Guarding the Culvert

LToR and Matthew 15

A few weeks back, my family watched Peter Jackson’s take on the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.  I was excited that movie night wasn’t another round of Anne of Green Gables or Beauty and the Beast.  The battles are exciting, and the plot is a little more to my liking. In the second movie, The Two Towers, there is an epic conflict for the kingdom of Rohan.  The people had retreated to a massive fortress - Helm’s Deep - in preparation for the impending battle with Saruman's ugly elite orcs (Uruk-hai), who were bred for war.  The army of Rohan is drastically outnumbered by the Uruk-hai, but because of the strength of the defences of Helm’s Deep, the movie portrays the possibility of Rohan's victory. Success seems possible, even though what seems to be 1000’s of Uruk-hai soldiers are advancing against the walls of Helm’s Deep, the work of Rohan seems to be keeping them at bay. It is then that King Théoden says:

Is this it? ...

Is this all you can conjure, Saruman?

A moment later, a single Uruk-hai loaded with explosives rushes into a tiny culvert running under the wall of the fortress. Cut the music.  Then a massive explosion occurs, the wall crumbles, and the fortress is breached.

I think the story’s creator (Tolkien) understood something about the battle with evil.  It is rare for the fortress wall to be breached at its most defensible position.  Rather, it is most likely that the weakest, undefended part of the fortress will be exploited by the enemy.

Strange as it sounds, I think this image provides a helpful comparison to the principles in the first part of Matthew 15.  The battle of Helm’s Deep is an excellent example of misplaced vigilance: extraordinary effort expended in the wrong direction, while the true vulnerability remains exposed.

The Halakhic Dispute

Matthew 15 records a sharp disagreement. A delegation of Pharisees and scribes travels from Jerusalem to challenge Yeshua over halakhah—specifically, the tradition of handwashing before eating (Matt 15:1–2). The issue is not one of hygiene, but rather ritual impurity: the fear of becoming defiled before God through ordinary, daily activity.

These concerns should not be dismissed as trivial or legalistic. Within Second Temple Judaism, purity was bound up with Israel’s calling to be holy as Hashem is holy (Lev 11:44–45). The Pharisees’ practice of extending priestly purity concerns into everyday life represented an earnest—if imperfect—attempt to live faithfully before God beyond the Temple precincts.¹

Yeshua does not ridicule their concern for holiness. Instead, He challenges their sense of priority. Like Helm’s Deep, their vigilance is aimed at what seemed to be the most likely place of entry (the mouth), while the true danger lies elsewhere.

Isaiah 29:13 — A Cardiac Diagnosis

Yeshua frames the dispute by quoting Isaiah 29:13:

“This people honors Me with their lips,but their heart is far from Me;in vain do they worship Me,teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

This is not a rejection of Torah. It is a prophetic critique arising from within it.

In Isaiah’s context, the problem is not disobedience but misdirected devotion—religious practice that no longer produces covenant faithfulness. Worship becomes self-referential, detached from genuine trust and love for God.² Yeshua applies this same prophetic diagnosis to His contemporaries: meticulous external observance can thrive right alongside hearts that remain far from God.

Food, the Latrine, and the Heart (Matthew 15:17–18)

To clarify His point, Yeshua uses intentionally concrete language:

“Whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine.”

The Greek term ἀφεδρών (aphedrōn) is blunt and literal—it refers to a latrine. While modern translations often soften the phrase (removing references to latrine-type things), Yeshua’s earthy language is deliberate. He is making a halakhic argument, not employing shock for its own sake.

Food follows a short, self-contained journey: it enters the body, is processed, and is expelled. Within Jewish purity logic, bodily elimination removes what was consumed, just as immersion in a mikveh restores ritual purity.³ Food goes to the stomach. Food never reaches the heart— and the heart is the seat of moral intention and covenant loyalty.  The stomach has nothing to do with impurity.  But the heart is the key.

To be sure, Yeshua is not abolishing the dietary regulations of Leviticus. He is clarifying that food is not the origin of defilement. Remember, food doesn’t make you unclean...non-food can make you unclean...but that is probably a discussion for another blog.

A Kal V’Chomer Argument

Underlying Yeshua’s reasoning is a classic kal v’chomer (light-to-heavy) argument:

If Israel is careful about ritual impurity (the kal part), how much more should it be vigilant about the impurity of the heart (the chomer part)?

The Pharisees had constructed careful halakhic “fences” around what enters the mouth, but the heart—the true source of defilement—remained largely unguarded.⁴ In effect, they had built a Helm’s Deep around the mouth but had an undefended culvert to the heart.

The Ultimate Source of Defilement

Yeshua then names what actually defiles a person:

• evil thoughts

• murder

• adultery

• sexual immorality

• theft

• false witness

• slander

These do not come from outside. They flow from the heart.

