Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash [their] hands when they eat a meal.”
10 He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” 12 Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13 He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides (of the blind). If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.” 15 Then Peter said to him in reply, “Explain [this] parable to us.” 16 He said to them, “Are even you still without understanding? 17 Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? 18 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. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem and question Jesus about the conduct of His disciples. Their concern involves “the tradition of the elders,” a body of religious interpretations and practices handed down alongside the written Law. The handwashing mentioned here was a ritual act intended to remove ceremonial impurity before eating. It was different from ordinary washing for cleanliness.
The verses omitted from today’s reading explain the larger dispute. Jesus points to a practice that allowed resources intended for the support of one’s parents to be dedicated to God. This could prevent those resources from being used to care for elderly parents. Jesus recalls the commandment, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12), and teaches that religious practices must serve obedience to God’s commandments.
Jesus then calls the crowd and says, “Hear and understand” (v. 10). He leads them from the question of ritual washing to the deeper meaning of purity. Food enters the body and passes through it. Moral actions arise from within the person. The true condition of a person is therefore revealed through thoughts, decisions, words, and deeds.
When the disciples tell Jesus that the Pharisees were offended, He describes them as plants that His heavenly Father has not planted and as blind guides. The image of uprooted plants recalls the parable of the weeds, in which God brings every work to judgment (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43). The image of blind guides warns that spiritual leaders must understand God’s will clearly because their teaching affects those who follow them.
Peter asks Jesus to explain the parable. Jesus’ answer identifies the heart as the source of moral action. In Scripture, the heart means the interior center of the person, where thoughts, desires, intentions, and decisions take shape. Jesus had already taught, “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Our speech and conduct reveal what we have allowed to develop within us.
Jesus lists evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, and blasphemy. These sins reflect several of the Ten Commandments and show how inward choices become outward acts. Hatred can lead toward violence. Disordered desire can lead toward sexual sin. Greed can lead toward theft. Deceit can lead toward false witness. The moral life therefore requires attention to the thoughts and desires that we accept and cultivate.
The heart can also receive the word of God and bear good fruit (Matthew 13:23). God purifies the heart through His grace and forms within us charity, chastity, truthfulness, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Purity of heart grows as our thoughts, desires, words, and actions become increasingly united with the will of God.
What we allow to grow within the heart will eventually appear in our words and actions.
Heavenly Father, purify our hearts and guide our thoughts, words, and actions. Help us to love You faithfully and to treat others with justice, mercy, and truth. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 15:1–20.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. Notes on Matthew 15:1–20, 34.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. Notes on Matthew 15:1–20, 100.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 658, paragraph 99.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 194–196.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 939.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully revised ed. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1203.
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