Matthew 15:11–20

So the Lord called the crowds together again. He gave them the truth on this subject in simple, short language — the kind they could "hear and understand." He spoke to the crowds Himself, with no go-between, so that these simple farmers of Galilee could drink from the well-spring of truth itself.

He never knew fear. So He publicly declares the evil teachings found in the sayings of the elders. A simple truth, indeed — and yet how many professing Christians have never grasped this very first principle: the evil that defiles a man is within him.

The Lord's subject in this saying is not the means of cleansing, but the cause of defilement… He now instructs those who are untaught in the law about the true source of defilement. Cleansing assumes defilement. How, then, does man become unclean? Is it by the polluting influence of outside things entering his body? The Lord declared that the inner motives from which a man's words and actions spring are the cause of his uncleanness. No one can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one. … The things that mattered most were those that came out of a man. His plans, his motives, his desires, his character, his moral tone — these made a man a centre of power, spreading influence either for good or for evil.

There are no such things for the Christian as the clean and unclean foods that there were for the Jews. The Lord makes that very clear: it is from the heart that evil proceeds.

The great general snare is denying the evil of men. The deception Satan constantly uses now is the idea that man is not so bad, and that moral culture can improve him. The progress of the world is astonishing, they say. There are societies for promoting every good cause and for the improvement of man. People look for the faults in the circumstances and surroundings instead of in man. Here is a word that passes judgment on all these efforts of men together… The real secret of man's terrible condition is his heart. This affects everything that comes out.

Here we are all in the same case, whatever the apparent differences in outward life. "Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" is not just a description of the world before the flood. It is the truth about the heart of man everywhere and at all times. It is the defiled spring of everything that defiles. The moment God brought Isaiah to his true position before Him, grace answered by removing his guilt. There was no delay at all.

…many Christians consider only externals and forget that the real index of what defiles is what a person allows to come out of his mouth. For these come from the heart. The heart is the source of evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies… If the mouth expresses hatred, that is the principle of murder (1 John 3:15). Someone who is adulterous will usually give it away by corrupt language. A thief will likely speak in a greedy way. Wisely indeed does Proverbs 4:23 tell us, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

The Pharisees did not like what the Lord said. He said that hypocrisy about outward forms had taken the place of truth in the inner person. He said that man's heart, even with all his law-keeping religion, was a source of nothing but evil. At this they were greatly "offended" (v. 12), and His disciples told Him so.

In verse 10 He calls the crowd to Him. He speaks to them in such plain words that you would think they would be the ones to take offence. But we are told that it was the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who took offence.

True of the first century, it is true of our own day. The disease is chronic. What is more, rebuke is unbearable. "They were offended when they heard this saying." They are offended still. Nothing offends more quickly, more deeply, or more unforgivably than exposing a false religion. And here is a strange contradiction: the more false and foolish it is, the tighter people hold on to it!

If the truth offends, it is because one prefers falsehood to truth.

"Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" the disciples said to our Lord. He had just spoken out boldly against the outward religion of the leaders of the people. They were afraid of what such faithfulness would cost. They may have admitted that what our Lord said was true, but they shrank from stirring up opposition. Sadly, we know a great deal of this timidity when opposition looms. What will people say? What will our friends say? How often this has stopped someone whose conscience is awake about his path! It keeps him from simply obeying God, whatever people say.

The enemy will always be offended when God is moving, but true faith goes forward and fears no foe.

The disciples did not altogether relish what the Lord had been saying. They might not be offended themselves. But they were inclined to sympathise with those who were. Our Lord answers even more sternly: "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." What is needed is new life from God, not an improvement of the old. So a plant of heavenly origin must be planted, and the heavenly Father must do it. Every other plant will be rooted up. "Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind." Reasoning with these Pharisees is useless.