Within Second Temple Jewish categories, Yeshua does not deny the reality of ritual impurity. He insists that ritual purity detached from heart purity is empty—and ultimately leads to vain worship.⁵ This is precisely why Isaiah declares, “In vain do they worship Me.”

The Challenge for Those Who Endeavour to Keep the Torah

This warning is not limited to first-century Pharisees. It confronts anyone who loves Torah yet risks confusing obedience as an end in itself with genuine covenant faithfulness.

Which is easier to manage?

• What you eat—or the pride entrenched in your heart?

• What you touch—or the resentment you carry?

• Which traditions you follow—or the envy that shapes your desires?

• Who you associate with—or the bitterness that governs your reactions?

• How you are perceived—or the hypocrisy you excuse?

External concerns are visible, measurable, and manageable. Heart-level obedience is hidden, costly, and transformational.

Yeshua does not lower the standard of holiness. He restores holiness to its true center. And only the Messiah of Israel can guard that door—because only He can give a new heart.

From Purity Debate to Living Faith

Matthew immediately illustrates this truth. Yeshua leaves a debate about purity and enters Gentile territory. A Canaanite woman approaches Him—not with ritual credentials, but with faith (Matt 15:21–28).

Those who possess Torah but have distant hearts are confronted. A woman with no covenant status but genuine trust is welcomed.

When purity is rightly understood, it produces mercy. Faith draws near where boundary-keeping once created distance.

Leftovers are Always the Best (Matthew 15:32–39)

As Matthew continues, Yeshua feeds four thousand people. Many commentators point to 1 Kings 4:42–44, where Elisha feeds one hundred men with twenty loaves. At first glance, the connection can feel forced—especially if one searches for direct verbal parallels in the Greek Septuagint.

Matthew does not quote 1 Kings. He does not mirror its vocabulary. There is no explicit literary allusion.

And that is precisely the point.

The connection is not lexical. It is narrative and theological.

A Pattern of Provision

In 1 Kings, Elisha faces scarcity. A servant objects to feeding the crowd. Elisha insists, invoking the word of Hashem: “They shall eat and have some left.” And they do.

That pattern becomes embedded in Israel’s memory: when God’s prophet speaks, scarcity yields to abundance.

Matthew presents the same pattern:

• a large crowd

• insufficient food

• skeptical disciples

• authoritative speech

• satisfied hunger

• leftovers

The remeze Matthew is employing is telling readers to notice the connection to the story in 1 Kings and see the similarities, and differences in what Yeshua does in his miracle.

More Than Elisha

Yet the pattern escalates.

Elisha feeds one hundred.

Yeshua feeds four thousand.

Elisha feeds Israel.

Yeshua feeds a largely Gentile crowd.

Elisha’s miracle confirms him as a prophet.

Yeshua’s miracle reveals Him as superior to any prophet before.

This isn't just provision. It is kingdom abundance.

Why Seven Baskets

Matthew tells us that seven large baskets (σπυρίδες) remain. These are not the smaller baskets used in Jewish regions earlier in the Gospel; they are baskets associated with Gentile territory.

In the Tanakh, seven signifies fullness and completeness. In Deuteronomy, seven nations represent the totality of Canaan’s peoples. Here, Israel’s Messiah provides not only enough—but overflowing abundance—for the nations.

The leftovers are not incidental. They are the message.

The compassion of Israel's Messiah does not diminish when it reaches the nations. It multiplies.

What Matthew Wants Us to See

Matthew presents Yeshua as standing firmly within Israel’s prophetic tradition—and surpassing it.

Like Elisha, He feeds the hungry.

Unlike Elisha, He feeds the nations.

This is not only a miracle of multiplication. It is a sign that the kingdom of God has drawn near—where mercy is no longer scarce, limited, or confined.

And there is still more than enough left over.

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Full disclosure: I prepared this in Grammarly, which faxed all my speeling mistakes, run-on sentences and clarity issues. Apparently, I don't flesh out my thoughts very well.

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References & Scholarly Sources

1. Tim Hegg, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, commentary on Matthew 15:1–2 (TorahResource).

2. Tim Hegg, commentary on Matthew 15:7–9; discussion of Isaiah 29:13 as a prophetic critique of misplaced worship.

3. Tim Hegg, commentary on Matthew 15:17–18; discussion of ἀφεδρών and bodily elimination in purity logic.

4. Tim Hegg, commentary on Matthew 15:17–19; use of kal v’chomer argumentation within halakhic discourse.

5. Tim Hegg, commentary on Matthew 15:18–20; emphasis on heart purity as Torah’s intended goal.

6. Daniel I. Block, For the Glory of God, on prophetic critique of ritual divorced from covenant loyalty.

7. Craig Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, on Second Temple purity concerns and Gentile inclusion.

Full disclosure: I prepared this in Grammarly, which fixed all my spelling mistakes and clarity issues. Apparently, I don’t flesh out my thoughts very well.