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Matthew 15

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📖 Matthew introduction

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1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, ✦ 2“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” ✦ 3He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? ✦ 4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ✦ 5But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” ✦ 6he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. ✦ 7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ✦ 8‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. ✦ 9And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’” ✦ 10He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. ✦ 11That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” ✦ 12Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?” ✦ 13But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. ✦ 14Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ✦ 15Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.” ✦ 16So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? ✦ 17Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? ✦ 18But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. ✦ 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. ✦ 20These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.” ✦ 21Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. ✦ 22Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” ✦ 23But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.” ✦ 24But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ✦ 25But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ✦ 26But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ✦ 27But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ✦ 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. ✦ 29Jesus departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there. ✦ 30Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, ✦ 31so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing — and they glorified the God of Israel. ✦ 32Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.” ✦ 33The disciples said to him, “Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?” ✦ 34Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ✦ 35He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; ✦ 36and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. ✦ 37They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. ✦ 38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39Then he sent away the multitudes, got into the boat, and came into the borders of Magdala. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Mark 7 ·21Matt 14 ·10Matt 9 ·8Mark 9 ·7Luke 18 ·7Rom 3 ·7Col 2 ·6Matt 15 ·6

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical

    A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.

  • ★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical

    Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.

  • ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical

    A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

  • SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed

    Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)

  • DocumentaryThat the World May KnowRay Vander Laan · Paid · evangelical

    Ray Vander Laan's on-location series immersing you in the Bible's historical and cultural world. (Mostly paid via Focus on the Family; some free clips.)

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

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