Matthew 15:3 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 15:3 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”

He answered them: and why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? Jesus' counter-challenge: the Pharisees who accuse the disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders are themselves breaking the commandment of God through their tradition. The escalation from tradition-of-elders to commandment-of-God communicates the difference in authority between the two: the biblical command and the scribal tradition are not equivalent, and when they conflict, the biblical command must take priority.

Church Fathers on Matthew 15:3

The men of Gennezareth and the less learned believe; but they who seem to be wise come to dispute with Him; according to that, 'Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' Whence it is said, 'Then, came to him from Jerusalem Scribes and Pharisee.'
Rabanus Maurus · 9th century

The Evangelist thus constructs the order of his narrative, 'Then came unto him,' that, as appeared in the passage over the lake, the order of the events that followed that might be shewn.
Augustine · 4th century · de Cons. Ev., ii, 49

For this reason also the Evangelist marks the time that He may shew their iniquity overcome by nothing; for they came to Him at a time when He had wrought many miracles, when He had healed the sick by the touch of His hem. That the Scribes and Pharisees are here said to have come from Jerusalem, it should be known that they were dispersed through all the tribes, but those that dwelt in the Metropolis were worse than the others, their higher dignity inspiring them with a…
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 23 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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