NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Part III

Verses 10-11: Then Jesus asked the people to step closer. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. It is not what a person puts in their mouth that makes them polluted. It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them polluted.”

Remember this, there’s a difference between defiling the soul and defiling the body. Believe it or not, one may encounter a filthy drunk and find out that in his heart he is a kind and compassionate person. On the other hand, one could meet a sophisticated nondrinker and discover that they are full of animosity, bias, hatred and disdain for others. As the great early church orator Chrysostom stated: “Jesus did not say, ‘The observance of food laws is nothing,’ or ‘Moses did a poor job of making laws,’ or ‘Moses only made these laws as a way of coming down to your level.’ Instead, He speaks to them on the level of advice and counsel and used natural phenomena as evidence. He does this when He says, ‘Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.’ In this statement He appeals to nature itself both in the process of instituting law and in the process of revealing what He has to say.”¹

There’s an old English story about a teacher named Mr. Tulliver who listened with petrifying wonder to an essay being read in class by a young girl named Maggie. He wondered what type of book this young lady had gotten hold of. It turned out to be the one called, “The History of the Devil,” by Daniel Defoe. Later, when the teacher confronted the girl’s father he explained that they found it at a book sale. Said the father: “…they’ve all got the same covers, and I thought they were all one and the same, as you might say. But it seems one mustn’t judge by the outside.”² From this, came our famous English maxim: “Never judge a book by its cover.” This is what we use today when referring to people who may look different on the outside than what we find on the inside.

What Jesus was really saying about others was that they dressed themselves in such a way that any onlooker might think they were pure and righteous, but when one hears them speak it was obvious they are hypocrites and deceivers. But for Himself, it was a different message. We know from Scripture that David had a ruddy complexion and Saul was taller than anyone else. But when it came to the Messiah, Isaiah said there was nothing about Him physically or His looks that would cause anyone to admire Him. That’s why we have no physical description of Jesus in the New Testament. It was only when Jesus opened His mouth that people realized what was on the inside. Too often, Christians judge people on the outside before they hear them speak from the inside. Then, they go into denial because they don’t want to believe that anyone who looks so righteous outwardly could be so full of wrong intentions inwardly.

Now Jesus points to some of His listeners’ the real character flaws that I’m sure really annoyed the Pharisees. They were so particular how they washed their hands and the food they ate, making sure it was kosher, etc. Yet Jesus looks at them and says: “It’s not what you put in your mouth that determines who you are, it’s what comes out of you mouth that identifies you for who you really are.” David met some of the same kind of people, and here’s what he said about them: “Those wicked people started doing wrong as soon as they were born. They have been liars from birth.”³

At first this may sound rather unrefined. But as a father, one thing I learned in helping to raise four children, I never spent one minute teaching them how to fib. It seemed to come naturally. But I did spend a lot of time trying to convince them about the benefit of telling the truth. Isaiah is more graphic about such people: “You can’t be trusted, even in court. You lie about each other and depend on false arguments to win your cases. You create pain and produce wickedness. You hatch evil, like eggs from a poisonous snake.”⁴ The prophet Jeremiah put it this way, “They use their tongues like a bow to send lies flying from their mouths like arrows.”⁵

It is notable, that an early church theologian ties this same principle to Holy Communion. This is what he wrote: “In exactly the same way it is ‘not what enters into the mouth’ that makes the person holy. This is so even if that which is called the bread of the Lord is considered to make the person holy by some of the more perfect disciples. The two cases are similar. It is not the food but the conscience of the one who eats with doubt about whether it was right to do so that defiles the person who has eaten. For ‘the one who doubts is condemned if one eats, because one is not eating from faith.’⁶ It is also like the case in which ‘nothing is pure to the one who is defiled and unbelieving.’⁷ The thing involved is impure not because of itself but because of the person’s defilement and unbelief. In the same way, that which is ‘made holy through the word of God and prayer’ does not on its own account make the one who uses it holy.⁸ For if it did, it would also make holy the one who eats of the Lord ‘in an unworthy manner’ and no one would become ‘weak’ or ‘sickly’ or would ‘sleep’ because of this food. For this is what Paul showed in the statement, ‘Because of this many among you are weak and sickly and a significant number are falling asleep.’⁹ Therefore, in the case of the bread of the Lord, the one who uses it derives benefit when one shares in the bread with a mind that is undefiled and a conscience that is pure.”¹⁰

Verses 12-13: Afterward, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Did you know that the Pharisees really got upset over what you said?” Jesus responded, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.”

