Matthew 15:11 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 15:11 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. The principle that overturns the ritual purity framework: what enters the mouth (food) does not defile; what exits the mouth (speech from the heart) does defile. The principle is not the abolition of the dietary laws in their immediate application but the identification of moral impurity (from the heart) as more fundamentally defiling than ritual impurity (from food contact).

Church Fathers on Matthew 15:11

The Lord had shewn that the Pharisees were not worthy to accuse those who transgressed the commands of the elders, seeing they overthrew the law of God themselves; and He again proves this by the testimony of the Prophet; 'Hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far frost me.'
Chrysostom · 4th century

Hypocrite signifies dissembler, one who feigns one thing in his outward act, and bears another thing in his heart. These then are well called hypocrites because under cover of God’s honour they sought to heap up for themselves earthly gain.
Remigius · 9th century

Esaias saw before the hypocrisy of the Jews, that they would craftily oppose the Gospel, and therefore he said in the person of the Lord, 'This people honoureth me with their lips, &c.'
Rabanus Maurus · 9th century

Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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