Matthew · chapter 15 of 28
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Matthew 15 shows Jesus questioning the Pharisees for putting their traditions above God's commandment and teaching that what defiles a person comes out of the heart. He then heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman who shows great faith, heals many sick people by the Sea of Galilee and feeds four thousand men with seven loaves and a few small fish.
In chapter 14 the disciples recognized Jesus as the Son of God. In Matthew 15 Pharisees from Jerusalem confront him, and Jesus reveals where the real problem lies, in the heart. He then leaves Galilee for the region of Tyre and Sidon, where a foreigner shows a faith Jesus praises, and his compassion once again feeds a crowd.
Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem ask Jesus why his disciples break the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before they eat. Jesus answers with a question: why do they break the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition? God commanded honoring father and mother, but they teach that whoever declares as given to God what might have helped his parents is free of that duty. He calls them hypocrites, quoting Isaiah: this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. He calls the crowd and tells them that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles, but what comes out. He explains to Peter that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness and slander. Eating with unwashed hands does not defile.
Jesus withdraws to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman comes out to him, crying out for mercy on her daughter, who is severely oppressed by a demon. Jesus does not answer her at first, and the disciples urge him to send her away. He says he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel; she kneels and begs for help. Jesus replies that it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs, and she answers that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. Jesus says her faith is great, that it will be done as she wishes, and her daughter is healed from that moment.
Jesus returns to the Sea of Galilee, goes up on the mountain and people bring him the lame, the blind, the mute and many others, and he heals them; the crowd glorifies the God of Israel. Jesus has compassion on the crowd, which has been with him three days, and does not want to send them away hungry. With seven loaves and a few small fish he feeds four thousand men, besides women and children, and seven baskets of leftovers are gathered.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus quotes Isaiah to say that the people honor him with their lips while their heart is far away, and that worship that teaches human commandments is vain. What God seeks is a surrendered heart, not merely a religion of customs.
What goes into the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of it. Jesus moves the center of purity from outward rules to the heart, from which thoughts and actions are born.
The Canaanite woman accepts being called a dog but insists that even dogs eat the crumbs from the table. Jesus praises her great faith and grants her request. A foreigner trusts the goodness of Jesus with humble perseverance.
Jesus has compassion on the crowd that has been with him three days and does not want to send them away hungry. His compassion takes the form of a concrete action that cares for body and soul.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Why they broke the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before they ate. — Matthew 15:1-2
Answer: Of nullifying the word of God by their tradition, saying that what might have helped parents was given to God. — Matthew 15:3-6
Answer: What comes out of the mouth, which comes from the heart, not what goes into it. — Matthew 15:11
Answer: That he have mercy and heal her daughter, who was oppressed by a demon. — Matthew 15:22
Answer: He said her faith was great and that it would be done as she wished; her daughter was healed. — Matthew 15:28
Answer: Seven loaves and a few small fish, and seven baskets were left. — Matthew 15:34-37
The chapter leads us to review our religion: have some of our traditions taken the place of what God really asks? In a small group you can ask whether our worship is only from the lips or comes from the heart, and what attitudes no one sees that we need to bring to God.
The Canaanite woman teaches us to pray with perseverance and humility, without presuming rights. Ask what request you have stopped bringing to the Lord because it seemed to get no immediate answer, and what this woman teaches you about insisting with confidence in his goodness.
Matthew 15 shows that Jesus looks at the heart, welcomes the faith of a foreigner and cares for the crowds. In chapter 16 the Pharisees ask for another sign, and at Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus is silent at first and then speaks of children and little dogs. Interpreters understand it as a test that brings her faith into the open, and the image of the dogs uses a word for household pets rather than contempt. In the end Jesus praises her and heals her, showing that his mission reaches Gentiles too.
No. The discussion concerns a ceremonial tradition of the elders that was imposed as if it were a divine commandment, not hygiene. Jesus teaches that purity before God is a matter of the heart and that nothing external replaces true obedience.
No, it is a second miracle. Matthew tells of the feeding of five thousand in chapter 14 with five loaves and twelve baskets, and this one with seven loaves and seven baskets for about four thousand men, on another occasion and in another place. In a later chapter Jesus himself mentions both occasions.