Matthew 15:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When the Pharisees heard the things that went before, they made no reply to them, because He had so mightily overthrown them, not only refuting their arguments, but detecting their fraud, but they, not the multitudes, were offended at them; Then came his disciples unto him and said, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?

Recognizing the Pharisees' inability to change and their misguided ways, He declared that they should be left alone. This teaches us that engaging with those who willingly succumb to temptation and cannot be healed does not harm us. The Lord refers to them as blind guides leading others in darkness, aiming to redirect the people away from their influence.

In one of the Lord’s discourses the whole superstition of Jewish observances had been cut down. They placed their whole religion in using or abstaining from certain meats.

Leave them..., ‘as unhealable.’ Thus, He refrains from remedying their temptations, aware that no solution will benefit them. The leaders are the blind guiding the blind; He refers to them as blind because their souls are obscured by a deluge of passions, preventing them from perceiving the light of truth. Moreover, they themselves guide the ignorant due to their lack of understanding of the Scriptures. To be blind is a grave affliction, yet to be ensnared in one’s own blindness while leading another who is also blind is undoubtedly a greater calamity. If a blind person leads another blind individual, both will inevitably stumble into the abyss. This is clearly understandable.

What He intends then by a plant not planted of His Father, is that tradition of men under cover of which the Law had been transgressed, this He instructs them must be rooted up.

He continues by declaring, “Leave them be; they are blind guides for the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” These statements were directed at the scribes and Pharisees, who were spiritually blinded by the folly of their disbelief. They not only failed to see the radiance of truth by rejecting Christ, but they also misled others into the depths of ruin. This admonition also pertains to heretics. By rejecting Christ as “the true light from the true light, and God from God,” they too became blinded. In promoting false teachings, they took on the roles of leaders and teachers for the unfortunate souls who followed them.

They are blind, that is, they want the light of God’s commandments; and they are leaders of the blind, inasmuch as they draw others headlong, erring, and leading into error; whence it is added, If the blind lead the blind, they both fall into the ditch.

Every false doctrine and superstitious observance with the workers thereof cannot endure; and because it is not from God the Father, it shall be rooted up with the same. And that only shall endure which is of God.

A person who lacks spiritual insight and attempts to guide others is unfaithful, and those who choose to follow such a leader will find themselves in peril, as stated in Scripture: ‘If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into the pit’ (Matthew 15:14).

Therefore, prevent them from following their fabricated teachings; their doctrines will only bring you harm, as they are leaders blinded by their own lack of vision. They are spiritually ignorant, closing their eyes to the light of God's word and erecting barriers of their own imaginations that separate them from it. What is even more troubling is that these spiritually blind individuals, represented by the Pharisees and scribes, remain completely unaware of their condition. As it is written, "IF THE BLIND LEAD THE BLIND, both will fall into the pit." St. John Chrysostom aptly noted that while it is dire to be blind, leading others into that blindness is far worse.

After confronting the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the Lord drew the crowd closer to Him, teaching them about what truly renders a person unclean, defiling him and making him guilty before God. He emphasized that the general principle is that what enters the mouth does not defile a person, but rather, what issues from the mouth can cause defilement. Following this instruction, the Lord went into a house where His disciples approached Him with the report that the Pharisees were offended by His teachings, as noted in Matthew’s account. The Apostles may have been unsettled by the fact that Jesus' words, meant to enlighten, had instead tempted those who heard them, or they themselves were troubled by His assertion regarding what does not defile a person.

When Jesus perceived the confusion among His disciples, He conveyed His message through a parable. He likened the word of God to a seed that a gardener plants, while the transformation of humanity through the word of God mirrors the growth of a plant emerging from that seed. Just as a gardener attentively monitors the growth of his plants, he removes any plants that sprout on their own, uninvited, from areas where they were not intended to grow. Similarly, any teaching that lacks the core truth of God will inevitably be discarded. Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted; leave them; they are blind guides of the blind; and if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit.

"Disregard them": do not adhere to the teachings they have created, which claim to be rooted in the traditions of the elders, yet fail to align with the divine truth and ultimately undermine God's commandments. - "Disregard them": have no fear of their anger, do not be intimidated by their threats. In instructing His followers to steer clear of the Pharisees, the Lord does not call for them to abandon these individuals in their misguided beliefs, nor does He seek to enlighten or refute their erroneous teachings, as He has done so Himself. He merely encourages them not to embrace their doctrines and to remain untroubled.

The teaching of the Lord was perceived as unusual by the Jewish legal experts, who were entrenched in trivial and strictly external laws concerning purity. The disciples asked Him, "Are you tempted like the Pharisees who received the message?" In response, the Lord employed the metaphor of a plant to illustrate that any teaching not aligned with the revealed truth of God will ultimately lose its effectiveness and importance. This includes the teachings of the Pharisees, who were spiritually blind guides to the people, relying on their perilous leadership. As it is written, "Every garden that My Father in heaven does not plant will be uprooted; leave them; they are blind leaders of the blind; and if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit."