The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on ActsMatthew 15

Mt 15:1 LXV. JESUS FAILS TO ATTEND THE THIRD PASSOVER: SCRIBES REPROACH HIM FOR DISREGARDING TRADITION. (Galilee, probably Capernaum, Spring A.D. 29.) Mt 15:1-20 Mr 7:1-23 Joh 7:1 Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes. See TFG "Mr 7:1".

Mt 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? See TFG "Mr 7:3".

Mt 15:3 Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? See TFG "Mr 7:8".

Mt 15:4 Honour thy father and thy mother, etc. See TFG "Mr 7:10".

Mt 15:5 Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, etc. See TFG "Mr 7:11".

Mt 15:6 And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition. See TFG "Mr 7:13".

Mt 15:7-9 Well did Isaiah prophesy of you. See TFG "Mr 7:6".

Mt 15:10 And he called to him the multitude. See TFG "Mr 7:14".

Mt 15:12 Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying? The entire speech offended them. He charged them with hypocrisy. He showed that their tradition, which they reverenced as a revelation from God, led them into sin, and he disturbed their self-complacency by showing that the ceremonial cleanness, which was founded on tradition, and in which they prided themselves, was worthless in comparison with the moral cleanness required by God's law, which they had ignored. It grieved the disciples to see Jesus offend these reverend gentlemen from Jerusalem. Like many modern disciples their respect for men counteracted their zeal for truth. (TFG 396)

Mt 15:13 Every plant which my heavenly Father hath planted not, shall be rooted up. God had planted the law with its doctrine: he had planted the Hebrew religion as given by Moses. He had not planted the tradition of the elders; so it, and the religion founded upon it, was doomed to be rooted up. (TFG 397)

Mt 15:14 And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit. This proverbial expression is found in the Sermon on the Mount. See TFG "Lu 6:39". There it taught that the disciple could expect to attain no higher felicity than his teacher. Here it teaches the lesson of patience, and is akin to the words of David, which begin, "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers" (Ps 37:1,2). The words of Jesus are full of encouragement to those who adhere to the simple teachings of God; for they show that God guarantees that every error shall be uprooted, and that every teacher of error or false religion shall participate in the judgment which uproots, and shall fall into the pit of ruin; and his disciples, no matter how numerous, shall share his fate. In this particular instance, the destruction of Jerusalem was the pit. The Jewish leaders led their disciples into it, and God uprooted their system of tradition, that the pure gospel might be sowed in the room which they occupied. (TFG 397)

Mt 15:15 And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable. The word "parable" is used her in its looser sense to indicate an obscure saying. (TFG 397)

Mt 15:21 LXVI. SECOND WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD'S TERRITORY. Mt 15:21 Mr 7:24 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. See TFG "Mr 7:24".

Mt 15:22 LXVII. HEALING A PHOENICIAN WOMAN'S DAUGHTER. (Region of Tyre and Sidon.) Mt 15:22-28 Mr 7:24-30 And behold, a Canaanitish woman. See TFG "Mr 7:26". Came out from those borders. This does not mean, as some construe it, that she crossed over into Galilee from Phoenicia; it means that she came out of the very region where Jesus then was. Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. Sympathy so identified her with her daughter that she asked mercy for herself. The title "son of David" shows that the Jewish hopes had spread to surrounding nations and that some, like this woman and the one at Jacob's well, expected to share in the Messianic blessing. (TFG 400)

Mt 15:23 But he answered her not a word. God's unanswering silence is a severe test of our faith. Send her away; for she crieth after us. The woman by her loud entreaties was drawing to Jesus the very attention which he sought to avoid. The disciples therefore counseled him to grant her request for his own sake--not for mercy or compassion, but merely to be rid of her. (TFG 400)

Mt 15:24 But he answered. Answered the disciples, not the woman. I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus had not forborne answering her prayers through lack of feeling, but from principle. It was part of the divine plan that his "personal" ministry should be confined to the Jewish people. Divine wisdom approved of this course as best, not only for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. Variations from this plan were to be few and were to be granted only as rewards to those of exceptional faith. See TFG "Mt 10:6". (TFG 400-401)

Mt 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him. See TFG "Mr 7:25".

Mt 15:26 It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. See TFG "Mr 7:27".

Mt 15:27 For even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. See TFG "Mr 7:28".

Mt 15:28 O woman, great is thy faith. See TFG "Mr 7:29". Her daughter was made well from that hour. See TFG "Mr 7:30".

Mt 15:29 LXVIII. ANOTHER AVOIDING OF HEROD'S TERRITORY. Mt 15:29 Mr 7:31 And Jesus departed thence, etc. See TFG "Mr 7:31".

Mt 15:30 LXIX. THE DEAF STAMMERER HEALED AND FOUR THOUSAND FED. Mt 15:30-39 Mr 7:32-8:9 And there came unto him great multitudes, etc. We have here an instance of the common difference between the narratives of Matthew and Mark. Where Matthew is wont to mention the healing of multitudes, Mark picks out one of the most remarkable cases and describes it minutely. The hasty action of those who brought in the sick and returned to bring in others is indicated by the way in which they cast down their burdens at Jesus' feet. (TFG 404)

Mt 15:31 They glorified the God of Israel. The people whom Jesus healed were Jews, but daily intercourse with the heathen of Decapolis had tended to cool their religious ardor. The works of Jesus revived this ardor and caused them to praise the God whose prophet they esteemed Jesus to be. (TFG 404)

Mt 15:32 And Jesus called unto him his disciples. See TFG "Mr 8:1". They continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. See TFG "Mr 8:2".

Mt 15:33 Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? See TFG "Mr 8:4".

Mt 15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit on the ground. See TFG "Mr 8:6".

Mt 15:39 LXX. THIRD WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD'S TERRITORY. A. PHARISAIC LEAVEN. A BLIND MAN HEALED. (Magadan and Bethsaida. Probably Summer, A.D. 29.) Mt 15:39-16:12 Mr 8:10-26 And came into the borders of Magdala. See TFG "Mr 8:10".