Jesus’ response to the news the disciples brought Him about the Pharisees feeling insulted by what he said concerning their inward pollution, did not sound like what the disciples may have expected. Instead of saying: “That’s their problem,” or, “Tell them to get over it,” Jesus used an illustration that sounded much like the parable He told earlier about the real wheat and the lookalike wheat. In this case, it pointed out that His Father in heaven was the one who is responsible for determining which is which.

The great Chrysostom preached: “The disciples were saying these things not only because they saw how hurt the Pharisees were, but also because they themselves were a little confused. But since they did not dare to say this out of concern for their own confusion, they hoped to learn further by listening to Jesus’ own elaboration of this issue. To show that this is so, listen to what is said after these things by Peter, who was hotheaded and speaking out before the rest. He says, ‘Explain this parable to us.’¹¹ By this he reveals the confusion in his soul. He does not dare to say openly, ‘I take offense at this,’ but he expects that he will be released from his confusion by the interpretation of the parable. But he too ends up being rebuked.”¹²

Jesus’ answer to His disciples would not have been such an unusual thought for the Jewish scribes. The story is told that a certain Rabbi once met with a Roman Government official who had been sent to his area to arrest thieves. An argument ensued, with the Rabbi suggesting that this official may unknowingly arrest the innocent and let the guilty escape. He gave the official some tips on where to find these crooks. But when the official began to arrest them, another Rabbi objected, and sent this message to the Rabbi cooperating with the Roman official: “How long will you deliver up the people of our God for slaughter!” The Rabbi involved sent back a reply: “I’m weeding out thorns from the vineyard.” To this the objecting Rabbi retorted: “Let the owner of the vineyard Himself [God] come and weed out the thorns.’”¹³ Sounds like Jesus may have heard this story.

But Chrysostom is not finished. He goes on to say: “Why therefore does Messiah say, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted?’ Those who are diseased with the ideas of the Manichaeans¹⁴ say that this was said about the law. But what Jesus had said before this shuts their mouths. For if He were speaking about the law, why did He earlier make a defense on its behalf and fight for it when He said, ‘Why are you transgressing the commandment of God because of your tradition?’ And why does He bring in the prophet [Isaiah] in front of everyone?¹⁵ Contrary to what the Manichaeans say, Jesus says these things about the Pharisees themselves and their traditions. For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ This statement from God surely is a plant of God.”¹⁶

So Chrysostom is speaking about those plants (like the genuine wheat in the parable of the wheat and weeds), and how they must be identified as either being planted by God or planted by man. The ones planted by God are healthy and grow strong while those planted by man are diseased and lead to a form of contamination that causes other plants to be poisonous. This certainly seems to be what Jesus then goes on to say to His followers.

Verse 14: Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.

Could our Lord have in mind the words His Father spoke to the prophet Isaiah? “In all the world, no one is more blind than My servant Israel. No one is more deaf than My messenger to the world. No one is more blind than My chosen people, the servant of the Lord.”¹⁷ It is understandable that the Pharisees were offended. Their laws concerning sanctity were based primarily upon what a man ingested, drank and touched. But Jesus throws this aside and exclaims that it’s what’s in the heart that brings defilement. No wonder the Pharisees became agitated, they were just shown a real picture of themselves. So often people believe that others see them the way they see themselves and are therefore unwilling to accept the portrait others paint of them. There is a difference between being slandered or maligned, and being confronted with an honest and genuine appraisal. When someone we trust points out our faults and shortcomings we should thank them and then ask God to help us make the necessary changes.

