Matthew 15 – True Defilement, Great Faith, and Jesus’ Compassion

Overview: The Heart of True Righteousness

🔹 Timeframe: Jesus’ ministry in Gentile regions.

🔹 Setting: Encounters with Pharisees, a Canaanite woman, and large crowds.

🔹 Theme: Faith over tradition, humility over pride, and provision over lack.

Key Takeaways

🔑 True defilement comes from the heart, not external actions.

🔑 Faith, even from an outsider, moves the heart of God.

🔑 Jesus is compassionate toward all who seek Him.

🔑 God provides abundantly, both spiritually and physically.

Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment

🔮 True Worship Over Rituals – Echoes Isaiah 1:11-17, where God rejects empty religious practices.

🔮 Gentile Inclusion in the Kingdom – Foreshadowed in Isaiah 49:6, where salvation extends to the nations.

🔮 God’s Provision in the Wilderness – Mirroring manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35).

Historical & Cultural Context

📜 Jewish Cleanliness Laws – Ritual handwashing was a Pharisaic addition, not a Mosaic command.

📜 Canaanite-Jewish Tension – Jews viewed Canaanites as unclean outsiders, making Jesus’ interaction radical.

📜 Feeding Miracles & Messianic Imagery – Providing food was a sign of divine power and kingship.

💡 Final Reflection: Do We Prioritize Faith Over Tradition?

Matthew 15 calls us to examine our hearts. Are we clinging to empty traditions, or do we seek true purity through Christ?

📌 Is our worship genuine, or just external?
📌 Do we persist in faith like the Canaanite woman?
📌 Are we trusting Jesus for both spiritual and physical provision?

🚀 Jesus desires our hearts, not just our rituals—will we give them to Him?

Traditions and Commandments
Mat 15:1  Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 
Mat 15:2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 
Mat 15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 
Mat 15:4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 
Mat 15:5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 
Mat 15:6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 
Mat 15:7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 
Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 
Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

What Defiles a Person
Mat 15:10  And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 
Mat 15:11  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 
Mat 15:12  Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 
Mat 15:13  But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 
Mat 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 
Mat 15:15  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 
Mat 15:16  And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 
Mat 15:17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 
Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 
Mat 15:20  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. 

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Mat 15:21  Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 
Mat 15:22  And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 
Mat 15:23  But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 
Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
Mat 15:25  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 
Mat 15:26  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 
Mat 15:27  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 
Mat 15:28  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. 

Jesus Heals Many
Mat 15:29  And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 
Mat 15:30  And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: 
Mat 15:31  Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. 

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
Mat 15:32  Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 
Mat 15:33  And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 
Mat 15:34  And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. 
Mat 15:35  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 
Mat 15:36  And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 
Mat 15:37  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. 
Mat 15:38  And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. 
Mat 15:39  And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.