Matthäus 15:13 Kommentar

In this chapter, we have our Lord Jesus, as the great Prophet teaching, as the great Physician healing, and as the great Shepherd of the sheep feeding; as the Father of spirits instructing them; as the Conqueror of Satan dispossessing him; and as concerned for the bodies of his people, providing for them. Here is, I. Christ's discourse with the scribes and Pharisees about human traditions and injunctions (Mat 15:1-9). II. His discourse with the multitude, and with his disciples, concerning the things that defile a man (Mat 15:10-20). III. His casting of the devil out of the woman of Canaan's daughter (Mat 15:21-28). IV. His healing of all that were brought to him (Mat 15:29-31). V. His feeding of four thousand men, with seven loaves and a few little fishes (Mat 15:32-39).

Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees,.... After he had wrought so many miracles, particularly that of feeding five thousand men; besides women and children, with five loaves and two fishes: the fame of which had reached Jerusalem, and occasioned much talk there about him: the Scribes and Pharisees, who were his inveterate enemies, hearing thereof, came to him, where he was, in Galilee: to know the truth of these things, to converse with him, and to watch, and observe, what he said and did; which were of Jerusalem, saying. There were Scribes and Pharisees throughout the land, but those of Jerusalem were the chief; they were men of the greatest learning and abilities, and were more expert in their religion and customs: these were either sent by the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, or came of themselves; taking upon them a greater power, and authority of examining, correcting, directing, and advising.

But he answered, and said,.... As being unconcerned at their rage, and having nothing to fear from them; and being well satisfied, that what he had said was right, and would produce proper effects, he gave his disciples this for answer: every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up; which may be understood either of things, or of persons: it may have regard to doctrines and ordinances; and the meaning be, that whatever doctrine is not delivered by God, or whatever ordinance is not instituted by him; whatever is not of heaven, but of man, of man's devising, and of human imposition, as the traditions of the elders, must be opposed and rejected; and sooner or later will be utterly rooted up, and destroyed; as will all the false notions, corrupt worship, and errors, and heresies of men, in God's own time: or it may respect persons. There are some plants, which are planted by Christ's Father, which is in heaven; these are the elect of God, who are trees of righteousness; the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. These are planted by the river of God's love, in the person of Christ, in the likeness of his death and resurrection; they are transplanted out of a state of nature, are ingrafted into Christ, have the graces of the Spirit implanted in their souls, and are themselves planted in the courts of the Lord, in a Gospel church state; and being watered with the dews of grace, appear to be choice plants, plants of renown, pleasant ones, very fruitful, and which shall never perish, or be rooted, and plucked up, but there are others, like these Pharisees, hypocrites, formal professors, and heretics, who pretend to much religion and holiness, make a show of the leaves of profession, but have not the fruit of grace; these get into churches, and are outwardly and ministerially planted there; but being never rooted in Christ, nor partake of his grace, in time they wither, and die away; or persecution arising because of the Word, or truth being dispensed in so clear and glaring a light, that they cannot bear it; they are offended with it, and so are detected, discovered, and rooted up and it is necessary that truth should be freely spoken, as it was here by Christ, that such plants might be rooted out; for these words are said by Christ in justification of his conduct. So the Jews speak of God, as a planter, and of rooting up what he does not like. "The holy, blessed God (say they (e)), "plants" trees in this world; if they prosper, it is well; if they do not prosper, , "he roots them up", and plants them even many times.'' And elsewhere it is said (f), "let the master of the vineyard come, and consume its thorns: the gloss on it is, the holy, blessed God; for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, is the house of Israel, and he will consume, and take away the thorns of the vineyard.'' (e) Zohar in Gen. fol. 105. 3. (f) T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 83. 2.

"The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His; " and "the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up; " and "the first shall," as He shows, "be last; " and He carries "His fan in His hand to purge His threshing-floor.

What He intends then by a plant not planted of His Father, is that tradition of men under cover of which the Law had been transgressed, this He instructs them must be rooted up.

What then saith Christ? He did not remove the offense in respect of them, but reproved them, saying, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." For He is wont both to despise offenses, and not to despise them. Elsewhere, for example, He saith, "But lest we should offend them, cast an hook into the sea:" but here He saith, "Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

What then saith Christ? "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." This, they that are diseased with the Manichaean pest affirm to be spoken of the law; but their mouths are stopped by what had been said before. For if He was speaking of the law, how doth He further back defend it, and fight for it, saying, "Why do ye transgress the commandments of God for your tradition?" And how doth He bring forward the prophet? But of themselves and of their traditions He so speaks. For if God said, "Honor thy father and thy mother," how is not that of God's planting, which was spoken by God?

Even what seems to be clear in the Scriptures presents many problems. Christ said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” Does this mean, therefore, that there will be uprooted also that plant which the apostle speaks of when Paul says, “I have planted, Apollos watered”? The problem is solved, however, from the words that follow: “But God has given the growth.” He also says, “You are God’s field, God’s building.” And in another place we read, “We are God’s coworkers”; therefore, if we are his coworkers, with Paul planting and Apollos watering, God plants and waters with his workers.

(Verse 13.) But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. Even those things which seem plain in the Scriptures, are full of questions. Every plant, he says, which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. Therefore, that plantation also shall be rooted up, of which the Apostle says, I have planted, Apollos watered (1 Cor. III, 6). But the question is resolved by what follows: But God gave the increase (Ibid., 9). He himself also says: You are God's field, God's building (1 Corinthians 3:9). And in another place: We are God's co-workers. Now if we are co-workers, then God is the one who plants and waters, while Paul and Apollos are only servants who work with God (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Some people misuse this passage, introducing various interpretations, and say: If the planting that the Father did not plant will be uprooted, then the planting that he did plant cannot be uprooted. But listen to what Jeremiah says: 'I planted a true vineyard, how have you turned into the bitterness of a foreign vine?' (Jeremiah II, 21). Indeed, God planted it, and no one can uproot His plantation. But because this planting is in the will of one's own free choice, no one else can uproot it unless it itself gives consent.

