaning, any unbloody

offering or gift dedicated to sacred uses.

6. And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free--that

is, It is true, father--mother--that by giving to thee this, which I now

present, thou mightest be profited by me; but I have gifted it to pious

uses, and therefore, at whatever cost to thee, I am not now at liberty

to alienate any portion of it. "And," it is added in Mark

(Mr 7:12),

"ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother." To

dedicate property to God is indeed lawful and laudable, but not at the

expense of filial duty.

Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect--cancelled or

nullified it "by your tradition."

7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying--

(Isa 29:13).

8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, &c.--By putting

the commandments of men on a level with the divine requirements,

their whole worship was rendered vain--a principle of deep moment in

the service of God. "For," it is added in

Mr 7:8,

"laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as

the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do."

The drivelling nature of their multitudinous observances is here

pointedly exposed, in contrast with the manly observance of "the

commandment of God"; and when our Lord says, "Many other such like

things ye do," it is implied that He had but given a specimen of the

hideous treatment which the divine law received, and the grasping

disposition which, under the mask of piety, was manifested by the

ecclesiastics of that day.

10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them--The foregoing

dialogue, though in the people's hearing, was between Jesus and the

pharisaic cavillers, whose object was to disparage Him with the people.

But Jesus, having put them down, turns to the multitude, who at this

time were prepared to drink in everything He said, and with admirable

plainness, strength, and brevity, lays down the great principle of real

pollution, by which a world of bondage and uneasiness of conscience

would be dissipated in a moment, and the sense of sin be reserved for

deviations from the holy and eternal law of God.

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--This is expressed even

more emphatically in Mark

(Mr 7:15, 16),

and it is there added, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." As

in

Mt 13:9,

this so oft-repeated saying seems designed to call attention to the

fundamental and universal character of the truth it

refers to.

12. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the

Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?--They had given

vent to their irritation, and perhaps threats, not to our Lord Himself,

from whom they seem to have slunk away, but to some of the disciples,

who report it to their Master.

13. But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father

hath not planted, shall be rooted up--They are offended, are they?

Heed it not: their corrupt teaching is already doomed: the garden of the

Lord upon earth, too long cumbered with their presence, shall yet be

purged of them and their accursed system: yea, and whatsoever is not of

the planting of My heavenly Father, the great Husbandman

(Joh 15:1),

shall share the same fate.

14. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the

blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch--Striking

expression of the ruinous effects of erroneous teaching!

15. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this

parable--"when He was entered into the house from the people," says

Mark

(Mr 7:17).

16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?--Slowness

of spiritual apprehension in His genuine disciples grieves the Saviour:

from others He expects no better

(Mt 13:11).

17, 18. Do not ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the

mouth, &c.--Familiar though these sayings have now become, what

freedom from bondage to outward things do they proclaim, on the one

hand; and on the other, how searching is the truth which they

express--that nothing which enters from without can really defile us;

and that only the evil that is in the heart, that is allowed to stir

there, to rise up in thought and affection, and to flow forth in

voluntary action, really defiles a man!

19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts--"evil reasonings";

referring here more immediately to those corrupt reasonings which had

stealthily introduced and gradually reared up that hideous fabric of

tradition which at length practically nullified the unchangeable

principles of the moral law. But the statement is far broader than this;

namely that the first shape which the evil that is in the heart takes,

when it begins actively to stir, is that of "considerations" or

"reasonings" on certain suggested actions.

murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies--detractions, whether directed against God or man;

here the reference

seems to be to the latter. Mark

(Mr 7:22)

adds, "covetousnesses"--or desires after more; "wickednesses"--here

meaning, perhaps, malignities of various forms; "deceit,

lasciviousness"--meaning, excess or enormity of any kind, though by

later writers restricted to lewdness; "an evil eye"--meaning, all looks

or glances of envy, jealousy, or ill will towards a neighbor; "pride,

foolishness"--in the Old Testament sense of "folly"; that is, criminal

senselessness, the folly of the heart. How appalling is this

black catalogue!

20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen

hands defileth not a man--Thus does our Lord sum up this whole

searching discourse.

Mt 15:21-28.

THE

WOMAN OF

CANAAN AND

HER

DAUGHTER.

For the exposition, see on

Mr 7:24-30.

23. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and

besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us--(Also

see on

Mr 7:26.)

24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of

the house of Israel--(Also see on

Mr 7:26.)

25. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help

me--(Also see on

Mr 7:26.)

Mt 15:29-39.

MIRACLES OF

HEALING--FOUR

THOUSAND

MIRACULOUSLY

FED.

For the exposition, see on

Mr 7:31;

Mr 8:10.