And he called the multitude, and said unto them,
Hear, and understand:
All Commentaries on Matthew 15:10 Go To Matthew 15
John Chrysostom
AD 407
He does not simply reveal to them what he has to say but first makes his message easy to receive by respect and courtesy. For the Evangelist showed this when he said, “Jesus called the crowd to himself.” Then he also makes his message easy to receive by its timing. For it comes after the rebuttal of his critics, his victory over them and the accusation cited from the prophet. It is then that he begins the process of instituting a law, when the things that he is saying were even more easily accepted. In addition, he does not simply call them to himself but also makes them more attentive. For he says, “Take notice,” that is, “Start thinking, wake up.” For the law he was about to enact was such that it required attention. “For you listened when the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem nullified the law because of their own tradition and at the wrong time. Since this is so, much more should you listen to me as I lead you into a greater philosophy at the appropriate time.” He also did not say, “The observance of food laws is nothing,” or “Moses did a poor job of making laws,” or “Moses only made these laws as a way of coming down to your level.” Instead, he speaks to them on the level of advice and counsel and took the testimony of natural phenomena. He does this when he says, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” In this statement he appeals to nature itself both in the process of instituting law and in the process of revealing what he has to say. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
