12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:12–14 (ESV)
Another familiar aphorism people frequently use is “the blind leading the blind.” This phrase describes “a situation where a person who knows nothing is getting advice and help from another person who knows almost nothing,” explains the Cambridge Dictionary. It makes for a potentially embarrassing if not devastating situation. An example would be an economic advisor to an elected government official providing economic advice to the official when the advisor knows next to nothing about economics.
Jesus compared the Pharisees and the scribes within the context of today’s text of being religiously blind leaders who are leading religiously blind people. Both people groups are heading for a fall. What the people need are biblical guides who possess spiritual eyesight (John 9).
However, the disciples had a different perspective. They were concerned that the Jewish religious leaders may have been offended by Jesus’ previous remarks ((see Matt. 15:1-11).
“It is implied that in the hearing of the disciples the Pharisees had given vent to their hot displeasure. Had the disciples become somewhat afraid? Were they shaken with a measure of awe for these men who by many were regarded as venerable leaders? Were they perhaps fearful of the possible consequences of the sharp rebuke their Master had administered,” asks Dr. William Hendriksen.
“The disciples, having taken into cognizance this bitter resentment on the part of the leaders, want Jesus to know about it so that in His future words and actions He may figure with it. As if the Lord needed their advice!”
Jesus responded by saying that the reason the Pharisees and scribes took offense to His words was that they were not God’s elect. Jesus, using another metaphor, said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” The religious leaders revealed their true heart of not being a part of God’s vineyard by their antagonism towards Jesus because He condemned them and their legalistic lifestyle. In other words, they were weeds and chaff that bore no spiritual fruit (Psalm 1; Isaiah 5; John 15).
“The concern with outward acts and not the intent of God’s law manifested these particular Pharisees’ blindness to the ultimate source of impurity. Jesus therefore reminded them that the heart is the true source of corruption, not the hands, a truth to which the Torah points (Matt. 15:10–20). We manifest a legalistic heart every time we are critical of others for not observing that which we love even though they are indifferent matters as far as the Bible is concerned,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.
Wise words to consider. Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
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