The Tradition of the Elders
1 Then j Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked, k 2 “Why do your disciples l break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.” ,m
3 He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said: Honor your father and your mother; ,n and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. ,o 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” 6 he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.” ,p
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles q a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” r
12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said? ”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. s 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” t
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.” u
16 “Do you still lack understanding? ” he asked. 17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. v 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, w slander. x 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.” y
A Gentile Mother’s Faith
21 When Jesus left there, z he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. a 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” b
23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples c approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”
24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” d
25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me! ”
26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” e
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed. f
Healing Many People
29 Moving on from there, g Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee. h He went up on a mountain and sat there, 30 and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, i and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
Feeding of the Four Thousand
32 Jesus called his disciples and said, j “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place k to feed such a crowd? ”
34 “How many loaves do you have? ” Jesus asked them.
“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”
35 After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. l 37 They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. 38 Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. 39 After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. ,m
15:1–2. After narrating Jesus’s interaction with the crowds and his disciples, Matthew again turns to controversy (15:1–20), this time between Jesus and Jewish teachers who have come to Galilee from Jerusalem (15:1). These Pharisees and scribes confront Jesus over the lack of concern shown by his disciples in their table practices. The Pharisees follow the “tradition of the elders” (15:2); that is, they not only obey the torah but also observe teachings of past teachers (rabbis) on the torah. In this case, hand washing to remove ritual impurity was required before eating. The likely background is the OT command for priests to wash their hands (and feet) before entering the tent of meeting and before offering sacrifices (Ex 30:17–21), since Pharisees desired to bring purity rites associated with the temple into everyday experience.
15:3–9. Jesus’s critique of the Pharisees is not a direct criticism of the set of traditions that they followed. Instead, Jesus criticizes adhering to these traditions when adherence results in breaking the law itself! He claims that these Pharisees are breaking the command to honor parents by devoting to God resources that could and should provide for parents (15:3–6; cf. 23:3 for a similar indictment). Then Jesus cites Is 29:13 (15:7–9), where Isaiah addresses this same kind of hypocrisy: disobeying the torah in the name of adhering to traditions. Isaiah’s complaint—empty worship drawn from human rules—fits Jesus’s complaint against these Jewish teachers as well.
15:10–11. Jesus uses a parable of sorts to indicate that ritual cleansing before meals is unnecessary and misses the true source of impurity. Jesus’s explanation of his parable or riddle (15:16–20) clarifies that it is the heart of a person (rather than hands) that ultimately produces what is unclean, for from the heart come intentions that result in disobedient actions (cf. 15:19). Here Jesus is not invalidating the Jewish purity system; rather, he is providing an alternate interpretation of purity issues over against the tradition of the elders. (Mark’s Gospel takes this story in a different direction, particularly in his extrapolation that all foods are clean [Mk 7:19]. Nevertheless, there is no Gospel evidence that Jesus or his disciples broke with kosher dietary practices.)
15:12–14. In response to Jesus’s critique of the Pharisees and scribes, his disciples let him know that the Pharisees “took offense” (Gk skandalizō; cf. 11:6) to his words (15:12). This language indicates that the Pharisees stumble over Jesus and his teaching. Jesus responds by picturing the judgment that will come to those who, like these Pharisees, not only are out of alignment with God (15:13) but also are leading others astray (15:14).
15:15–20. Peter, as representative of the Twelve (his frequent role in Matthew; cf. 16:16), asks Jesus to explain the parable (15:15). Jesus’s response to his disciples indicates that he expects them to have understood his teaching here (15:16–17). Despite their insider status in relation to Jesus’s teaching in parables (13:11, 18–23, 36–43, 51), they do not fully understand. Jesus’s words in 15:16 demonstrate that the disciples have fallen short of his expectations. Jesus’s call to “listen and understand” (15:10) invites Matthew’s audience to do what few characters in the story have done well—to hear Jesus and to understand his words (cf. 13:9, 43).
15:21–28. Following the controversy, Jesus again withdraws to compassionate ministry (15:21–31; cf. 12:15; 14:13), this time in the direction of Tyre and Sidon—Mediterranean coastal cities northwest of Galilee (15:21). In this location, Jesus is approached by a Gentile woman, a “Canaanite,” with the term evoking the OT association of Israel’s enemies (15:22a; cf. Nm 21:1). Using the messianic title “Son of David,” she cries out to him to heal her demon-possessed daughter (15:22b). Yet Jesus speaks to her only after his disciples have entreated him to deal with her cries (15:23). His answer echoes the mission parameters he has already given to his disciples: ministering only to the lost sheep of Israel (15:24; cf. 10:5–6).
15:29–39. Matthew provides another summary of Jesus’s compassionate healing ministry (15:29–31; cf. 12:15–21; 14:13–14, 34–36). The crowds respond with amazement, praising “the God of Israel” (a commonplace OT phrase; e.g., Jdg 5:3).