Matthew 15:11

But if any one's faith be so strong that he understands that God's creature can in no way be defiled, let him eat what he will, after the food has been hallowed by the word of God and of prayer; yet so that this his liberty be not made an offence to the weak, as the Apostle speaks.

Meantime they huff in our teeth the fact that Isaiah withal has authoritatively declared, "Not such a fast hath the Lord elected," that is, not abstinence from food, but the works of righteousness, which he there appends: and that the Lord Himself in the Gospel has given a compendious answer to every kind of scrupulousness in regard to food; "that not by such things as are introduced into the mouth is a man defiled, but by such as are produced out of the mouth; " while Himself withal was wont to eat and drink till He made Himself noted thus; "Behold, a gormandizer and a drinker: " (finally), that so, too, does the apostle teach that "food commendeth us not to God; since we neither abound if we eat, nor lack if we eat not.

(Verse 11.) It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a person; but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles a person. The word, properly speaking, is communicated through Scripture and is not worn out in everyday conversation. The Jewish people, boasting to be a part of God, call common foods, which all humans use, 'unclean.' For example, pork, oysters, rabbits, and other animals that do not have split hooves, do not chew the cud, and are not scale-covered in fish. And it is also written in the Acts of the Apostles: 'What God has cleansed, you must not call common' (Acts 10:15). Therefore, that which is commonly available to other people, and is as if it is not from God's side, is called impure. It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person. Let a wise reader oppose and say: If what enters the mouth does not defile a person, then why do we not eat idol-offerings? And the Apostle writes: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). Therefore, it must be understood that while food itself, being a creature of God, is clean, it becomes unclean through the invocation of idols and demons.

Having, you see, given them their mortal blow; and from the facts first, then from their own suffrage, then from the prophet having aggravated the charge, with them indeed He discourses not at all, incorrigibly disposed as they are now come to be, but directs His speech to the multitudes, so as to introduce His doctrine, great and high, and full of much strictness; and taking occasion from the former topic, He proceeds to insert that which is greater, casting out also the observance of meats. But see when. When He had cleansed the leper, when He had repealed the Sabbath, when He had shown Himself King of earth and sea, when He had made laws, when He had remitted sins, when He had raised dead men, when He had afforded them many proofs of His Godhead, then He discourses of meats. For indeed all the religion of the Jews is comprised in this; if thou take this away, thou hast even taken away all. For hereby He signifies, that circumcision too must be abrogated. But of Himself He doth not prominently introduce this (forasmuch as that was older than the other commandments, and had higher estimation), but He enacts it by His disciples. For so great a thing was it, that even the disciples after so long a time being minded to do it away, first practise it, and so put it down. But see how He introduces His law: how "He called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand." Thus He doth by no means simply reveal it to them, but by respect and courtesy, first, He makes His saying acceptable (for this the evangelist declares by saying, "He called them unto Him"): and secondly, by the time also; in that after their refutation, and His victory over them, and the accusation by the prophet, then He begins His legislation, when they too would more easily receive His sayings. And He doth not merely call them unto Him, but also makes them more attentive. […]

He no longer converses with the Pharisees, as they were incurable, but with the multitude. Christ sees fit to honor the multitude by calling them to Himself so that they might accept His word, and He says, "Hear and understand," urging them to be attentive. …

Consequently he proposes the most exalted teaching, which is the perfection of the moral life. Hence it should be noted that something is changed by an external thing, as water is heated by fire; and something is changed by an internal thing, as a man …

But that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. We are polluted, not by the meat we eat with unwashen hands, but by the words we speak from an unsanctified heart; thus it is that the mouth causeth the flesh to sin, Eccl. v. 6 . Christ, in a former discourse, had laid a great stress upon our words ( ch. xii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man,.... No sorts of meats, or drinks, or whatever is proper food for men, or manner of eating and drinking them, when moderately used, defile a man, or render him loathsome and odious in the sight God.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth - This is an answer to the carping question of the Pharisees, mentioned Mat 15:2, Why do thy disciples eat with unwashed hands?

There are two striking sayings of the Lord Jesus in this passage. One respects false doctrine: the other respects the human heart. Both of them deserve the closest attention. Respecting false doctrine, our Lord declares that it is a duty to oppose it, that its final destruction is sure, and that its teachers ought to be forsaken. He says, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone.” It is clear, from examination of the passage, that the disciples were surprised at our Lord’s strong language about the Pharisees and their traditions.

There are two striking sayings of the Lord Jesus in this passage. One respects false doctrine: the other respects the human heart. Both of them deserve the closest attention. Respecting false doctrine, our Lord declares that it is a duty to oppose it, that its final destruction is sure, and that its teachers ought to be forsaken. He says, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone.” It is clear, from examination of the passage, that the disciples were surprised at our Lord’s strong language about the Pharisees and their traditions. They had probably been accustomed from their youth to regard the Pharisees as the wisest and best of men. They were startled to hear their Master denouncing them as hypocrites, and charging them with transgressing the commandment of God. “Knowest thou,” they said, “that the Pharisees were offended?” To this question we are indebted for our Lord’s explanatory declaration, a declaration which perhaps has never received the notice it deserves. The plain meaning of our Lord’s words is that false doctrine like that of the Pharisees was a plant to which no mercy should be shown. It was a “plant which his heavenly Father had not planted,” and a plant which it was a duty to “root up,” whatever offense it might cause. To spare it was no charity, because it was injurious to the souls of men. It mattered nothing that those who planted it were high in office, or learned: if it contradicted the Word of God it ought to be opposed, refuted and rejected. His disciples must therefore understand that it was right to resist all teaching that was unscriptural, and to “let alone” and forsake all instructors who persisted in it. Sooner or later they would find that all false doctrine will be completely overthrown and put to shame, and that nothing shall stand but that which is built on the Word of God.