Matthew 15 trails the famous accounts of Jesus walking on the water and the feeding of the 5000. Nevertheless, this chapter contains some harsh teaching by Jesus against the Pharisees, some hard words from Jesus for a gentile woman, and another miraculous feeding – this time Jesus feeds 4000 with seven loaves and a few fish.
1) V1-20 – 1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ [Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16] and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death’ [Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9]. 5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’ [Isaiah 29:13].” 10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” 12Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” 15Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”
Jesus is ministering outside Jerusalem, as the religious leaders sought to subdue Him there. But here they come to where Jesus is ministering and ask Him a question: “Why do Your disciples break the traditions of the elders?” We learn from Mark’s gospel account that they hadn’t washed before eating, and that was a seriously unholy thing to do in that culture, because it was a ceremonial tradition of that culture. It might be like failing to wash your hands after you use the restroom, and then sitting down for dinner and licking your fingers. That might be gross today, but back then, this washing tradition had become “law,” and even more than that. As Jesus points out with His response, the traditions of the religious leaders were often overriding the commands of God, a serious problem to say the least. Traditions are not bad; but if and when they contradict God’s law, they become sin. So Jesus’ response elaborates.
Jesus begins His response with a question, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” Jesus gives an example in v4-6, where the religious leaders would avoid caring for their elderly parents by claiming that any financial excess they might have was “devoted to God.” In other words, they claimed to be so generous with their tithes and offerings that they couldn’t afford to care for their own parents! This “tradition” of generosity was overriding the law to honor one’s parents, and Jesus was angry about it. Mark’s gospel tells us that there were many such things the Pharisees were doing, so this isn’t an isolated case. In v7-8, Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites, and cites Isaiah 29:13, in which God is disgusted with the sacrifices and offerings of the people, because their hearts aren’t in it. That’s how Jesus – and therefore God the Father – felt about the actions of the religious leaders.
Jesus explains the consequence of these actions to the crowd around Him in v10-11. While tradition suggests that what goes into one’s mouth makes one unclean; the reality is that what comes out makes a person unclean. Jesus says our words, deeds, thoughts, and attitudes, which come from the heart (through the mouth), are far more important than the food we eat or the manner in which we eat.
In v12-14, the disciples come to Jesus and question whether or not He realized that the Pharisees were offended by His remarks. They seem surprised that Jesus would offend, just as we often strive not offend people with the gospel. But Scripture teaches that the gospel is offensive; Jesus Himself is the stumbling stone. So Jesus says not to worry about offending them. He calls them blind guides and says to “leave them.” He refers to them as plants that the Father has not planted, which will be pulled up by the roots. Jesus doesn’t concern Himself will these hardened and prideful sinners, and teaches us the same.
In v15-20, Jesus continues teaching the disciples, but He is frustrated by their lack of understanding. Peter asks Him to explain the parable, referring to His mention to the crowd about that which comes out of the mouth being that which makes a person unclean. Jesus says that what goes in the mouth just makes its way through the stomach and then is expelled as waste; but that which comes out of the mouth “come from the heart.” Sin is a heart issue, and Jesus lists a number of sins – “evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” – that come from the core of a person and make the person unclean. Jesus corrects the Pharisees false teaching by stating clearly, “Eating with unwashed hands does not make” a person a sinner. That does not, however, mean it’s good to neglect personal hygiene!
2) V21-28 – 21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” 23Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” 27“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
In this passage, Jesus seems harsh toward a gentile woman, but we find out that it’s a lesson for us in persistence with God. Notice first that the Canaanite woman came to Jesus, and she referred to Him as “Lord, the Son of David.” No doubt by this point in Jesus’ public ministry, His fame had spread throughout much of the Middle East; rumors might have been circulated about the possibility of Him being the prophesied Jewish Messiah. And this pagan woman seems to believe that! She asks Him for mercy, acknowledging His supremacy over her and her circumstance. Her daughter was demon-possessed, yet despite her repeated cries, Jesus didn’t even acknowledge her presence. The disciples were annoyed by her persistent racket, so they pleaded with Jesus to send her away; but Jesus simply stated, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Of course, Jesus was first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, and perhaps this is what He was referring to with this remark. His work with the Jews wasn’t finished yet, so He wasn’t going to spend that important ministry time on gentiles. But, as Jesus had ministered to gentiles in the past, this circumstance seems to have a deeper meaning – perhaps for the benefit of the disciples, or maybe even for all readers of this account to be shown an example of persistence before God.
