Matthew 15–16

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”^{a 3}So he answered and^* said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your^* father and your^* mother,’^b and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^c.’^{d 5}But you say, ‘Whoever says to his^* father or his^* mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^e from me is a gift to God,” ⁶need not honor his father,’^f and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

⁸‘This people honors me with their^* lips,

but their heart is far, far away from me,

⁹and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”^g

Defilement from Within

¹⁰And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” ¹²Then the disciples came and^* said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they^* heard this saying?” ¹³And he answered and^* said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let^h them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter answered and^* said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. ¹⁹For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. ²⁰These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”

A Canaanite Woman’s Great Faith

²¹And departing from there, Jesus went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came and cried out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came up and^* asked him, saying, “Send her away, because she is crying out after us!” ²⁴But he answered and^* said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and^* knelt down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶And he answered and^* said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it^* to the dogs!” ²⁷So she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Many Others Healed in Galilee

²⁹And departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up on the mountain and^* was sitting there. ³⁰And large crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, crippled,ⁱ and many others, and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹So then the crowd was astonished when they^* saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.

The Feeding of Four Thousand

³²And Jesus summoned his disciples and^* said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry lest they give out on the way.” ³³And the disciples said to him, “Where in this desolate place can we get^j so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” So they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” ³⁵And commanding the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, ³⁶he took the seven loaves and the fish and after he^* had given thanks, he broke them^* and began giving^k them^* to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. ³⁸Now those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. ³⁹And after he^* sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

The Signs of the Times

16And when^* the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him,^* they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ²So he answered and^* said to them, “When^* evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’ ³and early in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy weather, because the sky is red and^* darkening.’ You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able to evaluate^* the signs of the times. ⁴An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!” And he left them and^* went away.

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵And when^* the disciples arrived at the other side,^a they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them, “Watch out for and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ⁷So they were discussing this^* among themselves, saying, “It is because we did not take bread.” ⁸But knowing this,^* Jesus said, “Why are you discussing among yourselves that you did not take bread,^b you of little faith? ⁹Do you not yet understand or do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? ¹¹How do you not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ¹²Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession at Caesarea Philippi

¹³Now when^* Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,^c he began asking^* his disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, Some^d say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and^* said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” ¹⁷And Jesus answered and^* said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this^* to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it! ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound^e in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released^f in heaven.” ²⁰Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²¹From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day. ²²And Peter took him aside and^* began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid,^g Lord! This will never happen to you!” ²³But he turned around and^* said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a cause for stumbling to me, because you are not intent on the things of God, but the things of people!”

Taking Up One’s Cross to Follow Jesus

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. ²⁶For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will reward each one according to what he has done.^{h 28}Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”