As Isaiah had predicted, the Lord of hosts was in the middle of the nation even then. He was a sanctuary for those who would come to Him. But He was there also "a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem," and "many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken" (Isa. 8:14-15). The Stone of Israel was in lowly form then, and the proud Pharisees stumbled at Him and His sayings (Matt. 15:12).

These words do not only show the doom of the Jewish Pharisees. They also speak of the doom of what His heavenly Father has not planted — Christendom. It will be rooted up and then cast out along with its boasted leaders, who are only leaders of the blind.

The disciples report to the Lord that the Pharisees had taken offense at what He had said. But we must not water down the solemn truth of it in any way. If the truth offends, it is because someone prefers falsehood to truth. The Lord's reply is decisive and cuts deep. Every plant which His heavenly Father had not planted would be rooted up. Enemies of the truth are not the planting of the Father. They may be very careful about religious tradition, yet in heart be thoroughly opposed to God.

But our Lord answers still more sternly: "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." There must be a new life from God, not an improving of the old one. A plant must be of heavenly origin, then, and the heavenly Father must plant it. Every other plant will be rooted up. "Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind." Reasoning with these Pharisees is a waste of time. What they need is first principles, and the work of God in their souls. He did not apply this to the crowd, but to the leaders who stumbled at the truth of man's total corruption. Such people are best left to themselves.

It is written in the prophets, "And they will all be taught by God." "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." It is plain that, since they rejected His teaching, they had not heard from the Father. They were not God's children. Had He said on that occasion "your Father," it would have reminded the disciples of the relationship they had with God. But by saying "My heavenly Father," the Lord would impress on everyone the absolute necessity of listening to His Father, and of being plants of His planting.

The Lord Jesus Himself said, "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up" (Matt. 15:13); showing that planting is a picture of setting someone in a place of blessing.

These words not only show the doom of the Jewish Pharisees, they also speak of the doom of that which His heavenly Father has not planted — Christendom. It will be rooted up and then cast out along with its boasted leaders, who are only leaders of the blind.

We have God's grace and God's sovereignty in verse 13. The Father's name is always connected with grace.

Each of us ought to realise that nothing worse can happen to us than to be left alone. If God gives up a soul, it is all over with it.

Is Jesus your Saviour and Lord? If He is, you may look forward to the great transplanting with confidence. But remember, your turning to Him must be real, for the Lord Himself said, "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up" (Matt. 15:13). Only if you have been planted in grace here by the hand of God will you be planted in glory there, when Jesus comes again.

The disciples did not much like what the Lord had been saying... But our Lord answers even more sternly, "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." The need is for a new life from God, not for an improvement of the old one. So a plant of heavenly origin must be planted, and the heavenly Father must do the planting. Every other plant will be rooted up. "Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind." Reasoning with these Pharisees is completely useless. They need first principles, and the work of God in their souls. So all discussion is pointless... He did not apply this to the crowd, but to the leaders, who stumbled at the teaching that man is totally corrupt.

"Let them alone," He says — a terrible sentence from the lips of the Son of God! Yet if men want this proud independence, God may leave them alone to enjoy the folly they have chosen. He does not hold them back with His wise and loving hand — the hand the believer knows he needs and values.

They were blind themselves and misleading others who were blind also. God would deal with them in His government, and the disciples were to leave them alone and not retaliate.

"Blind guides" — they did not know where they were going. John shows us that. So with all their pretension they were blind. They ask, in John 9, "Are we also blind?" They were assuming to be guides. The language means that there is an awful end for those under their influence.

The phrase "blind leaders" alludes to the shepherds' custom, when angry with their flock, of giving them a blind sheep as a leader. And so of bad administrators of a town.

The "blind" here are first of all the Jewish leaders. But the follower will not escape the ditch just by being a follower. The truth speaks for itself to anyone who has ears to hear. The man who hands himself over completely to another's leadership has his conscience before man, not before God. Even the Lord rests His right to be heard on the truth of what He said: "If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?"... Whatever a man yields himself to will shape him.

