Page 52 - Demo

Pharisees. The word “Pharisee” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “set apart.” This sect or school of thought within Judaism emphasized the Law (the Torah), both as it was written down and as it had been handed on (the “oral Torah”). In the Gospels, the Pharisees are frequently seen in con ict with Jesus over interpretations of the Law.
..This painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569) is called The Blind Leading the Blind.
Clean and unclean:
The Pharisees question Jesus because his disciples have omitted the ritual washing of hands before a meal. This washing is not about hygiene; it is about ritual (see Leviticus 15:11 and Exodus 30:17-21). Ritual can become empty rote if it loses its connection to spiritual realities. It is not what goes into us—the food we eat—that makes us unclean, Jesus says. The words we utter and the sins that come forth from our hearts are what make us unclean. Again and again, Jesus tells us to turn our eyes inward, to what is happening inside us. He awakens our conscience, telling us to be aware of the presence of sin in our hearts: more dangerous than not washing our hands.
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* [15:8] The text of Is 29:13 is quoted approximately according to the Septuagint.
* [15:13–14] Jesus leads his disciples away from the teaching authority of the Pharisees.
* [15:15] Matthew speci es Peter as the questioner, unlike Mk 7:17. Given his tendency to
present the disciples as more understanding than in his Marcan source, it is noteworthy that here he retains the Marcan rebuke, although in a slightly milder form. This may be due to his wish to correct the Jewish Christians within his church who still held to the food laws and thus separated themselves from Gentile Christians who did not observe them.
* [15:19] The Marcan list of thirteen things that de le (Mk 7:21–22) is here reduced to seven that partially cover the content of the Decalogue.
* [15:21–28] See note on Mt 8:5–13.
* [15:24] See note on Mt 10:5–6.
* [15:26] The children: the people of Israel. Dogs: see note on Mt 7:6.
* [15:28] As in the case of the cure of the centurion’s servant (Mt 8:10), Matthew ascribes
Jesus’ granting the request to the woman’s great faith, a point not made equally explicit in the Marcan parallel (Mk 7:24–30).
d. [15:8] Is 29:13 LXX.
e. [15:9] Col 2:23.
f. [15:10] Mk 7:14.
g. [15:14] 23:16, 19, 24; Lk 6:39; Jn 9:40.
h. [15:18] 12:34.
i. [15:21–28] Mk 7:24–30. j. [15:25] 10:6.
k. [15:28] 8:10.
MATTHEW 
‘Whoever says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God,” 6need not honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said:
8d ‘This people honors me with their lips,* but their hearts are far from me;
9e in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.’”
10f He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. 11It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” 12Then his disciples
approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13He said in reply,* “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14g Let them alone; they are blind guides [of the blind]. If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.” 15Then Peter* said to him in reply, “Explain this parable to us.” 16He said to them, “Are even you still without understanding? 17Do you not rea-
lize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? 18h But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. 19* For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. 20These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
The Canaanite Woman’s Faith.* 21i Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” 24* He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25j But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children* and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 28k Then Jesus said