Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 15:1-6

"Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given [to God]; he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition." — Matthew 15:1-6 (ASV)

Rabanus Maurus: The men of Gennesaret and the less learned believe, but those who seem to be wise come to dispute with Him. This is in keeping with the words, You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. This is why it is said, Then came to him from Jerusalem Scribes and Pharisees.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Evangelist constructs the order of his narrative with the phrase Then came to him so that the sequence of events following the passage over the lake might be shown.¹

St. John Chrysostom: For this reason, the Evangelist also marks the time, so that he might show their iniquity was overcome by nothing. They came to Him at a time when He had performed many miracles and had healed the sick by the touch of His hem.

Regarding the fact that the Scribes and Pharisees are said to have come from Jerusalem, it should be known that they were dispersed throughout all the tribes. However, those who dwelt in the metropolis were worse than the others, as their higher dignity inspired them with a greater degree of pride.

Remigius of Auxerre: They were at fault for two reasons: first, because they had come from Jerusalem, the holy city; and second, because they were elders of the people and teachers of the Law, yet had not come to learn but to reprove the Lord. For it adds, Saying, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?

St. Jerome: What astonishing infatuation of the Pharisees and Scribes! They accuse the Son of God because He does not keep the traditions and commandments of men.

St. John Chrysostom: Observe how they are trapped by their own question. They do not say, "Why do they transgress the Law of Moses?" but, "the tradition of the elders." From this it is clear that the Priests had introduced many new things, although Moses had said, You shall not add anything to the word which I set before you this day, neither shall you take anything away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2).

When they should have been set free from such observances, they instead bound themselves with many more. Fearing that someone might take away their rule and power, they sought to increase the awe in which they were held by presenting themselves as legislators.

Remigius of Auxerre: Mark shows what kind of traditions these were when he says, The Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not (Mark 7:3). Here, then, they also find fault with the disciples, saying, For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

The Venerable Bede: Taking in a fleshly sense those words of the Prophets, in which it is said, Wash, and be clean (Isaiah 1:16), they observed it only by washing the body. Hence, they had laid it down that one ought not to eat with unwashed hands.²

St. Jerome: But the hands that are to be washed are not the acts of the body, but of the mind, so that the word of God may be done in them.

St. John Chrysostom: But the disciples now did not eat with washed hands, because they already despised all superfluous things and attended only to what was necessary. Thus, they accepted neither washing nor not washing as a rule, but did either as the situation arose. For how could those who neglected even the food that was necessary for them have any care for this rite?

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, the Pharisees found fault with the Lord's disciples not concerning the washing that we do from ordinary habit and necessity, but concerning the superfluous washing that was invented by the tradition of the elders.

St. John Chrysostom: Christ made no excuse for them but immediately brought a counter-charge, showing that one who sins in great things ought not to take offense at the slight sins of others.

He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

He does not say that they do well to transgress, so that He might not give room for calumny. Nor, on the other hand, does He condemn what the Apostles had done, so that He might not appear to sanction their traditions. Nor, again, does He bring any charge directly against the elders of old, so that they would not dismiss Him as a slanderer. Instead, He points His reproof against those who had come to Him, thus at the same time rebuking the elders who had laid down such a tradition, saying:

St. Jerome: Since you neglect the commandment of God because of the tradition of men, why do you presume to reprove my disciples for paying little regard to the precepts of the elders, so that they may observe the commands of God?

For God has said, Honor your father and your mother. Honor in the Scriptures is shown not so much in salutations and courtesies as in alms and gifts. The Apostle says, Honor the widows who are widows indeed (1 Timothy 5:3); here "honor" signifies a gift.

The Lord, therefore, considering the infirmity, age, or poverty of parents, commanded that sons should honor their parents by providing them with the necessities of life.

St. John Chrysostom: He desired to show the great honor that ought to be paid to parents, and therefore He attached both a reward and a penalty. On this occasion, however, the Lord passes over the reward promised to those who honored their parents—namely, that they should live long on the earth—and brings forward only the terrible part: the punishment. He does this to strike them dumb and to get the attention of others: And he that curses father or mother, let him die the death.

Thus He shows that they deserved even death. For if he who dishonors his parent even in word is worthy of death, how much more you who dishonor him in deed! And you not only dishonor your parents but teach others to do so as well. You, then, who do not even deserve to live, how can you accuse my disciples?

But how they transgress the commandment of God is clear when He adds, But you say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, "It is a gift, by whatever you might be profited by me."

St. Jerome: For the Scribes and Pharisees, desiring to overturn this most provident, aforementioned law of God so that they might introduce their impiety under the mask of piety, taught wicked sons that if they desired to devote something to God (who is the true parent), the offering to the Lord should be preferred over giving those same things to their parents.

Glossa Ordinaria: In this interpretation, the meaning would be: "What I offer to God will profit both you and me; therefore, you ought not to take my goods for your own needs, but allow me to offer them to God."³

St. Jerome: And so the parents, refusing what they saw was dedicated to God so that they would not incur the guilt of sacrilege, perished from want. Thus it came to pass that what the children offered for the needs of the temple and the service of God went to the gain of the Priests.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or the meaning may be: "Whoever" (that is, of you young men) "shall say" (that is, shall either be able to say, or shall say) "to his father or mother, 'O father, the gift from me that is devoted to God—shall it profit you?'" This is like an exclamation of surprise, meaning: "You ought not to take it, so that you do not incur the guilt of sacrilege."⁴

Or, we may read it with this ellipsis: "Whoever shall say to his father, etc."... he shall do the commandment of God, or shall fulfill the Law, or shall be worthy of eternal life.

St. Jerome: Or, it may briefly have the following meaning: You compel children to say to their parents, "Whatever gift I was intending to offer to God, you take and consume for your own living, and so it profits you"—which is as much as to say, "Do not do so."

Glossa Ordinaria: And thus, through these arguments born of your avarice, this youth shall not honor his father or his mother. It is as if He had said: You have led sons into the most evil deeds, so that it will come to pass that afterwards they shall not even honor their father and mother. And thus you have nullified the commandment of God concerning the support of parents by their children through your traditions, obeying the dictates of avarice.⁵

St. Augustine of Hippo: Christ here clearly shows both that the law which the heretic blasphemes is God's law, and that the Jews had traditions foreign to the prophetical and canonical books—such as the Apostle calls "profane and vain fables."⁶

The Lord here teaches us many things: that it was not He who turned the Jews from their God; that not only did He not infringe the commandments, but He convicts them of infringing them; and that He had ordained nothing more than what He gave through the hand of Moses.⁷

Alternatively, the phrase could mean: "The gift that you offer on my account shall profit you." That is to say, "Whatever gift you offer on my account shall from now on remain with you." By these words, the son signifies that there is no longer a need for his parents to offer sacrifices for him, as he is of age to offer for himself. And the Pharisees denied that those who were old enough to say this to their parents were guilty if they did not show honor to them.⁸

1. de Cons. Ev., ii, 49
2. Marc., 7, 1
3. ap. Anselm
4. ap. Anselm
5. ap. Anselm
6. cont. Adv. Leg. et Proph., ii, 1
7. cont. Faust., xvi, 24
8. Quaest. Ev., i, 16