That companies of professing Christians should choose a teacher is entirely foreign to Scripture and shows how far Christendom has departed from the order of God for His assembly. The result of this disorder is that too often the chosen teacher is but a blind leader of the blind, and "if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

There is a great principle here, in "let them alone." Now mark — if you have a blind leader, and you are blind yourself, the ditch is the only end of your road. Christianity, however, is not the blind leading the blind; nor the seeing leading the blind; but the seeing leading the seeing. God delights to give us light so that we can see His things. But enjoying them and using them well depends entirely on our subjection to Christ, to the Holy Spirit, and to the Scriptures.

Peter said to the Lord, "Explain the parable to us" (Matthew 15:15; compare Matthew 13:36). Later, at Joppa and at Antioch, this same apostle failed to put the Lord's teaching into practice (Acts 10:14; Galatians 2:12). He was now the spokesman for the rest, all the disciples making the inquiry through him, as Mark tells us (Mark 7:17). None of them had grasped what the Lord's saying meant. But they differed in spirit from the Pharisees: they did not know, yet they wanted to know.

It is strange that he should call plain truth a "parable," that is, "a dark saying." But he was still full of hope in the first man. So the Lord's teaching no doubt sounded strange to him, and was plainly unwelcome. The Lord's answer only showed him his own moral blindness. He says, "Are you also still without understanding?"

Peter answers and says to Him, "Explain the parable to us." What did he mean by calling it a parable? He did not understand it himself. Here was the very chief of the twelve apostles, and he cannot understand our Lord. The Lord tells them that man is altogether wrong — his heart most of all. What comes out of him is what is evil, not what goes in. And this is a parable! The difficulty of Scripture arises less from difficult language than from unwelcome truth. Truth is contrary to people's wishes; they cannot see it, because they do not like to receive it.

The disciples do not understand, and ask for an explanation. The tradition of the elders had blinded their natural intelligence. The way of reasoning they had taken from those elders' authority had spoiled their understanding. And do we not in fact find many who believe that what enters a man's mouth defiles him? And yet these are sincere souls.

None of them, not even the best, saw much beyond the letter of the law with its offerings and ceremonial rules. So they had very little sense of its convicting power. They cared about what went into their mouths, so that they might be ceremonially clean. The law, if understood spiritually, concerns itself with the state of the heart.

We see here a craving to hear something new, instead of a conscience before God. It is a step lower down, so to speak, in Pharisaism… And notice where "understanding" is, in God's estimate — always in the conscience. He is not producing learned men, but He is bringing sinners to heaven. His dealings are with the heart and conscience. It may be a parable or anything else. I have no "understanding" of it until my conscience is at work, and before God by faith.

With our gracious Lord no honest inquiry was ever rebuked or refused. With great pains He always sought to lead hesitating ones into the full light of God, for their blessing… What stronger proof could we have that it is not reformation men need, but a new creation! And what proof, too, that outward observances can never be enough on their own, because they cannot reach what is within!

Verse 16 is a rebuke. "Are you also still without understanding?" There was nothing unclear in what the Lord had been saying. It shows here that man has a radically bad nature, and the evil is not from without, but from within — from the heart.

There seems some reproach in this question. The Pharisees had not understood. The people did not understand. But how was it that the Lord's own company did not understand Him? He said to the people, Listen and understand. Yet the apostles also failed to understand. By His question the Lord implies that they were to blame for admitting such ignorance.

What did he mean by calling it a parable? He did not understand it himself. Here was one, the very chief of the twelve apostles. He cannot understand our Lord when He tells them that man is altogether wrong — his heart most of all. What comes out of a man makes him evil, not what goes in. And this is a parable! The difficulty of Scripture comes less from difficult language than from unwelcome truth. Truth is contrary to people's wishes; they cannot see it, because they do not like to receive it.

