Matthew 15:7

5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ^a“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—

6 then he need not honor his father¹ or mother.’ Thus you have made the² commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

7 ^aHypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

8 ‘These^a people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.

9 And in vain they worship Me,
^aTeaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

10 ^aWhen He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:

11 ^aNot what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

13 But He answered and said, ^a“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

14 Let them alone. ^aThey are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

15 ^aThen Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

16 So Jesus said, ^a“Are you also still without understanding?

17 Do you not yet understand that ^awhatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?

18 But ^athose things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

19 ^aFor out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

A Gentile Shows Her Faith

21 ^aThen Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, ^aSon of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Matthew 15:7 Mean?

Matthew 15:6-9

Tradition in religion is a wonderful thing when it has a firm basis in the truth of God, but it becomes a deceitful and corrupting influence when its foundations are in the shifting sands of human thought. It is especially diabolical when it masquerades as rich and sublime while actually directly contradicting God's Word! This, for instance, is the case with calling the Pope "Holy Father." What blasphemy! Jesus Himself instructs His disciples, "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9; emphasis ours). No matter how saintly any Pope might seem, he can never even in the smallest way be comparable to God the Father!

Truly, "now we see in a mirror, dimly" when it comes to the revelation of God; none of us has God's Word down perfectly. Nevertheless, there is a wide gulf between sincere seeking of God's revealed truth and blatant disregard for the plain teachings of Scripture. Keeping tradition despite God's commandment to the contrary is nothing less than idolatry—exalting human ideas and desires above God's. It is what has become known as humanism, and it is an identifying mark of false religion.

God's true church has and follows the Bible, God's Instruction Book for Christian practice, which is what religion is. It resists outside intrusions of worldly philosophies and measures all new ideas against pure, confirmed, God-breathed Word (II Peter 1:19-21). On the other side, false religions have eaten of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9, 17; 3:1-11), mixing godly teaching with false, human self-righteousness. It is an extremely simple test but highly effective in exposing false or corrupted faiths.

Jesus says straightforwardly, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29). God's efforts are engaged in getting us to believe in Jesus, sure, but believing in Jesus is far more than accepting that He died for the forgiveness of our sins—it is believing what He said for our instruction and what He lived as an example to us. It is following Him, imitating Him, obeying Him, and becoming more and more like Him every day!

So, do we really believe Him? Or, are we just treading water, ignorantly or even willfully continuing in the traditions of our parents because we are too lazy, too content, or too fearful to follow the truth? God is seeking men and women to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23), and these are the ones who really believe. Are we among them? Have we examined ourselves "as to whether [we] are in the faith" (II Corinthians 13:5)? Do we really and truly believe?

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Do You Believe—Really Believe?

Matthew 15:7-9

An intense focus on "preaching of the gospel" has the power to detach us from the creative activity of God. "In vain they do worship Me," Christ says. Worship means "to hold in high regard, to venerate, to honor." Worship has become so restricted in people's minds that it is generally limited to something one does for an hour or two once a week. During that period of time, one might have a strong feeling of reverence. However, worship in the biblical sense is practical and very broad in application, involving all of the activities of every day of one's life.

Jesus castigated these people because they had made the worship of God so narrow. God was being excluded from their everyday lives by the "commandments of men" that they taught.

The worship of God involves everything we do every day. We are to honor Him, glorify Him, venerate Him in all things. Worship has very broad applications, which is why the word "commandments" is part of this context, because the commandments of God involve all of our life every day.

John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part One)

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 15:7:

Exodus 21:15
Leviticus 20:9
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Proverbs 19:26
Proverbs 20:20
Proverbs 28:24
Proverbs 30:17
Matthew 23:23
Mark 7:14-23
Luke 11:42
John 5:16

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A Gentile Shows Her Faith

What Does Matthew 15:7 Mean?

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