Matthew 15:1-20

Matthew 15:1-9 The hypocritical Pharisees

In verse 15:1 we see the first mention of Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem.  Up until now, Jesus has been dealing with local Pharisees and scribes in Galilee.  But he has now caught the attention of the religious leaders in the capital city of Jerusalem, and Pharisees and scribes have come north to check him out and ask him why he is doing what he is doing.

What is the specific complaint of these Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem?

This is not about hygiene.  The Pharisees had developed a long list of traditions to reinforce their attempts to be ritually pure, traditions that were passed down from generation to generation “from the elders.”  One of those traditions was to perform a ceremonial or ritual washing of the hands before eating.  That rule didn’t come from the Old Testament Torah.  The priests were commanded to wash their hands before serving at the altar (Exodus 30:17-21), but that did not apply to Jesus’s disciples.

What is Jesus’s response?

Jesus tells them that their tradition that allowed resources to be devoted to God even at the expense of taking care of one’s parents violates God’s command to honor one’s parents (in the Ten Commandments).  His point is that they were putting tradition above God’s Law.

Jesus distinguishes the law of God from the traditions of humans.  When is it appropriate to break with traditions that have been handed down from the past, and when should they be upheld?

In verses 8-9, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13 (Matthew quotes from the Septuagint version).

Looking at the passage Jesus quotes from Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, what is the fundamental problem with the Pharisees’ focus on tradition?

Jesus is probably speaking in front of a crowd.  His harsh language (“hypocrites”)  draws a clear distinction between what is right and wrong; what is man-made and what is divinely inspired.

In what ways might we find ourselves putting tradition or established rules ahead of what God has told us is right?

In what ways might we be at risk of honoring God with our lips while our hearts are not in sync with God’s heart?

Jesus’s response to these Pharisees and scribes is very forceful.  When is it appropriate to take a strong stand, even if it offends other people?

This exchange between Jesus and the delegation from Jerusalem appears to be a key moment in the events that lead to Jesus’s execution.  When Jesus challenges their traditions, he is indirectly challenging the powerful people at the top of the social, religious, and political structure.

Matthew 15:10-20 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you but what comes out

In this dialogue, Jesus is talking about what “defiles” a person – that is, what makes a person ritually impure or spiritually unclean: what makes them unholy in the sight of God.

According to Jesus in verse 11, what defiles a person in the sight of God?

How is this view different from what the Pharisees think defiles people?

In verses 13-14, Jesus uses two proverbs to describe the Pharisees.  What does he say about them?

Why is their focus on ritual purity rules misguided?  Why can’t what you eat make you impure before God (see verse 17)?

In what ways does their focus on external purity make them “blind”?

Jesus says that it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles you.  In verse 18, he explains why.  Where do these things that defile us come from?

The heart.

In verse 19, what are the specific sins he identifies that come from the heart?

Why is it appropriate to say that these things “defile” us?  How do they defile us?

Would you say that the defilement is already within us before it comes out in sinful actions, or that we are not defiled until we do specific immoral things?  Explain.

Matthew’s list of the things Jesus names that defile us is shorter than Mark’s list.  Matthew sticks to sins that specifically break the Ten Commandments (from the Old Testament).  In Mark 7:21-22, Mark includes other vices or sins, such as greed, envy, and arrogance.  Which of these sins do you think are especially a problem for people in the Church today?

How can you know when you have given in to sin and have become defiled?

What can you do when you have given in to sin and become defiled?

If you had to summarize this passage in a sentence or two to explain the main point to someone who doesn’t know much about religion, how would you summarize it?

In the next story, Matthew shows Jesus putting these words into action and applying this principle to a much bigger issue.

Take a step back and consider this:

In our day, we don’t think that touching a non-believer, a foreigner, or even a sinner can make us unclean before God.  Even so, Christians tend to separate themselves from the world when they can.  Sometimes, the reason given for this is that we should not associate ourselves with sin, or that we should not put ourselves in situations where we might be tempted to sin, or that we should build the church or Christian community that God desires and not get mixed up in the aspects of the world that do not reflect God’s desires.

However, Jesus did not tell his disciples that they should separate themselves from the world.  He told them to avoid sin, but he told them to go out into the world.  In his long, final prayer in the Gospel of John, Jesus describes us as being “in the world” (John 17:11) even though we “do not belong to the world” (John 17:14).  He then said to the Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

We are not meant to be separate from the world.  But we are meant to be separated from sin, so that what comes out of our hearts and into our words and actions come from God.

In what ways are you maintaining a presence in the world rather than avoiding it, so that you can be a witness for Christ in your words and actions?

What challenges or temptations do you face in trying to live out your faith in the world?

What can you do to be faithful to Jesus and avoid the defilement of sin while you live your faith in a messy world?