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The Gospel of Matthew
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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 15:1-39 REVIEW: In chapter 14, all people were increasingly recognizing the Messiahship of Jesus: including enemies such as Herod, the crowds, and of course by his disciples. The events – in the exact same order – were taken from the sixth chapter of Mark’s gospel. First, the death of John the Baptist by Herod the ruler (tetrarch) was recounted. According to Matthew, Herod believed that Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life – and therefore it is implied that he wanted to kill him just as he had before. Next, the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (plus women and children) was told. By the way he tells it, Matthew shows that this event is closely related to the Lord’s Supper that Jesus hosts in the upper room just before his passion in Matthew 26th. Finally, Matthew tells about Jesus coming to the disciples by walking on the water during the storm – showing that even during the worst of circumstances, Jesus will always come to help his people. This is “amplified” by the story (unique to Matthew) of Peter walking on the water to Jesus, but then having to be saved by Jesus after his faith fails. The chapter concludes with a “connecting passage” (similar to others in Matthew 4:23-25 and Matthew 9:35-38) of how Jesus healed many people. CHAPTER 15:1-20 “A Controversy Over Ritual Cleanliness” “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’” At the time of Jesus, there were two sources of religious law: the written law (especially as detailed in the Torah – the first five books of the Bible) and tradition. The purpose of tradition was to “make a hedge about the Torah” – that is, to expand the law in such a way that one could not even come close to transgressing it. Over time, many such traditions became codified and were viewed by many Jews – especially the Pharisees and scribes – as being just as important as the actual written law of the Torah itself. A number of written laws of the Torah – especially in the book of Leviticus – dealt with the concept of what was clean and unclean. This had nothing to do with physical hygiene, but was entirely a ceremonial matter. For example, certain foods and animals were viewed as “unclean”, so was a woman’s menstrual period, every dead body was “unclean”, and so was every Gentile. “Uncleanness” was also viewed as infectious – even incidental or accidental contact would transfer it to another – and thus make that person unfit to approach the holy God until he or she was “cleansed”. In Leviticus 22:6, priests who had come into contact with something that was unclean were required to wash themselves before eating sacred food. Over the course of time, this rule was modified and adopted by “super-religious” laypersons such as the Pharisees. It became a tradition that one’s hands should be ritually washed before every meal – not so much for physical hygiene but to “wash away” the ceremonial uncleanness that one may have come into contact with in the course of a day – even if unintentionally and unknowingly. The Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem (this seems to indicate that they were acting in an official capacity) to ask Jesus why his disciples did not strictly observe this tradition. Jesus answers their question by showing that in some cases, tradition can actually be opposed to the written law. The example he cites is the tradition if a person dedicates his wealth to God as a gift, then that person need not (indeed could not!) fulfill the normal obligation to provide for his parents in their old age (thus disobeying the fourth Commandment)! The point that Jesus is making is two-fold:
“Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” “Defile” means to make a person unfit to worship God. Jesus in this passage clearly states that real “defilement” does not come about by eating with ritually unclean hands, but rather comes about from an unclean heart. An unclean heart is what causes us to say and do sinful things that harm our relationships with God and with each other – and that is what makes us “defiled” and unfit to worship God! William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible commentary states that it may well be held that for a Jew this was the most startling thing Jesus ever said – for in this saying he does not only condemn Scribal and Pharisaic ritual and ceremonial religion, he actually wipes out large sections of the book of Leviticus! No wonder the scribes and Pharisees were shocked – they understood religion as observing rules and regulations. Jesus, however, identified religion with the state of a person’s heart rather than with observing rituals. Jesus said that the Pharisees were blind guides who had no idea of how to truly worship God, and that if people followed them, all they could expect was to stray off the road and to fall into a pit! This argument between the Pharisees and Jesus as to what is necessary for true worship is still repeated today in many ways. Even many Christians still