Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 15:12-14

"Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit." — Matthew 15:12-14 (ASV)

St. Jerome: In one of the Lord's discourses, the entire superstition of Jewish observances was cut down. They placed their whole religion in using or abstaining from certain foods.

St. John Chrysostom: When the Pharisees heard what was said before, they made no reply, because He had so powerfully overthrown them—not only refuting their arguments but also exposing their fraud. Yet it was they, not the crowds, who were offended by His words.

Then his disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?”

St. Jerome: Since the word "scandalum" (offense or stumbling block) is used so frequently in church writings, we will briefly explain it. We could translate it into Latin as "offendiculum," "ruina," or "impactio." Therefore, when we read, "Whoever shall scandalize," we understand it to mean anyone who, by word or deed, gives another an occasion to fall.

St. John Chrysostom: Christ does not remove the stumbling block from the path of the Pharisees but instead rebukes them, as it follows when He says, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”

Manichaeus claimed this was spoken about the Law, but what has already been said is a sufficient refutation of this idea. For if Christ had said this about the Law, why would He have previously defended the Law, saying, “Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”

Would He have cited the Prophet? And if God said, “Honor your father and your mother,” how could this command, which is spoken in the Law, not be a plant of God?

St. Hilary of Poitiers: What He means, then, by a plant not planted by His Father is the human tradition under whose cover the Law had been transgressed. He teaches that this tradition must be rooted up.

Remigius of Auxerre: Every false doctrine and superstitious observance, along with those who practice them, cannot endure. Because it is not from God the Father, it will be rooted up along with them. Only that which is from God will endure.

St. Jerome: Will that plant also be rooted up of which the Apostle says, “I planted, Apollos watered”? (1 Corinthians 3:6). The question is answered by what follows: “but God gave the increase.” He also says, “You are God’s field, God’s building,” and in another place, “We are co-workers in God’s service.” If Paul and Apollos, when they plant and water, are co-workers with God, then God plants and waters together with them.

Some people misuse this passage by applying it to two different kinds of people, saying, "If every plant that the Father has not planted will be rooted up, then what He has planted cannot be rooted up." But let them hear these words from Jeremiah: “I had planted you a true vine, wholly a right seed; how then have you turned into the bitterness of a strange vine?” (Jeremiah 2:21).

Indeed, God has planted it, and no one can root up His planting. But since that planting was established through the disposition of the will of the one who was planted, no one else can root it up unless that person's own will consents.

Glossa Ordinaria: Alternatively, the plant spoken of here may be the teachers of the Law and their followers, who did not have Christ as their foundation. He explains why they are to be rooted up by adding, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.” ¹

Rabanus Maurus: They are blind, meaning they lack the light of God's commandments. And they are "leaders of the blind" inasmuch as they draw others headlong, both erring themselves and leading others into error. This is why it is added, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

St. Jerome: This is the same as the apostolic injunction to “reject a heretic after the first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverse” (Titus 3:10-11). To the same end, the Savior commands that evil teachers be left to their own will, knowing that they can hardly be brought to the truth.

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