Matthew 15:10 - 14

10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:

11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Jesus calls the multitude to explain his teaching about the undue emphasis of washing the hands.

Jesus is not teaching we should ignore the importance of cleanliness. But he wants us to make sure we have the right priorities, We need to make sure our spiritual and moral matters are placed above the physical matters.

If we allow some dirt into our mouth and into the stomach it cannot harm us because the digestive system is designed to eliminate it as waste.

The Pharisees were offended because they refused to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and thus having the wisdom and authority to make rulings over the conduct of others.

Jesus is willing to stake His right to speak and teach on the correctness of what He just said. Every plant not planted by God will be uprooted and destroyed. If the work of Jesus was not authorized by God then it too would not survive and Jesus would be exposed as an impostor. However if His teachings remain in effect then it would prove Him to be a true teacher and one whom the Pharisees have no reason to be offended in.

This statement has direct reference to the church or kingdom of which He was soon to set up. (Ezekiel 34:29) predicts a “plant” and the context (verses 20 – 31) shows it has reference to the church.

Jesus tells His disciples to let the Pharisees be, because they would be wasting their time and energy with trying to teach them anything, and any who would follow after them would be as blind and fall into the same condemnation as the Pharisees destination.