Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 15:13

"But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up." — Matthew 15:13 (ASV)

But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father not planted, shall be rooted up.

Every teacher whom God has not sent will find his teaching contradicted by Christ. The truth is like a spade; it turns up the soil for that life to grow in it which should grow, and it is also the means of killing the weeds: Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. May we all be plants of his right-hand planting! Amen.

But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up.

The truth is often intended to be an uprooter. I have no doubt that our Lord said many things which had no other intention than the discovery of these deceitful men to themselves and others, that their baneful influence might be destroyed. Our Saviour was a true iconoclast, a great image-smasher; and these men, who were the chief icons or images of the day, had to be broken down. He therefore put the truth in the very form that would offend them.

But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up (Matthew 15:13).

He had no special tenderness towards them; they were no plants of his Father's planting. They deserved to be rooted up, and their teaching was so utterly false that, if he had offended against it, he was glad to have done so.

If people are themselves an offense, they deserve to be offended. If these professed teachers of God’s mind quibble with God’s Son, they deserve no mercy, but it is right and wise to treat them to truth that will annoy them. A good gardener is careful to uproot weeds as well as to water plants. Our Lord’s pithy statement acted like a hoe to uproot these men from their religious profession, and He intended for it to do so.

But what a solemn word this is! If our religion is not wholly of God, it will come to an end, and that end will be destruction. No matter how beautiful the flower, if the Father has not planted it, its doom is sealed. It will not be pruned, but rooted up. Those whom the truth uproots are uprooted indeed.