Catholic Commentary on Matthew 15

"Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." (Matthew 15:28)

What Defiles

The Pharisees challenge Jesus about why his disciples do not wash their hands before eating. Jesus turns the question back: why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? He gives the example of Corban, dedicating money to God as a way of avoiding the obligation to support aging parents, making the word of God void through tradition. Then he calls the crowd: it is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean, but what comes out, from the heart. The list of what comes from the heart reads like a catalogue of sin: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. The Catechism draws from this the importance of conscience formation: the heart that produces good must itself be shaped by truth, through prayer, the word of God, and the sacraments (CCC 1783). External practices have their place; they are meant to express and reinforce interior transformation, not substitute for it.

The Canaanite Woman

A Canaanite woman comes to Jesus crying out for her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus does not answer. The disciples urge him to send her away. He says he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. She kneels and begs. He says it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. She replies: Yes it is, Lord. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Jesus responds with one of the most generous words he speaks to anyone: Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted. The Church Fathers consistently read this exchange as a test deliberately designed to elicit and reveal the depth of her faith. Jesus is drawing out what is already there. She passes every test: she does not take offence, she does not give up, she turns even his objection into a further plea. St. John Chrysostom wrote that her answer exceeded what even the apostles had yet shown.

The Feeding of the Four Thousand

For the second time Jesus feeds a vast crowd in a deserted place, this time four thousand people with seven loaves and a few fish, with seven basketfuls left over. The disciples seem to have learned nothing from the first feeding: they ask how anyone could feed so many here. The repetition is instructive. We witness the miracles of God in our own lives and still we worry when the next shortage comes, still we plan from our own resources, still we forget. The Eucharist is celebrated Sunday after Sunday partly for this reason: we need to be fed again and again before the truth that Jesus is enough becomes the settled foundation of the soul.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Canaanite woman had every reason to give up. She was a Gentile, a woman, without status or claim. She was initially ignored, then challenged, then apparently rebuffed. She pressed through every obstacle without resentment and without retreat. The quality Jesus names at the end, great faith, was being demonstrated throughout. How do you respond when prayer seems to be ignored or refused?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you called the Canaanite woman's persistence great faith. Give us that kind of faith: not the faith that expects a quick answer and gives up when it does not come, but the faith that kneels at your feet through every silence and every delay, trusting that you hear and will act. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

15
The Tradition of the Elders
(Mark 7:1–13)
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”
 
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’* 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16 and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’† 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9 5 But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he need not honor his father or mother with it.‡ 15:6 NE and TR (see also Mark 7:12); literally he need not honor his father or mother; SBL, NA, WH, and BYZ do not include or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
 
8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain;
they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’§ 15:9 Isaiah 29:13 (see also LXX)”
What Defiles a Man
(Mark 7:14–23)
 
10 Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”
 
12 Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
 
13 But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots. 14 Disregard them! They are blind guides.* 15:14 Or blind guides of the blind If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
 
15 Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
 
16 “Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked. 17 “Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. 20 These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman
(Mark 7:24–30)
 
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
 
23 But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
 
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
 
25 The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
 
26 But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
 
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs † 15:27 Or puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
 
28 “O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
(2 Kings 4:42–44; Mark 8:1–10)
 
29 Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
 
32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
 
33 The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”
 
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
 
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
 
35 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
 
37 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.
 
39 After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

*15:4 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16

†15:4 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9

‡15:6 15:6 NE and TR (see also Mark 7:12); literally he need not honor his father or mother; SBL, NA, WH, and BYZ do not include or mother.

§15:9 15:9 Isaiah 29:13 (see also LXX)

*15:14 15:14 Or blind guides of the blind

†15:27 15:27 Or puppies

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