There is an interesting Jewish parable told about this that goes: “Our sages taught us this parable; a man possessing full eyesight walks with a blind man. The man that has all his facilities guides the blind man so that he will not stumble. After a while, close to evening time, he asks the blind man to light a lantern for him. The blind man is dumbfounded, and tells his companion that since he is blind it is up to his companion to light the lantern, as he would not benefit by its light anyways. The companion replies that he himself is not in need of the light of a lantern, but he wants it known that although the blind man would not derive any benefit from its light, he lit it for the sake of his companion. Israel is the blind man in that parable, whereas God is the seeing One. If God had not provided us with the commandments of the Torah, we would all be walking through this life like blind men.”¹⁸

In this case, Jesus is saying to the Jews, all of you are blind when it comes to the truth, yet none of you are willing to light the lantern of God’s Word so that others who are looking for light to guide them may see. But since He is the light, just take hold of His hand and He will lead them and restore their sight. We see a similar situation faced by the prophet Micaiah when everyone else, who were identifying themselves as God’s messengers, were predicting victory, he saw defeat. We read, “While all this was happening, the officer went to find Micaiah. When he found him, the officer told him, ‘All the other prophets have said that the king will succeed, so you should say the same thing.’ But Micaiah answered, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I can say only what the Lord says.’”¹⁹

Apparently, there was some continuing doubt among Jesus’ disciples as to this dispute over the verbal law when compared to the written Word of God. So by choosing to talk about this as a case of plants that look the same but are not, He reveals another factor. When a plant is pulled out of the ground before harvest, it usually means it was not planted by the owner of the field and must be thrown away as a weed. This goes along with what Isaiah received as a revelation from God: “Jerusalem, get up and shine! Your Light is coming! The Glory of the Lord will shine on you. Darkness now covers the earth, and the people are in darkness. But the Lord will shine on you, and His Glory will appear over you.”²⁰ And for all those who receive this Light, the message given by Isaiah says: “They are the young plant in My garden that will grow to be a wonderful tree. I made them with My own hands.”²¹

Therefore, Jesus is saying that if God did not put these people in His garden, He would make sure they didn’t stay long enough to hurt the crop He did plant. After all, the Psalmist said: “Good people are like budding palm trees. They grow strong like the cedar trees of Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD. They grow strong there in the courtyards of our God.”²² Our Lord’s metaphor of the blind leading the blind was meant as a figurative illustration of those who were ignorant of the truth, trying to explain the truth to others. Isaiah had a similar illustration, “So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail. He took away the branch and the stalk in one day. (The head means the elders and important leaders. The tail means the prophets who told lies.) As guides are leading Israel the wrong way, so those who follow them will be destroyed.”²³

Jeremiah heard the Lord say that what really bothered Him was this: “They should be ashamed of the evil things they do, but they are not ashamed at all. They don’t know enough to be embarrassed by their sins.”²⁴ It wasn’t that they were clueless, but that they were unable to properly put the puzzle together to see what they were doing wrong. Jesus was trying to get them to see how it was done. My two older sisters were fond of putting picture puzzles together. Sometimes it would be so big it covered the dining room table, so my mom needed to put an oil cloth over the puzzle, then a tablecloth over that so we could eat without ruining the puzzle. What if they had decided to mix the pieces of three or four puzzles together in the same box and then put them together as one puzzle? It would have been impossible.

The same way, the scribes, and Pharisees were trying to put together the puzzle showing God’s will and plan of salvation by mixing verbal tradition with written law. All Jesus was telling them was this: “Forget about both and put the picture together with the pieces I’m giving you and you will see what God wants boldly and clearly.” The word of the Lord to Ezekiel went this way: “I will give you the right answer on how to follow my will. But if any prophet is foolish enough to give his own answer, I, the Lord, will show him how foolish he is!”²⁵

Early church theologian Chromatius sees a dual purpose in what Jesus said about the blind leading the blind. He writes: “These words were intended to expose the scribes and Pharisees, who were blinded by the error of their unbelief. Not only were they unable to recognize the light of truth—not believing in Christ—but also they were attracting others into the pit of death. Nevertheless the words also apply to heretics.²⁶ Denying that Christ is the “true light from true light, and God from God,”²⁷27 they too were steeped in blindness. Because of their perverse doctrine, they also proved to be guides and leaders to those adrift.”²⁸

Such blindness is still with us today. The use of the term “blindness,” is a metaphorical way of saying that there are those who cannot spiritually see what is being described. As such, “blindness” becomes a synonym for spiritual ignorance. In other words, such people are trying to describe a place they’ve never visited or explain a subject they have never studied. Often, such blind prophets present what they describe as a vision from God when in fact it is a product of their own imagination. Too many have followed such self-constructed visions and thereby led themselves and others into the path of despair and loss of real faith.