Out of the Heart
“Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man” (Matt. 15:17-20).
“Blind guides of the blind” (Matt. 15:14) Jesus Christ spoke these words of the Pharisees to Peter. Whereas the disciple had concerns that the Lord had offended those religious leaders in speak out against their elevation of religious tradition over God’s Word, Jesus understood that they were heaping upon themselves judgment. “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted” (Matt. 15:13), said Jesus.
All this came about when Pharisees complained to Jesus that that His disciples did not wash before eating (Matt. 15:1-2). The issue was not keeping good hygiene; rather, it was following a ritual of cleansing according a longstanding tradition. The Pharisees developed a complex system of traditions so that they would not transgress the Law; however, the irony of it all was those very traditions became their stumbling block. Jesus seized this opportunity to address the problem with the prime example being God’s commandment to “honor your father and mother” (Matt. 15:4; cf. Exod. 20:12).
Whereas the Pharisaic tradition taught, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,’ ” which allowed the Pharisee to finagle his way out of financially helping out his own parents in need, Jesus explain they invalidated the word of God for the sake of tradition (Matt. 15:5-6).
The problem was the sinfulness of the heart.
Isaiah, the great prophet of old, prophesied: This people honors Me with their lips. But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me. Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men (Matt. 15:8-9; cf. Isa. 29:13)
Remember this parable: “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Isa.15:11).
It is not food eaten with ritually unclean hands that defiles our lives. (It is not even about eating the foods we are not really supposed to eat)
We eat…
Food gets digested…
And we go to the bathroom.
It is the sinful acts of a person that brings defilement.
It is the heart.
Jesus said, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Is creating one more list of rules really going to make us better? Sometimes rules can be a way of restraining sin, at least until sinful people learn to circumvent the rules. Could it be that we may really need a change of heart?
“Blind guides of the blind” (Matt. 15:14) Jesus Christ spoke these words of the Pharisees to Peter. Whereas the disciple had concerns that the Lord had offended those religious leaders in speak out against their elevation of religious tradition over God’s Word, Jesus understood that they were heaping upon themselves judgment. “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted” (Matt. 15:13), said Jesus.
All this came about when Pharisees complained to Jesus that that His disciples did not wash before eating (Matt. 15:1-2). The issue was not keeping good hygiene; rather, it was following a ritual of cleansing according a longstanding tradition. The Pharisees developed a complex system of traditions so that they would not transgress the Law; however, the irony of it all was those very traditions became their stumbling block. Jesus seized this opportunity to address the problem with the prime example being God’s commandment to “honor your father and mother” (Matt. 15:4; cf. Exod. 20:12).
Whereas the Pharisaic tradition taught, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,’ ” which allowed the Pharisee to finagle his way out of financially helping out his own parents in need, Jesus explain they invalidated the word of God for the sake of tradition (Matt. 15:5-6).
The problem was the sinfulness of the heart.
Isaiah, the great prophet of old, prophesied: This people honors Me with their lips. But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me. Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men (Matt. 15:8-9; cf. Isa. 29:13)
Remember this parable: “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Isa.15:11).
It is not food eaten with ritually unclean hands that defiles our lives. (It is not even about eating the foods we are not really supposed to eat)
We eat…
Food gets digested…
And we go to the bathroom.
It is the sinful acts of a person that brings defilement.
It is the heart.
Jesus said, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Is creating one more list of rules really going to make us better? Sometimes rules can be a way of restraining sin, at least until sinful people learn to circumvent the rules. Could it be that we may really need a change of heart?
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