The tradition of the elders had blinded their natural intelligence. The way of reasoning they took from that authority had spoiled their understanding. And do we not find many who believe that what goes into a man's mouth defiles him? And yet they are sincere souls. They also believe that eating a certain food on one day defiles, while on another day it does not. This too comes from the tradition of the elders. Here we see the Lord's judgment against many things that keep many souls in bondage — sincere souls even, like the disciples.

We see here a hankering after hearing something new, instead of the conscience before God... They have something between the conscience and God. And notice where the "understanding," in God's estimate, is — always in the conscience. He is not making learned men, but He is bringing sinners to heaven. His dealings are with the heart and conscience. It may be a parable or anything else. I have no "understanding" of it until my conscience is at work, and before God by faith.

What stronger proof could we have that it is not reformation men need, but a new creation! And what proof, too, that outward observances can never be enough on their own. They cannot reach what is inside. In answer to Peter's question the Lord Jesus sets out man's own inborn corruption. If men only realised it, surely they would stop trifling with priests and what they do. They would hurry at once to the Saviour's feet. There alone they find blessing for eternity.

Things stood in the way. Weakness of nature, fleshly assumptions and selfish interests clouded their spiritual sight. But the Patient Teacher was ready to repeat His words and to expand His teaching. Hearing them again, they might understand. Simplicity of heart was the character suited to the kingdom of God... All knowledge would stay partial until the Spirit came at Pentecost. Then the truth would no longer be told in parables.

What did he mean by calling it a parable? He did not understand it himself. Here was the chief of the twelve apostles, and he cannot understand our Lord. The Lord tells them that man is altogether wrong — his heart most of all. What comes out of a man is what makes him evil, not what goes in. And this is a parable! The difficulty of Scripture comes less from hard language than from truth people do not want to hear. Truth goes against what people wish; they cannot see it, because they do not like to receive it.

Whatever physical food one eats does not have any spiritual effect. It affects the stomach, and so the body's condition, but not the heart. Here the heart stands for the spiritual inner being of the person. God had made provision for physical purging (or cleansing) in the disposal of waste. But there was a far more serious issue involved in spiritual defilement.

Leaving aside the man-made rules He had already condemned in their hearing, He wanted them to know that "whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him." Eating certain meats would not make a man morally unclean, as the Jews held. From the bondage of this tradition, the truth which came by Jesus Christ set them free.

This cuts at the root of all worldly religion of the flesh, which deals only with outward things and leaves the heart untouched. God works from within and deals with the conscience and heart. The real source of defilement is not a man's environment but himself. It is true that man is a fallen creature. If he goes into scenes of evil and temptation, his surroundings will stir up the lusts within him. But even so the source of the evil is from within. An angel can pass through Sodom and not be defiled, but not so Lot. There was no evil heart in the angel to answer to sin; there was in Lot.

This is what both your heart and mine contains, dear reader. If the worst of these evils have not broken out, it is because of the mercy of God in the surroundings He has been pleased to set us in. But the evils are certainly within us. They are only waiting for the chance to show themselves in all their ugliness. What stronger proof could we have that it is not reformation men need, but a new creation! And what proof that outward practices can never be enough on their own, because they cannot reach what is within!

It shows here that man has a nature that is bad at its root, and the evil is not from outside, but from within — from the heart. But the heart can be purified... It is not cleansing by blood that the Lord spoke of in John 13, when He said "You are completely clean," but cleansing by water — the new birth. "Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you."

The mouth both takes in and gives out. It is the avenue to the stomach and the outlet for the heart. The wise man has said: "All the toil of man is for his mouth" (Ecclesiastes 6:7). In this he spoke truly. The Pharisees of our Lord's time were more fussy about what goes into the mouth than about what comes out of it.

