# Matthew 15 📖: Clean Hearts and Great Faith [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Matthew Overview]] | [[Matthew 14]] | [[Matthew 16]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Breaking Human Traditions **Principle**: Don’t look for loopholes. [[#Verse 01]] Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,  [[#Verse 02]] “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”  [[#Verse 03]] He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?  [[#Verse 04]] For God said,‘**_Honor your father and mother_**’ and ‘**_Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death_**.’  [[#Verse 05]] But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,”  [[#Verse 06]] he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.  [[#Verse 07]] Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, [[#Verse 08]] ‘**_This people honors me with their lips,_** **_but their heart_** **_is far from me,_** [[#Verse 09]] **_and they worship me in vain,_** **_teaching as doctrines the commandments of men_**.’” ### True Defilement **Principle**: It is what you DO that determines sinfulness. [[#Verse 10]] Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.  [[#Verse 11]] What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”  [[#Verse 12]] Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?”  [[#Verse 13]] And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.  [[#Verse 14]] Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”  [[#Verse 15]] But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”  [[#Verse 16]] Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish?  [[#Verse 17]] Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer?  [[#Verse 18]] But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.  [[#Verse 19]] For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  [[#Verse 20]] These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” ### A Canaanite Woman’s Faith **Principle**: God knows our hearts [[#Verse 21]] After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  [[#Verse 22]] A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!”  [[#Verse 23]] But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”  [[#Verse 24]] So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  [[#Verse 25]] But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!”  [[#Verse 26]] “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.  [[#Verse 27]] “Yes, Lord,” she replied,“but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  [[#Verse 28]] ThenJesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. ### Healing Many Others **Principle**: The Power of God Attracts People [[#Verse 29]] When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down.  [[#Verse 30]] Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them.  [[#Verse 31]] As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel. ### The Feeding of the Four Thousand **Principle**: Jesus sees us and gives us the opportunity to partner with Him. [[#Verse 32]] Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.”  [[#Verse 33]] The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?”  [[#Verse 34]] Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.”  [[#Verse 35]] After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground,  [[#Verse 36]] he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds.  [[#Verse 37]] They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.  [[#Verse 38]] Not counting children and women, there were 4,000 men who ate. [[#Verse 39]] After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. # ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ##### Verse 01 ##### Verse 02 ##### Verse 03 ##### Verse 04 ##### Verse 05 ##### Verse 06 ##### Verse 07 ##### Verse 08 ##### Verse 09 ##### Verse 10 ##### Verse 11 ##### Verse 12 ##### Verse 13 ##### Verse 14 ##### Verse 15 ##### Verse 16 ##### Verse 17 ##### Verse 18 ##### Verse 19 ##### Verse 20 ##### Verse 21 ##### Verse 22 ##### Verse 23 ##### Verse 24 ##### Verse 25 ##### Verse 26 ##### Verse 27 ##### Verse 28 ##### Verse 29 ##### Verse 30 ##### Verse 31 ##### Verse 32 ##### Verse 33 ##### Verse 34 ##### Verse 35 ##### Verse 36 ##### Verse 37 ##### Verse 38 ##### Verse 39 ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Ritual handwashing before meals (15:2) was part of the "tradition of the elders," oral rules the Pharisees considered binding. 2. Declaring money a "gift to God" (15:5) let some people avoid supporting their parents. Mark uses the Hebrew term *Corban* for this vow (Mark 7:11). 3. Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 to describe worship that honors God with words but not with the heart (15:8-9). 4. Tyre and Sidon (15:21) were Gentile cities in Phoenicia, outside Jewish territory. 5. Matthew calls the woman a "Canaanite" (15:22), an old name recalling Israel's ancient enemies, while Mark calls her a Syrophoenician. 6. The word for "dogs" in 15:26 refers to small household dogs rather than wild street dogs. 7. The woman called Jesus "Lord, Son of David" (15:22), a messianic title, even though she was a Gentile. 8. Matthew says the crowd "praised the God of Israel" (15:31), which suggests many in that crowd were Gentiles. 9. The feeding of the four thousand (15:32-38) is a separate miracle from the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus refers to both in 16:9-10. 10. The word for baskets in 15:37 is different from the one in 14:20 and can mean a large basket, like the one used to lower Paul over the wall (Acts 9:25). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Messiah sent first to Israel whose mercy reaches the nations (15:24-28; Romans 15:8-9). He cleanses the heart, the true source of defilement (15:18-20), and feeds the hungry crowds with compassion (15:32). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The Pharisees used tradition to get around God's command to honor parents (15:3-6). Where might we use religious-sounding excuses to avoid obeying God? 2. Jesus says evil comes from the heart, not from unwashed hands (15:18-20). Why is it easier to focus on outward things? 3. The Canaanite woman kept asking even when she seemed to be turned away (15:22-28). What does her persistence teach about faith? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 8-9: People honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him. - 📖 verse 11: What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of it. - 📖 verses 18-19: Evil thoughts and actions come from the heart. - 📖 verse 28: Jesus praises the woman's great faith and heals her daughter. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Exodus 20#Verse 12.|Exodus 20:12]] and [[Exodus 21#Verse 17.|Exodus 21:17]] - Honor your father and mother. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 29#Verse 13.|Isaiah 29:13]] - These people draw near with their lips but their hearts are far from Me. - 🔗 [[Mark 07#Verse 19.|Mark 7:19]] and [[Acts 10#Verse 09.|Acts 10:9-15]] - All foods declared clean. - 🔗 [[John 15#Verse 02.|John 15:2]] - Every branch that bears no fruit is removed. - 🔗 [[Luke 06#Verse 39.|Luke 6:39]] - Can the blind lead the blind? - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 17#Verse 09.|Jeremiah 17:9]] - The heart is deceitful above all things. - 🔗 [[Romans 15#Verse 08.|Romans 15:8-9]] - Christ a servant to the Jews so the Gentiles might glorify God. - 🔗 [[Mark 08#Verse 01.|Mark 8:1-9]] - The feeding of the four thousand. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Matthew 15 - SOAP|Our Faith Brings Us to God]] ## 📂 Internal Notes