believe that in order to be truly “religious”, persons must abstain from certain foods or worship in certain ways. But we must remember that true religion does not depend upon outward things that we do or do not do, but is always a condition of the heart – a heart that is filled with love for God and love for each other. CHAPTER 15:21-28 “The Canaanite Woman”“Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.” This story deals with an issue that was of particular importance for Matthew’s original Jewish-Christian readers – the status of Jews and Gentiles in God’s plan of salvation. In this passage, it is made clear that the Jews are God’s chosen people and that salvation for Gentiles must come through the Jews. This understanding is reiterated elsewhere in the New Testament as well: for example – to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:22 (“…for salvation is from the Jews.”); and by the apostle Paul in Romans 9-11. Yet, faith also makes Gentiles worthy to share in God’s blessings – and that is certainly illustrated by this story. It is the woman’s persistent faith that moves Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus uses the standard derogatory expression of Jews to describe Gentiles, calling them “dogs”. But the Greek word used (kunaria) is a diminutive word, meaning not street dogs but rather household pets. Here Gentiles are portrayed not as people to be hated and avoided, but rather as people who – though not having first or even equal claim on God’s love – should still receive it. It should be noted that this issue was very important among Christians everywhere at the time Matthew’s gospel was written. Some conservative Christians held that Gentiles had to become Jews in every way in order to be part of the Church. Others held that through Christ, all former distinctions such as “Jew” and “Gentile” had been abolished. This passage seems to emphasize a “middle way” – that Jews as God’s chosen people had first claim on God’s salvation through Jesus Christ, yet by faith Gentiles could also receive this salvation without becoming Jews. CHAPTER 15:29-31 “Various Healings”“After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” This is another general account of Jesus’ healing activity, with one important difference: that many of those who were healed apparently were Gentiles. Matthew, unlike Mark in his gospel (Mk. 7:31), does not explicitly name the Gentile territory of the Decapolis (a loose federation of ten Greek cities) – preferring to simply state that Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee – but the implication is still clear that most of the crowd were non-Jews since they praised “the God of Israel” rather than simply “God”.CHAPTER 15:32-39 “The Feeding of the Four Thousand”“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.” In a way, this is a retelling of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in Matthew 14:13-21, but with a subtle and important difference – that this feeding apparently includes Gentiles. As noted above, the place is probably in or near the Gentile territory of the Decapolis – and the crowd had been praising “the God of Israel.”In addition, the number “seven” rather than “twelve” is symbolic as well as perhaps literal. “Twelve” symbolizes the twelve tribes of Israel – and as I have mentioned previously, this is probably why Jesus deliberately chose twelve disciples. “Seven”, on the other hand, was a number often used to symbolize the Gentiles. For example: traditionally the Jews referred to the “seventy nations” of the Gentile world; and “seven” deacons were chosen to administrate the affairs of the Hellenist Christians in Acts 6:1-6.Finally, William Barclay in his DSB commentary notes that the term translated as “baskets” in the two feeding accounts are actually two different words in Greek. In the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the twelve baskets used to take up the left over fragments are called kophinoi; in the Feeding of the Four Thousand the baskets are called sphurides. As Barclay notes: the kophinos was a narrow-necked, flask-shaped basket which Jews often carried with them – while the sphuris was much more like a hamper which could be big enough to carry a person, and was a kind of basket that a Gentile would use. The other symbolisms in this miracle are similar to the Feeding of the Five Thousand. As noted then, the term “desert” would remind Matthew’s readers of the ancient Israelites wandering in the wilderness and being fed with manna. Also the recounting of the actions (“giving thanks…broke…gave…”) are the same as used to describe the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26. The wonderful thing about this passage, as well as the previous two passages about the Canaanite woman and the healings, is that God’s salvation through Jesus is now not being limited to Jews but is also available to Gentiles as well! After this miracle, Jesus went to the region of Magadan – an area on the west side of the Sea of Galilee – that is, back to Jewish territory. -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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