The washing of hands and cups and pots deals only with defilement from the outside. But moral defilement springs from the evil inside the heart. This cuts at the root of all worldly religion of the flesh, which deals only with outward things and leaves the heart untouched. God works from within and deals with the conscience and heart. The real source of defilement is not a man's environment but himself. It is true that man is a fallen creature. If he goes into scenes of evil and temptation, his surroundings will stir up the lusts inside him. But even then the evil comes from within. An angel can pass through Sodom and stay undefiled; Lot could not. There was no evil heart in the angel to answer to sin; there was in Lot.

Here we are all in the same case, whatever the apparent differences in outward life. "Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" describes more than the world before the flood. It is the truth about the heart of man everywhere and at all times. It is the defiled spring of everything that defiles.

It is mainly the religious leaders who busy themselves with tradition. The great general snare is denying the evil of men. The deception Satan uses now is the idea that man is not so bad that moral training cannot improve him. The progress of the world is astonishing, they say. There are societies for every charitable cause and for the improvement of man. People look for the fault in a person's circumstances and surroundings instead of in the man himself... The real secret of man's deplorable condition is his heart. This affects all that comes out.

This is what both your heart and mine contains, dear reader. If the worst of these evils have not broken out in us, we owe it to the mercy of God in the setting where He has chosen to place us. But the evils are certainly within us. They are only waiting for an opportunity to show themselves in all their ugliness. What stronger proof could we have that what men need is not reformation but a new creation!

But our Lord answers still more sternly: "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up." There needs to be a new life from God, not an improving of the old one. A plant of heavenly origin must be planted, and the heavenly Father must do it. Every other plant shall be rooted up.

The Lord's subject in this saying is not the means of cleansing, but the cause of defilement. He is not speaking here about how useless ceremonial washing is, or about using water to remove moral stains; He had already told the Pharisees that. Now He teaches those with no training in the law where defilement really comes from. Cleansing assumes defilement is already there. So how does a person become unclean? Is it because polluting things from outside enter his body? The Lord declared that the inner motives behind a person's words and actions are the cause of his uncleanness.

That was the public verdict. Israel and their hypocritical, self-righteous leaders could not pass it... But with His disciples He goes further. He does not only condemn outward hypocrisy; He shows what does come out of the human heart, and it was evil of every kind. Does He, who is full of love and goodness, have nothing to say about good coming from it? Not a word. These are what defile a person.

What did he mean by calling it a parable? He did not understand it himself. Here was the chief of the twelve apostles, and he cannot understand our Lord. The Lord tells them that man is wrong through and through — his heart most of all. What comes out of a person makes him evil, not what goes in. And this is a parable! The difficulty of Scripture comes less from hard language than from truth we do not want to hear. Truth goes against what people wish; they cannot see it, because they do not like to receive it.

Man is now a corrupt creature, and his corruption passes into whatever he takes in. So holding the flesh in check is useless in God's sight, and false at its root... Man is lost. But no one fully believes this about himself until he has found Christ. He may believe he is a sinner, but does he believe he is so bad that no good toward God can be got out of him? ... Man is no longer on trial. The testing is over. God has declared that the flesh is worthless; and yet man keeps re-opening the question, instead of believing God.

Pharisee religion washed the hands; the movement against alcohol washes the lips. But the same word of the Lord shows that both fall short... The heart, the whole spring of moral action, is corrupt before God. What a man is taints what he does. So while man's method is to cut off this and that, God's method is first of all to make the tree good.

This is what your heart and mine both hold, dear reader. If the worst of these evils have not broken out, that is thanks to God's mercy in the setting where He has chosen to place us. But the evils are certainly inside us, only waiting for a chance to show themselves in all their ugliness. What stronger proof could we have that men do not need reform, but a new creation!

My reader, this is your heart! Have you admitted it, bowed to it, accepted the judgment of God on it? Has it become a comfort beyond words to turn away from yourself to Him — that blessed One, whose heart is full of goodness towards you, and whose word to you is, "I cannot trust you; you may trust Me"?... It is striking that as soon as He had exposed the heart of man, the Lord left the place of boasted privilege for the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, which lay outside the region of earthly blessing.