10 And he got the people together and said to them, Give ear, and let my words be clear to you: 11 Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth. 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, Did you see that the Pharisees were troubled when these words came to their ears? 13 But he said in answer, Every plant which my Father in heaven has not put in the earth, will be taken up by the roots. 14 Let them be: they are blind guides. And if a blind man is guiding a blind man, the two will go falling into a hole together. 15 Then Peter said to him, Make the story clear to us. 16 And he said, Are you, like them, still without wisdom? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth goes on into the stomach, and is sent out as waste? 18 But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart; and they make a man unclean. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, the taking of life, broken faith between the married, unclean desires of the flesh, taking of property, false witness, bitter words: 20 These are the things which make a man unclean; but to take food with unwashed hands does not make a man unclean.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 15:10-20
Commentary on Matthew 15:10-20
(Read Matthew 15:10-20)
Christ shows that the defilement they ought to fear, was not from what entered their mouths as food, but from what came out of their mouths, which showed the wickedness of their hearts. Nothing will last in the soul but the regenerating graces of the Holy Spirit; and nothing should be admitted into the church but what is from above; therefore, whoever is offended by a plain, seasonable declaration of the truth, we should not be troubled at it. The disciples ask to be better taught as to this matter. Where a weak head doubts concerning any word of Christ, an upright heart and a willing mind seek for instruction. It is the heart that is desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17:9, for there is no sin in word or deed, which was not first in the heart. They all come out of the man, and are fruits of that wickedness which is in the heart, and is wrought there. When Christ teaches, he will show men the deceitfulness and wickedness of their own hearts; he will teach them to humble themselves, and to seek to be cleansed in the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.