"The Parables No. 9" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

We have now concluded our consideration of the parables of Matt. xiii. 
As we have seen,these parables of the mysteries of the kingdom form a
complete line of teaching by themselves.  After this series of parables
was concluded the Lord Jesus revealed the fact that He must not only be
rejected, but be crucified, die, and be raised again the third day. 
The parables of the second section accordingly take a somewhat
different turn.  One parable is spoken after chapter xiii. before the
revelation of the Lord's death in Matt. xvi.  After this the second
series of parables follows, ending in the prophetic words of Matt.
xxiv. and xxv. This series makes a complete set marked by a special
aspect of dispensational teaching, just in the same way that the
parables of Matt. xiii. are marked by a special aspect of
dispensational truth.

Before considering this group, however, we will look at the parable
recorded in Matt. xv. 10-20.  It throws light upon the nature of the
opposition, and the forces at work which had rejected the kingdom and
finally would crucify the King.  It arose out of the question of the
Scribes and Pharisees concerning eating with unwashen hands.  The Lord
does not here, as He does in Matt. xxiii., fully and unreservedly strip
off their mask of hypocrisy, for His hour had not yet come.  In parable
form, however, He enforces the lesson of the previous words addressed
to the Scribes and Pharisees.  These formalists were far more concerned
about ceremonial washings, than about fruit of heart love.  The
transgression of some minute point of rabbinical tradition was far more
serious in their eyes than the breaking of the law of God.

In answer to the question, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the
tradition of the elders?" the Lord said, "Why do ye also transgress the
commandment of God by your tradition?"  Opposition had been gathering,
and many attempts to entrap the Lord had been made.  His free
intermingling with the publicans and sinners wounded the pride of the
teachers of the law.  His freedom regarding the sabbath was much
resented and opposed.  It appears that on some occasion the Pharisees
had noticed that the disciples had not observed the tradition regarding
washings before meals, and this supplied them with a weapon of attack.
The oral tradition laid peculiar emphasis upon these ceremonial
ablutions.  No doubt we have all heard of Rabbi Akiba, who when
imprisoned and supplied with only enough water to maintain life, chose
rather to perish with thirst and hunger than to eat without the
necessary washings.  What a pitiable misconception!  What a God these
people had invented!  We can imagine the feelings with which these men
came down with this charge upon the disciples of the Lord.  They did
not expect the Lord to reveal the superficial nature of their teaching,
which He did so incisively by his reference to their despicable gloss
in relation to "the first commandment with promise :-

"Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, This people
draweth nigh with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips, but
their heart is far from Me.  But in vain they do worship Me (solemn
words for all dispensations), teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men" (Matt v. 7-9).

Turning from these votaries of littleness, the Lord called the people
together and said:-

"Hear and understand.  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a
man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man"
(Matt. xv. 10, 11).

In these few words the Lord brushed aside the external and the
ceremonial, establishing in their place the real and the essential. 
The record in Mark vii. 15 should be compared:-

"There is nothing from without a man that, entering into him can defile
him, but the things which come out of him, these are they that defile a
man"

These words were sufficiently understood by the Pharisees to offend
them, but the Lord in His reply shows how little He thought of man's
judgment, "Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind."  Peter
now asks for an explanation of the parable, and Matt. xv. 16-20
contains the Lord's answer:-

"And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding, that whatsoever
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast into the
draught? but those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the
heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with
unwashen hands defileth not a man."

Mark gives one or two additional statements which are too important to
pass over unnoticed:-

"Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into
the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth not into his heart"
(Mark vii. 18).

Thus the whole subject revolves around the words "not into his heart"
and "out of the heart."  "Their heart is far from Me." The A.V.
continues, "but into the belly, and goeth into the draught, purging all
meats."  The last clause has caused a great amount of unprofitable
matter to be written.  The true meaning is given in the R.V., "This He
said, making all meats clean," i.e., abolishing for ever the
scrupulosities of mere ceremonial distinctions.  The list of evil
things is different from that given in Matt. xv.:-

"Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark vii. 21, 22).

We would now draw attention to one or two important words and
expressions used in this parable, and then show the light it casts upon
the times and circumstances of this closing section of Matthew's
Gospel.

DEFILED (koinos).--It must be remembered that the subject of defilement
or uncleanness in this parable is ceremonial, it in no wise touches
upon the desirability of having clean hands at meal times, neither does
it teach that we may eat anything with impunity.  If we perceive the
truth nothing can make us ceremonially unclean, but some things may do
us a deal of harm physically.  The word koinos has nothing whatever to
do with uncleanness in a physical sense; it means defilement only in a
ceremonial sense.  The following are its occurrences:-

Koinos.

"*Defiled* (That is to say unwashen) hands"  (Mark vii. 2).

"All things *common*" (Acts ii. 44; iv. 32).

"*Common* or unclean" (Acts x. 14, 28; xi. 8).

"There is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything
to be *unclean*, to him it is *unclean*" (Rom. xiv. 14).

"The *common* faith" (Titus i. 4).

