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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadSpurgeon Verse Expositions - Matthew 15:10 - 15:31
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Mat_15:10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
True religion does not consist in meats and drinks, in feasting or in fasting.
It is not that which goes into us, but that which comes out or us, which is the main matter.
Mat_15:12. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
They thought a very great deal of the opinion of the Pharisees; and they were greatly concerned because their Master had offended them. These Pharisees set themselves up as the judges of everything that was correct and proper in religion; yet Christ offended them by his plain speaking.
Mat_15:13. But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
The truth is often intended to be a rooter up. I have no doubt that our Lord said many things which had no other intention than the discovery of these deceitful men to themselves and others, that their baneful influence might be destroyed. Our Saviour was a true iconoclast, a great image-smasher; and these men, who were the chief icons or images of the day, had to be broken down. He therefore put the truth in the very form that would offend them.
Mat_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.
Our Lord did not soften or tone down his previous language, but he revealed the true character of the false guides by whom so many were deluded.
Mat_15:15. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
“We do not understand it; what is its meaning?”
Mat_15:16-17. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
And so there is an end of it.
Mat_15:18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
The main matter to be considered is the heart, not the mouth, and other parts of the body. Note how our Lord, by this great truth, puts the axe to much that looks very fair stood good, and cuts it down as worthless. If we serve God with the heart, there is the core of true religion; but if not, we may have as many ceremonial washings as there are hours in the day and days in the year, and we may be careful to avoid this article, of diet and to feed on that, to wear this garment and not to wear that, and to observe this day and not that; but all this outward religion will be of no avail whatever, if our heart is not savingly affected by the grace of God.
Mat_15:19-21. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:Tthese are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
He did not like the Pharisees well enough to stay among them. His own word concerning them was, “Let them alone;” and he did very severely let them alone: “Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.” He must not go into Tyre and Sidon, for his commission for the present was confined to Palestine, the chosen land. Do not regret this, dear friends. To have extended our Saviour’s work over a greater area, would not have been really to increase it; and it was very important that, during the very short active lifetime of our Saviour, — a little more than three years, — he should confine his operations to a comparatively small district, so as to produce a permanent result there which would afterwards radiate over the whole world. So our Saviour, who knew what was best for men, confined himself within a very narrow sphere; and, my brethren and sisters, I am not sure that we are always wise when we want a great sphere. I have myself sometimes envied the man with about five hundred people to watch over, who could see them all, know them all, and enter into sympathy with them all, and so could do his work well. But, with so large a number as I have under my charge, what can one man do? And you, my brethren may increase the quantity of your acreage, and yet grow no larger crops. You may think that you will succeed better on a wider scale; but if you do not do so well in the greater field, it might have been wiser to narrow your boundaries rather than to widen them. However, if our Lord might not go into Tyre and Sidon, he went as near to them as he could: “Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.” And if you, dear friends, think there is a limit to your sphere of usefulness, always go as near as ever you can to the limit; go up to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Mat_15:22. And, behold, —
For it is a great wonder that such a person should have come to Jesus: “And, behold,” —
Mat_15:22-23. 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. But he answered her not a word.
This was another marvel, — a silent Saviour, — silent when it would have been so natural for him to speak a kind and gracious word: “He answered her not a word.”
Mat_15:23. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
“’She crieth after us,’ and it is very important that we should not be troubled.” We disciples are apt to think so, especially if we get a little lifted up, and come to be apostles: “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” She knew better than to cry after the disciples, it was the Master whose help she wanted. Some sinners are a great nuisance, they make so much noise in seeking Christ; and what a mercy it is that they do so! Oh, to have such troublesome people about us all day long, and all night long, too! It would be worth while to be vexed in this style. But the disciples said to Jesus, “Send her away; for she crieth after us.”
Mat_15:24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
“Therefore, I cannot attend to her.”
Mat_15:25-26. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet-
“It is not comely, it is not fit,” —
Mat_15:26. To take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
The original means, the little dogs that play with the children; they lie under the table, and pick up the crumbs that their masters (the children) let fall. The woman caught at that expression at once —
Mat_15:27. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
“I may be only a dog, and these Jews round about you are your children, but I have got in among them, and I am looking for a crumb or two as it falls from their table.” This was grand faith on her part, and it was speedily rewarded.
Mat_15:28-31. 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. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 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: 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.
The Saviour appears to have gone this journey on purpose to bless this woman and her daughter; and, having wrought the miracle, he went where great multitudes came to him, bringing their sick folk to be healed, and the result was: “They glorified the God of Israel.” There may be some poor soul here in as great distress as this woman was; if so, may that one get a blessing; and then may the blessing spread through all the neighborhood till multitudes are saved!