The Tale of Two Priests – Matthew 15

“Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, honor your father and your mother and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God—then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus, you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 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 they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” Matthew 15:1-9

How did they do it? They managed to promote rebellion against God’s Word while appearing to be devoted to Him. They were doing the work of demons while appearing as angels.

These deceivers questioned Jesus as to why His disciples transgressed the tradition of their elders. According to F.F. Bruce, “The ‘elders’ here are not the living rulers of the people, but the past bearers of religious authority. They elevated traditions above the actual plain meaning of the Biblical texts. One such Rabbi taught, ‘He sins as much who eats with unclean hands, as he that lies with a harlot.” [1] That is not in the Bible, but that was a tradition that they taught as though it was God’s Word.

Jesus condemned their malfeasance. God’s commandment to honor parents was plain and simple, but these loophole creating lawyers, set a new precedent, saying, “Gifts to God” (or to their bank accounts) had replaced that outdated commandment.

Jesus called them hypocrites. Hypocrites are performers. Their acting school taught people how to appear devoted to God while condoning various artistic forms of rebellion against Him.

“When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, ‘Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.’” Matthew 15:10-11

In Acts 10, the Lord gave to Peter a vision of heaven opened and an object like a great sheet descending to him. All kinds of non-kosher animals were in it. A voice said to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” Now in Mark 7:19, Jesus had “declared all foods clean.” Peter had never ate non-kosher foods before, but God insisted that they were now kosher. Next, the Lord called Peter to enter the house of a Gentile and to preach the Gospel to him and to those gathered with him. The lesson here is that the Gospel of Christ cleanses souls. Food has nothing to do with one’s eternal salvation, but rejecting Jesus Messiah, the Savior from sin, does.

“Then His disciples came and said to Him, ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?’ But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.’” Matthew 15:12-14

The reference to uprooting connects the message of Jesus to the Word of God via the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1:10 says, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” The false teaching of the Pharisees needed to be uprooted. Just like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, the spiritually blind Pharisees were leading their followers toward a deep ditch.

The ditch was destruction. “According to the ancient historian Flavius Josephus, approximately 1.1 million people were killed during the 70 AD siege of Jerusalem, with most being Jewish victims of famine, disease, and the conflict. Another 97,000 people were enslaved.” [2]

“Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ So Jesus said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.’” Matthew 15:15-20

In John 8:3-5, the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

The religious leaders were ready to stone the woman, but what happened to the man? Had they been so focused on their traditions of clean hands and Sabbath keeping that they failed to discern that the sin of adultery involves two people?

Stones would have eliminated the adulterous woman, but not the adultery in their hearts. In John 12:42-43, the religious authorities “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” In Luke 16:14, they were lovers of money and mockers of Jesus. Only Jesus Messiah, whom they rejected, could create in them clean hearts. The fruit of the Spirit does not come from keeping external rituals, it comes from Jesus. He baptizes believers in Him with the Holy Spirit.

“Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’ But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she cries out after us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’ But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ And she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Matthew 15:21-28

What did Jesus say about Tyre and Sidon in Matthew 11:21-22? He told the Jews living in Chorazin and Bethsaida that if He had done the mighty works that He did among them in Tyre and Sidon, the Gentiles there would have repented long ago. Now, a Canaanite woman from Tyre and Sidon, comes to Jesus. She cried out to Him for mercy. She addressed Him as Lord. She acknowledged Him as the Son of David (another name for Messiah). She believed Jesus could set her daughter free from severe demon-possession.

At first, Jesus did not respond to her. His disciples urged Him to send her away. She kept crying. Jesus told her that His mission was to the lost sheep of Israel. She worshiped Him. She pleaded, “Lord, help me!” He answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” “Little dogs” was a nicer expression than “dogs.” The Gentiles made pets of little dogs. She agreed with Jesus, but was resolute, saying, “Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus healed her daughter, saying, “O woman, great is your faith.”

The woman had prayed, “Lord, help me” and her severely demon-possessed daughter was set free from that hour forward. “Lord, help me” has been my go-to prayer in times of distress. I remember saying this prayer so often when I crossed the border from British Hong Kong into Communist China. I knew He heard me. I knew His help would be the difference between a successful mission and one that ended horribly. Jesus always helped me.

“Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.” Matthew 15:29-31

Jesus departed from the region of Tyre and traveled back to the shores of Galilee. This was a distance of 30-40 miles. When he arrived there, He went up into a mountain that overlooked the Sea of Galilee. That mountain was likely Mount Eremos which is now called the Mount of the Beatitudes. It was near Capernaum in the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee.

In Matthew 5-7, Jesus sat on the Mount of Beatitudes and gave the people three chapters worth of Biblical revelation. In Isaiah 2:3, the Lord foretold of a day when people would say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Law.” In Matthew 15, Jesus and many people are on the Mount of Beatitudes. This time, people with various types of disabilities were laid at His feet and He healed them. The maimed became unmaimed. Mute people spoke. Lame people walked. Blind people became able to see. People glorified the Lord!

“Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, ‘I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.’ Then His disciples said to Him, ‘Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?’ Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ And they said, ‘Seven, and a few little fish.’” Matthew 15:32-34

The healed people on the mountain remained with Jesus for three days despite having nothing to eat. Can you imagine people enjoying Bible teaching for three days without food provided? That was quite a miracle! Jesus spoke of His compassion for them. He did not want them to faint from hunger. The disciples reminded Jesus that they were in a wilderness. Jesus wanted to know how much food was available. The answer was seven loaves of bread and a few fish.

“So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were 4,000 men, besides women and children.” Matthew 15:35-38

Where are the food trucks and the cooks to feed 4,000 men besides women and children? No where! Where are the chairs? No need. They sat on the ground. The power of Jesus to improvise on a next to zero budget greatly simplified the logistics of serving many people. Everybody ate and was filled. Seven large baskets full of fragments remained.

“And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.” Matthew 15:39

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, filled the souls and stomachs of His sheep. Thus, He fulfilled what was prophesied of Him in Psalm 23:2-3, 5: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His Name’s sake. You prepare a table before me... My cup runs over.”

Matthew 14 tells the tales of two kings. King Herod was cruel. King Jesus was kind. Matthew 15 tells the tale of two priests. The Pharisees as a collective one play-acted for pay and perks. Jesus Messiah spoke truth freely and filled souls with overflowing blessings from God. He received poor treatment but returned love.


[1] Enduring Word Commentary
[2] Google sources