Mat 15:24 I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

This is an interesting statement given the fact that Christ has changed the other nations of the world more than any other single person. The context is that he says this in response to a Canaanite woman asking him to help her daughter. When you example the Greek, a bigger surprise await you. The phrase isn't "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." It is "the destroyed sheep of the house of Israel" or "destroying the sheep of the house of Israel. In Greek: apollumi (destroyed, destroying) probaton (sheep) oikos (house) Israel.

"Lost" if from apollumi, which means "to destroy utterly," "to kill," and "to lay waste." It is a verb form, specifically, a participle ("destroyed" or "destroying") not an adjective. It can mean "lost," but in the sense of "to lose one's life" and "to lose one's spirit." In English, the past participle (destroyed) is used as an adjective, but in Greek it is either as a verb or a noun (destroying) and is called a "verbal noun." But here, the past adjective form (destroyed) makes more sense, but I like to think that Christ offers both meanings. Christ was sent both to scatter the house of Israel to all parts of the earth and to save those of the house of Israel who had been destroyed by following the smallest rules instead of the larger truth.

This transformation of the house of Israel was what was and is destined to change the world.

Looking at the specific situations, that is, the request for a miracle driving out devils, Christ is also saying that his mission is to drive the devils out of the house of Israel first. However, he doesn't say this in a hostile way. He never uses the term "sheep" (probaton) is a critical way, condemning people for being followers. He always uses it in the positive sense of a group of those for who he is personally responsible.

This is an interesting view of his narrow mission in history. He recognized that within the span of his life, even given his divine powers of healing, he would not change the world directly. His mission was limited. His compassion and powers were focused on his mission. Though it seems cruel, Christ is telling us that suffering will persist because God's plan for the world requires a certain way of unfolding.

Mat 15:20 These are [the things] which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defiles not a man.

This "defiles" things just drives me crazy because it just goes on and one in this chapter. The word in Greek doesn't mean "defile." Never did. Never will. Only the feudal English who originally translated the Gospels could take it that way because it means "make common" in the sense of "making something common knowledge. What is Christ really saying?

Closer version: These are what exposes a man: but to eat with unwashed hands does not tell you anything about a man.

"Defiles" is from koinoô, which means "to communicate," "to impart," "to share." Only in Matthew is it translated as "defile."

Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

"'Evil thoughts" is a bit of a mistranslation. The term is closer to "worthless arguments." However, both versions represent the mental realm since Christ uses words as a symbol for thoughts. What Christ is saying is that our feelings, which come from our relationships, shape our thinking. Them these thoughts then create our actions. Good relationships lead to good thoughts and good actions. Bad relationships lead to bad thoughts and destructive actions. Kind of an interesting insight that is easy to miss.

Christ is the word made flesh, that is, the thought of God given physical existence. He is teaching an intellectual idea, but the idea is our relationships, that is, how we treat people is more important that our intellectual endeavorts.

"Evil" is ponêros which means more "worthless" or "burdensome."
"Thoughts" is dialogismos , which means "debate," "argument," and "discussion." It can also mean "balancing of accounts," "calculation," and it is the term for a "circuit court." It isn't usually translated as "thought."
"Murder" is phonos . "Adultery" is moicheia. "Fornication" is porneia , which means "prostitution" for a woman and "fornication" for a man. "Theft" is klopê. "False witness" is pseudomarturia.

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart; and they defile the man.

As we discussed in 15:11, this word "defile" is completely misleading here. The idea really means "to communicate" and "to impart." It means "make common knowledge." What Christ is saying here is that what comes from our hearts determines who we are to others and to God. The "heart" is Christ's symbol for relationships and feeling. The source of what we share with people is what we feel about people.

Notice how Christ never mentions words or thoughts or hearing. All of those metaphors would put this context in the mental realm rather than the emotional realm of relationships. It is people's caring, not their ideas, that ends up measuring them as people.

"Defiles" is from koinoô, which means "to communicate," "to impart," "to share." Only in Matthew is it translated as "defile."

Mat 15:17 Do you not yet understand, that whatever enters into the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the toilet?

This verse is a gem because it clarifies Christ's theme about physical reality tying together his most important symbols for the physical: food, movement, the belly, and eventual decay. The original Greek is all about the physical, but that is lost in the English. Christ's primary teaching about the physical is that it is neither good nor bad, but that it is temporary, a realm of change and transition. Here, what is good, food, becomes something useless, waste. What is originally sought out is rejected. Remember, Christ doesn't use words like "bad" or "evil." The words that are translated into English that way are really words that mean "useless" and "worn out." Here, he describes the whole cycle of the physical when disconnected from spirit, mind, and relationships.

A better translation: "Don't you see? Whatever goes into the mouth moves forward into the belly and is sent out into the toilet.

A symbolic version: Isn't physical reality obvious? What is good physically just goes into our bodies where it is changed and moves forward to something worthless to our bodies.

"Enters into" and "goes into" have nearly the same meaning in English, but the Greek is clearly two very different ideas. "Enters into" is eisporeuomai, which specifically means "goes into," while "goes into" is choreo, which means "to leave room," "to make way," "to advance" or "to proceed."

"Understand" is a special word that Matthew chose precisely to a discussion of the physical. The Greek word, noeô, means specifically "to perceive with the eyes." This is important because "eyes" are the sense that Christ dedicates to the physical. Hence, the "blind guides" that begin this verse. Many other words here would have put "understanding" in the mental realm of ideas, but not this word.

Mat 15:16 Are you also yet without understanding?

Christ is pretty blunt here in the original Greek, saying, "Are you also so stupid?" A good question for us all pretty much of the time.

"Yet" is from akmen, which means "a point," "extemity," "the highest degree," and "a point."

"Without understanding" is from the Greek, asunetos, which means "stupid" and "witless," literally "not" sunetos, that is, "intelligence" or "wise."

Mat 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

On the surface, this is just good advice about following those who do not understand where they are. However, symbolically, Christ is tying together two fundamental ideas.

Sight is Christ's symbol for understanding physical reality. There is a distinct different in Christ's teaching between misunderstanding the physical world and misunderstanding the mental world. Physical reality is more obvious. It is something that a child can simply see. Therefore Christ uses the metaphor of blindness as the absence of this understanding rather than ignorance, which indicates a lack of mental knowledge.

The earth is Christ's symbol for relationships. caring, and the heart. Here, we the pit is the absence of earth, literally, a hole in the heart. Christ is saying that those who don't understand physical reality naturally lead to mistakes in their relationships with people. This is actually an attack on those (unfortunately, like me) who live too much in their heads and not enough in the physcial world of real relationships.

Symbolic translation: Leave them alone, without understanding reality, they guide others who don't also understand reality. If the insenstive lead the insenstive, they fall into hole in their heart.

"Let alone" is from aphiêmi, which means to primarily "to send forth" and "discharge," but the word almost as often translated in the NT as either "leave" or "forgive." It use here with autos, (reflexive pronoun, here, "themselves") it tends to mean "leave them to themselves."

"Blind" is from tuphlos, which means "blind," but which is also a metaphor for disabilities of the other senses.

"Leaders" is from hodêgos, which means "guide." "Lead" is from the verb form, hodêgeô, which means "to lead upon the way." These concepts were also used for those who helped those ignorant of a given area.

"Ditch" is from bothunos, a form of bothros, which means any hole or pit dug into the earth.