He
summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?” But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.” So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?
Matthew 15:10-17
Matthew 15 [8.] ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth,
and honor me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me.
And in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”
Matthew 15 [10.] He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
Matthew 15 [12.] Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?”
Matthew 15 [13.] But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15 [15.] Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.”
Matthew 15 [16.] So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
Matthew 15 [21.] Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”
Meaning:
The Pharisees and scribes had complained that Jesus’ disciples ate without washing their hands. Jesus answered that they themselves set aside the commandment of God for their tradition, and he applied Isaiah’s words to them: “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men” (Matthew 15:6-9). Now he turns from the critics to the crowd, and then to his own disciples, to explain what truly makes a person unclean.
- “Hear, and understand”
Jesus called the multitude to him. This teaching was not a private matter for experts; it was for everyone. His statement was short and striking: what enters the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of the mouth does. Mark records the same saying (Mark 7:14-15). In Israel, the laws about clean and unclean foods and ritual washings shaped daily life. Jesus moved the question from the plate to the person.
- “The Pharisees were offended”
The disciples were worried. The Pharisees were respected, and Jesus had publicly challenged them. Jesus was not troubled. He used two pictures. First, a plant: “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.” In the Old Testament, Israel was pictured as God’s planting. A religion of human origin, however impressive, has no lasting root. In the parable of the darnel, Jesus had taught that God himself will separate what he planted from what he did not at the harvest (Matthew 13:24-30).
Second, the blind leading the blind. The Pharisees claimed to guide others, but they could not see the heart of God’s law. Later Jesus would say, “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24). “Leave them alone” does not mean Jesus did not care about them; it means the disciples should not be anxious about their disapproval or follow them.
- “Explain the parable to us”
Peter, often the spokesman, asked for an explanation. The disciples had asked in the same way about the parable of the darnel weeds (Matthew 13:36). Mark notes that this conversation took place in a house, away from the crowd (Mark 7:17). Jesus’ saying sounded like a riddle because it challenged everything they had been taught about purity.
- “Do you also still not understand?”
Jesus was surprised that even his closest followers were slow to grasp it. Food goes into the stomach and passes out of the body. It does not touch the heart. Mark adds the comment that Jesus was “purifying all foods” (Mark 7:19). After the resurrection the church slowly learned what this meant: “God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Jesus goes on to explain that what defiles comes from the heart (Matthew 15:18-20).
The Significance of Matthew 15:10-17
- The heart is what matters
God has always looked deeper than outward appearance: “man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Clean hands and correct rituals cannot make an unclean heart pure. We need hearts made new by God.
- Following the right guide
Jesus warned against following blind guides. It is wise to test teachers by God’s word and by the fruit of their lives, and to follow Jesus, who sees clearly.
- Asking when we do not understand
Peter did not pretend to understand. He asked. Jesus was patient with his slow disciples, and he welcomes our honest questions too.
Cross-References:
Mark 7:20: "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man." Mark’s parallel account.
Matthew 23:24: "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!" Jesus’ later warning.
1 Samuel 16:7: "man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart." God sees the heart.
Conclusion: Jesus told the crowd that what enters the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of it does. When the disciples warned that the Pharisees were offended, he said that every plant his Father did not plant would be uprooted and that the Pharisees were blind guides. When Peter asked for an explanation, Jesus showed that food passes through the body without touching the heart. The passage calls us to seek a pure heart rather than outward ritual, and to follow Jesus rather than blind guides.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible