<p>15:12- see on 17:10.</p>
<p><em>Then came the disciples, and said to him: Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?</em><i><br />
</i>- The Lord&rsquo;s teaching that nothing external can defile was undermining the very basis of their worldview. No wonder they were angry. Although it was the death of Christ which ended the Mosaic Law and cleansed things so that nothing should be called &ldquo;defiled&rdquo; (s.w.- Acts 10:15,28; 11:9), the Lord ahead of that time pronounced this to be the case. And in essence this was the case anyway- because in spiritual terms, the &lsquo;unclean&rsquo; things could not defile a person. They were only declared unclean under the Law of Moses to teach people about the more important internal defilements they should avoid.</p>
<p>The Lord elsewhere taught of the immense danger and responsibility of making another stumble / be offended (18:6,8,9). But sometimes stumbling is inevitable- &ldquo;in many things we offend all&rdquo; (James 3:2). Responsibility for stumbling is therefore not only with the party who causes it. Some did stumble at the Lord&rsquo;s teaching (Mt. 11:6; 13:21,57); He was a rock of stumbling. But perhaps the disciples hoped the Pharisees would be converted, and considered that the Lord&rsquo;s teaching here was so radical that it was going to make them stumble from that path. According to this understanding, the Lord didn&rsquo;t make the Pharisees ultimately stumble. The disciples&nbsp;<em>feared</em>&nbsp;He would, thinking (wrongly) that a less demanding message might make the way easier for the Pharisees. And the Lord conceded to their concerns, whilst not agreeing with them- for in Mt. 17:27 He picks them up on this incident and tells that they should act in such a way that does not &ldquo;offend&rdquo; others.</p>