"An *unholy* thing" (Heb x. 29).

"The *common* salvation" (Jude 3).

Koinoo.

"*Defile* a man" (Matt. iv. 11, 18, 20; Mark vii. 15, 18, 20, 23).

"Call not thou *common*" (Acts x. 15; xi. 9).

"Brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath *polluted* this holy
place" (Acts xxi. 28).

"Sprinkling the *unclean*" (Heb. ix. 13).

"There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that *defileth*" (Rev.
xi. 27).

It will be seen by the above passages that the idea defile must be
considered from the ceremonial standpoint.  The apostle does not
hesitate to speak of the "common faith," not because there was anything
unclean about it, but because it was not the exclusive possession of a
privileged few, it being now proclaimed to the Gentile as well as the
Jew.  The ceremonial ablutions were jealously guarded and observed not
so much out of a desire for holiness or personal cleanliness, but out
of a cramped, narrow and bigoted pride.  To the pharisaic mind there
was but one class, "the elect," all others were either "Gentile dogs,"
or "the people who know not the law" who are cursed.  This narrow
exclusive spirit was a fundamental cause of the great rejection, for in
Matt. xxiii. 13 the first woe uttered by our Lord touches this very
point:-

"But woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  for ye shut up
the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither do ye suffer them that are entering to go in."

Luke xi. 52 adds another weighty word:-

"Woe unto you lawyers!  for ye took away the key of knowledge, ye
entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."

The reference to "the blind guides" in Matt. xxiii. 16 is a further
link with Matt. xv.  So also the sentiment of verses 23- 27.  The
charge is very severe, and must have caused, as indeed we know it did,
intense hatred.  These men, who were so scrupulous about the outside as
in Matt. xv., were within "full of all uncleanness."

HEART.--The way in which the Lord uses the word "heart" is full of deep
teaching.  In the Beatitudes He had said, "Blessed are the pure in
heart," the word "pure" being the Greek word katharos.  The next time
the Lord uses the word in Matthew it is in direct continuance of this
passage in Matt. v. :-

"Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and
platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matt. xxiii. 26).

The clean in heart, not the ceremonially and externally clean, not as
the whitewashed sepulchres, these and these alone should see the
kingdom.  So superficial had become the ideas of men at the time of
Christ, that He early disturbed the self-righteous complacency of those
who thought that they were safe:-

"Ye have, heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
commit adultery, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart" (Matt. v. 28).

"The tree is known by his fruit.  O generation of vipers, how can ye,
being evil, speak good things?  for out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 33, 34).

Thus the Lord would teach that just as the fruit of a tree indicates
the nature of the tree itself, so the fruit of the lips will show the
nature of the heart which gives that fruit origin. Once again, in
answer to the lawyer's question, the Lord puts the heart in the first
place:-

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt xxii. 37).

Heart first, mind last.  The mere intellectualism which always
accompanies a pharisaical spirit is placed by its advocates foremost,
while the heart is placed last.  Not so, in the Lord's estimate.  He
does not call upon us to quibble over the petty details which occupied
the little minds of these formalists, but urges love of heart first and
foremost.

The words of the R.V. of Mark vii. 19, "This he said, making all meats
clean," should be noted.  These words are the inspired comment upon the
Lord's teaching.  It indicated the trend of His teaching and the effect
of His work.  It lifted the one who believed Him above the sphere
wherein such observances were of service.  It entirely discountenanced
the teaching of the Pharisees.  The spirit of the lesson is echoed in
an apocryphal addition to Luke vi. 5 found in the Codex Bezae:-

"On the same day, seeing one working on the Sabbath, He said to him, O
man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed, but if
thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a transgressor of the Law."

Let us now examine the list of sins which the Lord said did defile a
man, coming as they did out of the heart.

EVIL THOUGHTS.--The word "thought" is dialogismos:D

"When Jesus perceived their *thoughts*, He answering said unto them,
What *reason ye* in your hearts?" (Luke v. 22).

"The Scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on the
Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against Him, but He
knew their *thoughts*" (Luke vi. 7, 8).

So also Luke ii. 35; ix. 46, 47; xxiv. 38; and James ii. 4.  The word
"evil" is poneros:D

"Wherefore think ye *evil* in your hearts" (Matt. ix. 4).

"O generation of vipers, how can ye (Pharisees, see verse 24), being
*evil* speak good things?  for out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh . . . . An *evil* and adulterous generation" (Matt. xii.
34, 39).

It seems fairly clear that the Lord had the Pharisees and Scribes in
view when He uttered the words in the parable concerning evil thoughts.

MURDERS (phonos).--The word occurs in connection with Barabbas in Mark
xv. 7 and Luke xxiii. 19, 25.  "Destroyed those murderers, and burnt up
their city" (Matt. xxii. 7).  Refer back to the related parable in
Matt. xxi. 38, 39 for the full force of this passage: note verses 45
and 46, and xxii. 15, and see how the Pharisees realize that the Lord
meant to indicate them under this awful title.  Matt. v. 21 has already
made it clear how "murder" may be charged against these plotting
enemies of the Lord.  The Pharisees and Scribes are again charged with
this foul crime in Matt. xxiii. 31-39.

