What happensPermalink
Jesus accuses the Pharisees of following tradition at the expense of God’s law. He says it is the heart and the tongue that defile a person, not what they eat. A Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, and after objecting, He does. Jesus feeds the four thousand.
Why it mattersPermalink
Jesus continues a consistent refrain: the Pharisees follow the letter of the laws, but they have forgotten the heart of God. The Canaanite woman understands the universality of salvation better than most throughout history.
Key versePermalink
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”