Whether or not the woman heard Jesus say He had been sent only to the lost children of Israel, seeming to the exclusion of gentile pagans, she persisted in her pleas. She came and knelt before Him, submissively begging for His assistance. And still Jesus replied harshly, calling her a dog in relation to the Jewish people. He said it wouldn’t be right to feed the dog with the children’s food, especially before the children get finished eating. Her response causes Jesus to marvel at her great faith. She jumped right in on Jesus’ analogy, saying, “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” This clever woman was not offended by Jesus in the least. She remained humble, acknowledging His superiority to her, and even Jewish superiority to Gentiles (at least in terms of proximity to relationship with God). She knew that Jesus had enough to bless her too; she didn’t require much – just a few crumbs. And Jesus delighted to accommodate her persistent request, because of her great faith. V28 concludes, “And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
3) V29-39 – 29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at His feet; and He healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. 32Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, He got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Once again, Jesus moves on in His itinerant ministry and draws a great crowd of invalids for healing. V31 says, “The people were amazed…and they praised the God of Israel.” Some commentators use this language to claim that Jesus was ministering mostly to Gentiles on this occasion. And considering the parallels and differences between this episode and the feeding of the 5000, I might tend to agree. But what would be the purpose in the overall gospel message? Would it matter that Jesus opens His ministry to include gentiles more fully here and now? Generally, that is thought to happen in the Book of Acts, with the tongues of fire at Pentecost, such that everyone could hear the gospel in their own language.
So, without a reason for determining the people group that made up this particular audience, and coming off the heels of His own attitude and remarks with the gentile woman in v21-28, this is likely just a large gathering of predominantly Jews who lived north of Jerusalem near the Decapolis (region of 10 cities). One commentator says, “The location of the feeding of the 4,000 was probably somewhat south of the location of the earlier feeding of the 5,000. Both were in the Tetrarchy of Phillip near the Sea of Galilee and were miracles designed to show Israel that Jesus, the Messiah, was able to provide food miraculously for His people, much as Moses, by the power of God, was able to provide miraculous manna for the nation in the wilderness. They fit well into the Messianic program of our Lord in His presentation of the Kingdom to Israel. The concept of the Lord having a broad ministry among Gentiles could not be accomplished until His death and resurrection, and the beginning of the Church Age in the Book of Acts. When this extension of outreach beyond Israel did occur, the apostles were surprised, and had to be educated through miracles and Scriptural interpretation that the Lord had instituted a new program in the Church Age that included Gentiles.”
The crowd had been with Jesus for three days, and now they had no food. Jesus had compassion on them and wanted to feed them. Surely the disciples would have known what was about to happen! But it appears not, as they begin questioning, “Where could we buy enough bread in this remote place?” Jesus asks how many loaves of bread they have, and they gather seven, as well as a few small fish. Jesus has them sit, and after giving thanks, feeds the multitude as He had done before. This time there were seven basketfuls left over, and everyone ate and was satisfied. Finally Jesus sent the crowd home and departed. Much has been made of the number seven here, as it generally signifies completion throughout Scripture. Those who suggest Jesus is here feeding gentiles claim that the seven shows that His ministry will be for all people, not just the incomplete body of Jews as some expected. Those same scholars would even suggest that the number 4000 signifies the 4 corners of the earth (North, South, East, and West), to declare that Jesus’ ministry is far-reaching, even to the ends of the earth.
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