Shall that plant also be rooted up of which the Apostle says, I planted, Apollos watered? (1 Cor. 3:6.) The question is answered by what follows, but God gave the increase. He says also, Ye are God's husbandry, a building of God; and in another place, We are workers together of God. And if when Paul plants, and Apollos waters, they are in so doing workers together with God, then God plants and waters together with them. This passage is abused by some who apply it at once to two different kinds of men; they say, 'If every plant, which the Father hath not planted shall be rooted up, then that which He has planted cannot be rooted up.' But let them hear these words of Jeremiah, I had planted thee a true vine, wholly a right seed, how then art thou turned into the bitterness of a strange vine? (Jer. 2:21.) God indeed has planted it, and none may root up His planting. But since that planting was through the disposition of the will of him which was planted, none other can root it up unless its own will consents thereto.

Since the scribes and Pharisees had burst forth in great arrogance and transgressed the divine law, they “planted” their own precepts but not God’s. They wanted these to be observed as divine law. So, not without good reason, did they too, with this planting of their own doctrine, deserve to be uprooted by the Lord. And so the Lord said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” Indeed, that plant was not of God but of people. Any iniquitous plant, not only of the scribes and Pharisees but also of all heretics, shall be uprooted by the Lord. Though it may extend its branches of infidelity in due season, it cannot be firmly rooted, for such a plant is not of God but of the devil. Furthermore, it must be uprooted and consigned to perpetual fire, since it yields no fruit of faith and wholesomeness.

Every false doctrine and superstitious observance with the workers thereof cannot endure; and because it is not from God the Father, it shall be rooted up with the same. And that only shall endure which is of God.

It is the Judaic ordinances and the traditions of the elders that He says will be rooted up, not the commandments of the law, as the Manichean heretics believe. The law is a plant of God, so it has not been rooted up. Its root, that is, the hidden Spirit, remains, but its leaves, namely, the visible letter, have fallen. For we no longer understand the law according to the letter, but according to the Spirit. As the Pharisees were hopeless and incurable, He said, "Let them be." Here we learn that it is not to our detriment to give offense to those who willingly take offense and are incorrigible. He calls them blind teachers of the blind; He says this to draw the multitudes away from them.

(interlin.) Or, the plant here spoken of may be the doctors of the Law with their followers, who had not Christ for their foundation. Why they are to be rooted up, He adds, Let them alone; they are blind, leaders of the blind.

But he answering said. Here the Lord's response is presented, and he shows that their scandal is to be disregarded: first, because they are alien to God; second, because they are harmful to men, at let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. He says therefore but he answering said: every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. From these words, those who posited two natures wished to confirm their error, because they said the evil nature was from the evil god, the good from the good; hence they say: if someone is of the evil creation, even though he seem to do good, he cannot persevere. But this is not so; for as Jerome says, the contrary is found in Jer. 2:21: I planted you a chosen vineyard, all true seed; how then are you turned into bitterness? This is clear, therefore, that it is not from God. Thus therefore what was turned through this planting is not nature; but something supervening is understood, and this is a perverse will; hence nature always remains, but the perverse will is rooted up. Hence this planting can be understood of the tradition of men, which is to be rooted up if it is against God; but the tradition which is from God is never to be rooted up. Hence every plant, i.e., every tradition which is not from God my Father, shall be rooted up. And this is found in Acts 5:39, from Gamaliel, who said: if this be of God, you cannot overthrow it. This is also evident in all things. You will see someone who does good works founded in charity; Eph. 3:17: rooted and grounded in charity; and these cannot be rooted up. But other things which do not have a good foundation, such as giving alms for the sake of vanity, are rooted up; hence Sir. 14:20: every corruptible thing shall fail in the end, and the worker thereof shall go with it. Hence this is how Wis. 4:3 should be understood: the spurious plantings shall not take deep root. Against this is found 1 Cor. 3:6, where Paul says: I have planted, Apollo watered. Therefore Paul shall be rooted up. I say that Paul did not plant as the principal agent, but as a minister.

DISCOURSE ON CEREMONIAL POLLUTION. ( = Mar 7:1, Mar 7:23). (Mat. 15:1-20) Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem--or "from Jerusalem." Mark (Mar 7:1) says they "came from" it: a deputation probably sent from the capital expressly to watch Him. As He had not come to them at the last Passover, which they had reckoned on, they now come to Him. "And," says Mark (Mar 7:2-3), "when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands"--hands not ceremonially cleansed by washing--"they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft"--literally, "in" or "with the fist"; that is, probably washing the one hand by the use of the other--though some understand it, with our version, in the sense of "diligently," "sedulously"--"eat not, holding the tradition of the elders"; acting religiously according to the custom handed down to them. "And when they come from the market" (Mar 7:4) --"And after market": after any common business, or attending a court of justice, where the Jews, as WEBSTER and WILKINSON remark, after their subjection to the Romans, were especially exposed to intercourse and contact with heathens--"except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables"--rather, "couches," such as were used at meals, which probably were merely sprinkled for ceremonial purposes. "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him," saying--as follows:

But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up--They are offended, are they? Heed it not: their corrupt teaching is already doomed: the garden of the Lord upon earth, too long cumbered with their presence, shall yet be purged of them and their accursed system: yea, and whatsoever is not of the planting of My heavenly Father, the great Husbandman (Joh 15:1), shall share the same fate.