ADULTERERS (moicheia).--"The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a
woman taken in adultery" (John viii. 3).  These hypocrites were not
concerned about the evil of the act (for they were guilty themselves,
see verse 9), they simply desired to catch the Lord and involve Him in
His words (verse 6).  The exceeding looseness with which many of the
Pharisees held the marriage tie involved them in the sin of adultery
before God (see Matt. v. 31, 32, and xix. 3-9).  As with murder, so
with adultery, the desire of the heart constituted guilt (see Matt. v.
27, 28).  On several occasions the Lord denounced these evil men as "a
wicked and adulterous generation" (see Matt. xii. 39 and xvi. 4).

FORNICATIONS (porneia).--It is a remarkable fact that this plague
figures more conspicuously in the Epistles and in the Revelation than
in the Gospels.  Once the enemies of the Lord use it (John viii. 41),
an insult which His holy nature must have felt keenly, but how gracious
and calm was His reply!  Although specific instances of this sin are
not given in the Gospels, we know the Lord sufficiently to imagine that
He would not use a word so foul, unless He knew only too well that the
charge was actually true.  Its prominence in the Apocalypse, and the
practical absence of adultery, throw a vivid light on the character of
the last days.

THEFTS (klope).--This word occurs nowhere else except in the parallel
passage of Mark.  The cognate word kleptes ("thief") is used in John x.
1, 8, 1O, and includes the Scribes and Pharisees, as the context shows.
 The devouring of widows' houses (Matt. xxiii. 14; Mark xii. 40; and
Luke xx. 47), the traditions (Matt. xv. 5, 6), and the turning of the
House of Prayer into a den of thieves (Matt. xi. 13), involve the
Pharisees in this sin.

FALSE WITNESS.--This word in all its hideous nakedness is written
against the "chief priests, and elders, and all the council" (Matt.
xxvi. 59) in relation to the deep-laid plot against the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the more significant when we consider the
fact that these two passages contain all the occurrences of the word in
the N.T.

BLASPHEMY.--Mark iii. 29 shows that the Scribes were guilty of the most
unpardonable blasphemy.

We will not go through the list given in Mark, readers should make a
study of the words there given.  One thing is prominent in this
parable.  The Pharisees were guilty of breaking the very law in which
they boasted so much.  Listen to our Lord's summary of the Law:-

"Jesus said (observe the order here and in Matt. xv.), Thou shalt do no
*murder*, thou shalt not commit *adultery*, thou shalt not *steal*,
thou shalt not bear *false witness*. Honour thy father and thy mother
(cf. Matt, xv. 4-6), and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself
(Matt. xix. 18, 19).

How weak, how beggarly, the petty observances and mere trifling
externals of the Pharisees appear when seen from the standpoint of
love.  The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, seems to have the
pharisaical spirit before him.  First in Rom. ii. we read:-

"For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself . . . . 
Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy
boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are
more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that
thou thyself art a guide of the blind (cf. Matt. xv. 14), a light of
them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, which have the FORM of knowledge and of the truth in the law
(cf. 2 Tim. iii. 5); thou therefore that TEACHEST another, *teachest
thou not thyself*?  thou that PREACHEST a man should not steal, *dost
thou steal*?  thou that SAYEST a man should not commit adultery, *dost
thou commit adultery*?  thou that abhorrest idols, *dost thou commit
sacrilege*?  thou that makest thy boast in the law, through breaking
the law *dishonourest thou God* . . . . who by the *letter* and
*circumcision* dost transgress the law? (Matt. xv. 3).  For he is not a
Jew who is one *outwardly* (see Matt. xiii. 28) . . . . circumcision is
that of the HEART in the spirit, and not in the letter (cf. 2 Cor. iii.
6), whose praise is not of men, but of God."

The sequel is found in Rom. xiii. 8-1O:-

"Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth
another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not
bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other
commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying, 'Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself'"

Returning to the parable of Matt. xv. with the knowledge we have now
gained, do we not see that it foreshadowed that spirit which manifested
itself in all its hollowness and sham, and whose loveless creed
culminated in the basest act that the world has ever witnessed.  The
second set of parables in Matthew's Gospel becomes luminous in the
light of this one.  Into what a ditch these blind guides led that poor
blinded people!  The Lord disowns them, they were never planted by Him,
they were sown by the Devil, they shall be rooted up (Matt. xiii. 29). 
They are the tares, the children of the wicked one.  The burden of
guilt rested chiefly upon the rulers and leaders of the people.  They
neither entered into the kingdom of the heavens themselves, nor allowed
the common people, who desired to enter, to do so.

While it is of the utmost importance to realize the dispensational
setting and bearing of this parable, it is essential to our joy and
peace that we take to heart the solemn teaching for ourselves.  May we
remember that the mere observance of ceremonies is nothing.  Love is
the fulfilling of the law. Our walk is to be "in love."  Let us take
heed and beware of the "leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees."