Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 15:20

"these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man." — Matthew 15:20 (ASV)

These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unclean hands does not defile a man.

You should understand that the washing meant here was not like the washing you and I give our hands when we feel we have soiled them with our labor; in that case, it is very proper to cleanse them. But this was a ceremonial washing that the scribes and Pharisees insisted everyone perform, whether their hands were clean or not, before they sat down to eat, and was a mere piece of absurdity, if not something worse. Yet they magnified it into a most important matter, and our Savior here shows how pointless it was.

They not only come from a defiled nature, but they still further defile the man. Thus had the Savior proved his aphorism. The things from within, evidently, are of a most defiling character and make a man unfit for communion with God and for the performance of holy duties, but the neglect of having water poured on the hands cannot be in the least comparable to it. Yet those who had no repentance of polluting sins were struck with horror at a man’s eating a piece of bread with unwashed hands.

Blessed Master, wash me within and save me from the defilements of corrupt nature! Do not let me make outward forms my trust, but in the hidden parts purify me!