Matthew 15 - Printer Friendly

What does Matthew 15 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

Jesus' fame and influence over the people has grown to the point where the religious leaders are concerned about Him. A delegation of Pharisees and scribes travels from Jerusalem to Galilee to challenge Jesus. They pick the issue of ritual handwashing to confront Him. However, they are looking for any way to discredit Him. The Pharisees ask why Jesus' disciples break the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before they eat. These "traditions" were rules added to the Law of Moses by prior generations of Pharisees. The current religious leaders honored the elders' wisdom by practicing these additional rules as if they were commands of God. The rules were often designed to keep the people from unknowingly or accidentally breaking one of God's commands (Matthew 15:1–2).

Their challenge is so hypocritical that Jesus doesn't even bother to answer it, at first. Instead, He immediately fires a question of His: why do they break the actual command of God for the sake of tradition? As Jesus sees it, the Pharisees criticize Him for ignoring tradition in favor of God's actual intent, while they ignore God's intent in favor of tradition! For example, the Pharisees allowed people to claim some of their possessions and money as "devoted to God." Anything so devoted was meant to be given to the temple. A loophole allowed the people to keep the designated items, and even continue to use them. It had become a way for adult children to avoid caring for their aging parents because all their money and possessions were ostensibly "devoted to God" (Matthew 15:3–6).

Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites for allowing this to happen. They cared more about the traditions than the true commands of Scripture. One of Isaiah's prophecies is applied to them: their worship of God is pointless since they replace God's doctrines with human legalism and loopholes (Matthew 15:6–9).

Turning to the people, Jesus then answers the Pharisee's original charge about handwashing. This point can be misunderstood unless one remembers that Jesus is not ignoring Old Testament law, He is accurately expressing it (Matthew 5:19–20). It's not the edible material which enters the body—the physical substance—that causes one to be sinful or unclean. Sin and corruption come from what's inside a person, as it expresses itself on the outside. Jesus explains to the disciples that accidentally eating a speck of unclean food can't defile a person. People are defiled by their own sinfulness, which they express when they speak—or, when they purposefully eat that which God has forbidden. He states flatly that eating with unwashed hands has nothing to do with one's spiritual state (Matthew 15:10–20).

Christ withdraws from Israel with His disciples and heads into the pagan Gentile district of Tyre and Sidon. This is the same region Jesus once mentioned while shaming Israel for stubbornness (Matthew 11:20–24). A Canaanite woman finds Him somehow. She knows He is the Messiah and can heal her daughter from demon oppression. To draw out her faith, and give an example to the disciples, Jesus refuses at first. His mission is to Israel alone. His metaphor is that of a Master choosing not to take bread from His children to give to pet dogs. The woman persists—noting that for dogs to eat crumbs passed over by the children would be different. Jesus praises her great faith. He heals her daughter—setting up for the disciples the idea that Gentiles, as well, will share in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 15:21–28).

Jesus travels from there to the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, another mostly-Gentile region. He spends three days healing many people and then repeats the miraculous feeding He performed at Bethsaida (Matthew 14:13–21). This event is for a slightly smaller group of four thousand men, plus additional women and children. As with the encounter with the Canaanite woman, this establishes how the gospel will spread beyond the nation of Israel (Romans 9:30–33; Acts 1:8). After sending the people away, Jesus and the disciples travel by boat back to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and back into Jewish territory (Matthew 15:29–39).

Matthew 15:1–9 describes Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem challenging Jesus. Their complaint: Christ's disciples have apparently ignored the Pharisees' practice of ritualized washing before eating. In response, Jesus asks them why they allow people to break the actual command of God about honoring one's parents. He says they have made God's Word void for the sake of their tradition. In truth, they criticize those who ignore their commands, but ignore those of God. He applies to them words from the Lord to Isaiah about the Israelites of his day, saying that these Pharisees honor the Lord with their words while their hearts are far away. They worship God in vain, teaching man-made commands as doctrines.

Matthew 15:10–20 describes Jesus' expanded answer to a challenge from the Pharisees. Their concern is not about washing hands for health, but to follow religious rituals. He says these Pharisees will be uprooted and that they are blind guides. When asked, Jesus tells the disciples it's not what goes into a person's mouth that defiles him; it's the words that come out that reveal the sin in his heart. The defilement is already there, including all kinds of sin. He tells them flatly that eating with unwashed hands does not spiritually defile anyone.

Matthew 15:21–28 describes an encounter between Jesus and a Gentile woman. She knows Jesus is the Messiah and tells Him her daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. At first, Jesus chooses not to cast the demon out. He tells the woman His mission is only to Israel, using a metaphor about table scraps. The woman persists, and Jesus praises her for her for faith. Her daughter is healed instantly. This seems to be a teaching moment for the disciples, as Jesus will continue to another Gentile-heavy area and heal many, in the next passage.

Matthew 15:29–31 follows Jesus and the disciples back to the Sea of Galilee, this time to the southeastern side near the Decapolis, a mostly Gentile region. Jesus positions Himself on a mountain, and crowds come with sick and afflicted people. Jesus heals them, and the people glorify God. This adds context to the prior passage, which depicted His encounter with a Gentile woman begging for healing. That conversation, and this healing work, seem to be ways in which Jesus prepares His followers to spread the gospel beyond the nation of Israel.

Matthew 15:32–39 describes another miraculous feeding, separate from an earlier event where Jesus provided as many as twenty thousand meals (Matthew 14:13–20). Jesus has compassion on the hungry crowd after three days with them. He does not want to send them away without feeding them. He takes the disciples' seven loaves and few fish and makes all the people sit down. He gives thanks and starts handing food to the disciples, who pass it out until everyone has eaten all they want, which includes four thousand men plus women and children. While the first miraculous feeding was for a mostly Jewish crowd, this assembly is almost all Gentiles. After they leave, the disciples return to Jewish territory on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Chapter Summary:

Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus. They are offended that His disciples break the religious leaders' tradition about ritual handwashing before meals. Jesus turns that attack upside down, pointing out that His critics honor tradition above God's actual commands! He insists that nobody is defiled by what goes in the mouth—by the literal matter itself—but by the overflow of the spirit, such as the words that come out of the mouth. He and the disciples travel out of the country. Jesus casts a demon out of the daughter of a persistent Canaanite woman. They travel to the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus feeds thousands of people from a few loaves and fishes. These last two events set up the eventual spread of the gospel beyond the people of Israel.

Chapter Context:

Matthew 15 begins with a confrontation between some Pharisees and Jesus. They ask why His disciples break the traditional practice of ritual handwashing. Pointedly, Jesus asks why they allow the obvious intent of God's commandments to be broken through their traditions. Jesus and the disciples travel out of Israel, encountering a Canaanite woman. He praises her faith and casts a demon from her daughter. They travel to the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus heals more people and feeds thousands more from another few loaves and fishes. This sets up another confrontation with religious leaders, warnings about their teachings, and predictions of Jesus' death in the next chapter.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.

Accessed 11/21/2024 7:00:26 AM