Matthew 15:20

These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. THESE ARE THE THINGS WHICH DEFILE A MAN: BUT TO EAT WITH UNWASHEN HANDS DEFILETH NOT A MAN. Thus does our Lord sum up this whole searching discourse. Remarks: (1) There is a principle at the bottom of such traditional practices as are here exposed, without the knowledge of which we cannot rightly improve the teaching of our Lord on the subject. Be it observed, then, that the practices here referred to, though based only on "the tradition of the elders," might seem, even to conscientious Israelites, in the highest degree laudable. It was a ceremonial economy they lived under; and as one principal design of this economy was to teach the difference between clean and unclean by external symbols, it was natural to think that the more vividly and variously they could bring this before their own mi...

_And pollute the man. _Instead of the verb _pollute, _the Greek term is κοινοῖ, _make common; _as Mark, a little before, ( Mark 7:2,) used the phrase, κοιναῖς χερσὶ, _with _common _hands, _for _with _unclean _hands. _(412) It is a Hebrew phrase; (413) for, since God had set apart the Jews on the condition that they should separate themselves from all the pollutions of the Gentiles, everything that was inconsistent with this holiness was called _common, _that is, _profane. _...

10-20 Christ shows that the defilement they ought to fear, was not from what entered their mouths as food, but from what came out of their mouths, which showed the wickedness of their hearts. Nothing will last in the soul but the regenerating graces of the Holy Spirit; and nothing should be admitted into the church but what is from above; therefore, whoever is offended by a plain, seasonable declaration of the truth, we should not be troubled at it. The disciples ask to be better taught as to this matter. Where a weak head doubts concerning any word of Christ, an upright heart and a willing mind seek for instruction. It is the heart that is desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17:9, for there is no sin in word or deed, which was not first in the heart. They all come out of the man, and are fruits of that wickedness which is in the heart, and is wrought there. When Christ teaches, he will show m...

Verse Matthew 15:20. _THESE - DEFILE A MAN_] Our Lord's argument is very plain. What goes into the mouth descends into the stomach and other intestines; - part is retained for the nourishment of the body, and part is ejected, as being improper to afford nourishment. Nothing of this kind defiles the soul, because it does not enter into it; but the evil principles that are in it, producing evil thoughts, murders, c., these defile the soul, because they have their seat and operation in it....

See also Mark 7:17. THEN ANSWERED PETER, AND SAID UNTO HIM, DECLARE UNTO US THIS PARABLE - See the notes at Matthew 13:3. The word “parable” sometimes means a dark or obscure saying, Psalms 78:2. Peter meant, “Explain to us more fully this obscure and novel doctrine.” To us, now, it is plain; to the disciples, just coming out of Judaism, the doctrine of Jesus was obscure. Mark says that the disciples asked him. There is no contradiction. The question was put by Peter in the name of the disciples; or several of them put the question, though Matthew has mentioned only one. An omission is not a contradiction....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 15:1 _Discourse concerning ceremonial pollution. _(Mark 7:1.) MATTHEW 15:1 THEN. This is after the third Passover, which whether our Lord attended or not, has been a matter of some dispute. Moral considerations would make us infer that he was present, fulfilling all righteousness, though there is no direct statement in our narratives on the subject. CAME TO JESUS SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, WHICH WERE OF JERUSALEM, SAYING. The Sinaitic, B, and some other manuscripts read, _Came to Jesus from Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees. _This, which is virtually the reading of the Revised Version, whether origina

THESE ARE THE THINGS WHICH DEFILE A MAN,.... These are filthy in themselves, and must pollute all in whom they are; they bring a defilement on the whole man, both body and soul, fasten guilt upon him, and expose him to everlasting punishment: BUT TO EAT WITH UNWASHEN HANDS DEFILETH NOT A MAN: should a man neglect to wash his bands before eating a common meal, this need give him no uneasiness; he contracts no filth to his soul hereby, nor any guilt to his conscience; nor does he break any law of God; nor is he liable to any penalty for such an omission. This is a trifling matter, and merits no regard; but the things before mentioned are in their nature evil: they are contrary to the law of God; they are abominable in his sight; they render men loathsome and odious to the divine being; and expose them to shame and ruin; and it is only the blood of Christ can cleanse them from the pollutio...

Matthew 15:1. _Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,_ Our Lord had been busily engaged in healing the sick, and now these pettifoggers came round about him to try and worry him. They were a kind of mosquito swarm to Christ, had he not been a perfect man they might have worried him. Matthew 15:2. _Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread._ «Why do thy disciples transgress the traditions of the elders? « Generally a good man is held responsible for the acts of his followers. If they cannot find fault with Christ they will find fault with his disciples, who must have been men of admirable character when even scribes and Pharisees had no worse charge to bring than th

3. THE CORRUPTION OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES; THE CANAANITISH WOMAN AND HER FAITH; THE MULTITUDES HEALED. CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The Question of the Scribes and Pharisees.(Matthew 15:1 .) 2. His Answer. (Matthew 15:3 .) 3. The Multitude Called.(Matthew 15:10 .) 4. The Disciples Instructed.(Matthew 15:12 .) 5. The Canaanitish Woman. (Matthew 15:21 .) 6. The Multitudes Healed. (Matthew 15:29 .)_ This chapter introduces us more fully

THE WASHING OF HANDS AND THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS (Mark 7:1 *). Mt. is again briefer than Mk. He omits the parenthetical explanation Mark 7:3 f. and the technical term Corban, turns the statement of Mark 7:9 into a question (Matthew 15:3), and puts the quotation from Isaiah as a climax after the Corban passage. He also substitutes God (Matthew 15:4) for Moses (Mark 7:10) to heighten the antithesis with But _you_ say ...