Matthew 15:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Observe how the Lord initiates the law: the evangelist recounts that He summoned the people and proclaimed to them, “Hear and understand!” He does not merely announce this law to them; rather, through His humility and grace, He prepares their hearts to receive His message, as indicated by the phrase "having called." He seizes the opportune moment to articulate the law after rebuking the Pharisees, having vanquished them and condemned their actions with prophetic words, thus ensuring that the people are more receptive to His teachings. Furthermore, He not only calls them but also draws their attention: “Consider,” He urges, meaning to reflect and focus. The law I am about to present is indeed deserving of your contemplation.

The Lord refrains from addressing the Pharisees, recognizing their unhealable condition, instead directing His words towards the people. In doing so, He demonstrates His desire for them to receive His instruction. He implores them, “Hear and understand,” encouraging them to listen closely.

The scribes and Pharisees, intent on distorting God's careful command, sought to cloak their malice with false piety. They taught their misguided followers that if anyone wished to dedicate to God the true Father what should rightly be given to their parents, such an offering to God should take precedence over honoring one's parents. Consequently, it is possible that parents, observing what was dedicated to God and fearing condemnation for a sacrilegious act, endured hardship. Meanwhile, the offerings from children, masquerading as gifts to the temple of God, benefitted the priests financially. This grievous tradition of the Pharisees stemmed from another dishonest motive.

He summoned the nations and addressed them. After humbling and silencing them, he rendered them beyond healing, yet he directs his message to the people who are more deserving. Listen and comprehend. Pay attention to my words and grasp their meaning. He speaks in this manner to honor them, making it easier for them to receive his intended message.

After gathering the people, He directed His compassionate message towards them, desiring 'to impart profound teachings, abundant in wisdom. He said to them, Listen closely to Me, and understand; give careful heed to what I am about to share with you, for the principles I am about to present are truly deserving of your attention. If you have heeded the Pharisees, who compromised the Law in favor of their traditions, then you should all the more heed Me, who conveys the ultimate wisdom.'

In addressing the situation, Jesus conveyed that genuine purity arises not from adhering to external regulations, but rather from cleansing one’s heart of anything that contradicts God’s commandments. He illustrated this with a brief parable: It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person, and with that, He urged the listeners: Hear and understand. The essence of the parable reflects the topic of discourse and likely serves as a response to the Pharisees' concerns; according to their beliefs, a person who eats with unwashed hands becomes unclean simply through the act of eating. The Pharisees were not content with being challenged on their traditions in relation to God's law, nor with Jesus labeling their piety as hypocrisy. His final statement provided them with further grounds for their contempt, as it could be applied broadly to dietary laws. Nevertheless, the Lord chose not to pursue the discussion any further and departed from the crowd.

After addressing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the Lord drew the people nearer to teach them about true defilement and what makes a person culpable before God. He emphasized a critical principle: what enters the mouth does not render a person unclean, but rather what emerges from the mouth can make someone unclean. Following this declaration, the Lord entered a house, and His disciples approached Him with the report that the Pharisees found His teachings troubling. Only Matthew mentions this. The Apostles were likely unsettled by the notion that Christ's words, intended to instruct, ended up being a source of temptation for the Pharisees. They could have felt tempted themselves by His assertion that nothing entering a person’s mouth defiles them.

The Pharisees, revealed in their duplicity and departure from the Law, remained mute, offering no response to the question posed by Jesus. Desiring not to waste valuable truth on those incapable of receiving it, Jesus chose to leave the Pharisees to their concealed fury without further comment. However, to avoid leaving the crowd behind the Pharisees in confusion, He addressed the people, clarifying that it is not what enters a man's mouth that renders him unclean, but rather what emerges from his mouth that truly defiles him.

"Summoning the crowd": "After humiliating and casting shame on those individuals, he abandoned them as irreparable and directed his message towards the people, deeming them more deserving" (Euph. Sig.), "so that he could impart a profound wisdom, rich and expansive" (Chrysostom). - "Listen and comprehend": a heightened call for focus, emphasizing the significance of the matter at hand (cf. Theophil.).

Following this, the Lord, recognizing that His fellow questioners were beyond healing and choosing not to engage with them further, turned His attention to the crowd to impart profound wisdom. “Listen to me, all of you, and comprehend!” This marked the start of His discourse, as He elucidated the essence of true defilement: “It is not what enters the mouth that renders a person unclean, but rather what emerges from the mouth that makes one unclean.” “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"