15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
15:3 But he answered and said unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: {Deu 5:16}
and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. {Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9}
15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to [his] father or [his] mother,
[It is] a gift {ie., dedicated to God}, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
15:6 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.
15:7 [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, {Isa 29:13}
15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips;
but their heart is far from me.
15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
ye hypocrites- GK=hupokrites, an actor, a stage player, a pretender.
They were playing at religion-
Concerned with external appearances, while neglecting their heart condition. (v.8)
Following their own script, while negating the Word of God. (v.9)
tradition of men {versus} the commandments of God- cp. Mark 7:1-13
The religious leaders had misplaced the source of true authority. For them, the commentary and interpretation of human scholars held more weight than the simple text of the Bible. God's Word must be our final authority. cp. Psa 19:7-11; 119:89, 160; Prov 30:5,6; Isa 8:20; Joh 17:17; Col 2:20-22; 2Tim 3:14-17
15:10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man;
but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
15:12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him,
Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
15:13 But he answered and said,
Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. {cp. 13:38-41}
15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. {cp. Isa 56:10; Mat 23:16,24}
From this point on, Jesus makes no attempt to heal the rift between Him and the religious leaders.
15:15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. {v.11}
15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? {cp. Mat 13:10,11}
15:17 Do not ye yet understand, that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart;
and they defile the man.
15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
15:20 These are [the things] which defile a man:
but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
those things... which come forth from the heart... defile a man-
because they reveal his corrupt heart condition. Isa 5:20; cp. Mark 7:14-23
As the content of the unredeemed heart spills out, all of society is corrupted (eg., consider the morally corrupt content of popular entertainment).
External religion cannot make a man holy before God. 1Sam 16:7; Jer 17:9,10
Christ changes a man from the inside out. 1Cor 6:9-11; Gal 5:19-24
15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
15:22 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.
15:23 But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
15:26 But he answered and said,
It is not meet {ie., fitting} to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs.
15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord:
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
15:28 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.
The ministry of Israel's rejected King begins to overflow to gentiles (cp. Mark 7:24-30)-
thou Son of David, have mercy on me...
This woman, being a gentile, had no basis of claim before Israel's King. Therefore,
But He honored her faith in Him, when she came without a claim, except for His grace. v.25-27
"Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.'' [Hymn]
'she... worshipped'- GK=proskuneo, to kiss the hand, like a dog licking its master's hand. cp. Jam 4:10
she addressed Him as ''Lord'' (GK=kurios, master, sir, lord, or Lord). cp. Rom 10:12,13
she confessed her need- 'Help me...' His invitation in Mat 11:28-30 is not limited to Israel, but is open to 'all ye who...'.
she appealed, not for Israel's rightful portion, but for an insignificant piece of their surplus.
She would be content with 'the children's crumbs'. cp. v.37; Isa 49:6; Rom 11:9-11
''If deliverance from the power of sin and Satan be a crumb, what must the loaf be?!" [GWms]
15:29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee;
and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
15:30 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:
15:31 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. {cp. Mark 7:31-37}
They 'wondered' and 'glorified' God, yet remained unrepentant. cp. Mat 11:20-24
15:32 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.
15:33 And his disciples say unto him,
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye?
And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
15:36 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.
15:37 And they did all eat, and were filled:
and they took up of the broken [meat] that was left seven baskets full.
15:38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
15:39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.
Comparison with the Feeding of the 5,000 reveals two recurring themes:
Jesus' compassion for the multitude. v.32; 14:14,16
The disciples' lingering unbelief. v.33; 14:15,16
Unbelief is sin. - - The Pharisees refused to believe - He turned to others. v.12-14
- - The disciples were slow to believe - He repeated the lesson. (see notes at 14:15-21)
'Seven baskets full' of leftovers were collected. v.37
When the 5,000 were fed, 'twelve baskets full' were collected (14:20).
Since twelve is the number of Israel's tribes, this suggests that the King is able to meet the need of Israel completely and in abundance.
In scripture, 'seven' is often symbollic of completeness, or fullness.
Since Jesus' ministry had now begun to overflow to gentiles, this number suggests that He is able to satisfy completely the need of all who would come to Him. cp. v.27; Heb 7:25
so much bread in the wilderness...-
The Lord satisfied many in a place where bread was hard to find.
Consider this against the backdrop of the Pharisees' neglect of God's Word. cp. Deu 8:2,3; Amos 8:11; Mat 4:4