In his discussion with the Scribes and Pharisees about purity (Matthew 15.1-9), Jesus didn’t address the topic directly. Now, he does address it and emphasizes that he wants the crowd to understand very clearly what he has to say.
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles” (Matthew 15.10-11).
The Old Testament food laws taught that defilement can come from an external source (Leviticus 11). However, according to Jesus, true defilement is not external or ritual, but internal and moral.
That is all Jesus said to the crowd. Apparently, he left them with this thought to ponder and consider as they went on their way.
The disciples had been part of a conversation where Jesus called religious leaders hypocrites and quoted the scripture to them in a way that put them in a bad light. No doubt, the disciples wanted Jesus to know he had a problem.
Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” (Matthew 15.12).
Jesus answered His disciples by stating that the religious leaders were irrelevant and blind to God’s purposes.
He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
“Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15.13-14).
Isaiah pictured Israel as a vine planted by God. Their sin was that they did not live up to the purpose for which they had been planted.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
but heard a cry! (Isaiah 5.7)
Justice and righteousness are central characteristics of God. His people are to reflect his nature and character. When we don’t we become irrelevant or worse.
Jesus claimed that the leaders of Israel had missed the way in their understanding of what it means to be the people of God. Whenever people follow blind leaders, they will fall into the same ditch as those with distorted religious values.
As we think about the blind leading the blind, the counsel of James is worthy of our consideration.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will face stricter judgment (James 3.1).
Many years ago, I looked through notes from some of my old sermons and shuddered. I am so thankful for God’s grace that He worked in people’s lives despite my ineffective preaching.
It’s one thing to be ignorant and immature. It is another thing to consciously teach something that’s wrong.
May God give us the grace to be the kind of teachers, and to have the kind of teachers, who present the full counsel of His Word.
Working from the Inside Out
The central point of Jesus’ teaching is that it’s not a matter of what you eat, but who you are that determines whether you are defiled or not.
This is how Jesus explained the short parable to Peter and the others: “Are you also still without understanding?
“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer?
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.
“For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
“These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile” (Matthew 15.16-20).
In biblical thought, the heart is the seat of the intellect and the will. Modern-day understandings where the heart is a place of feeling were not part of the biblical picture.
When Isaiah said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6.5), he knew that his words reflected a deeper problem.
Isaiah realized that his speech was connected to his heart and that his thoughts and will were out of alignment with God’s purposes for his life.
I write my blog articles on a computer. Somewhere along the line, someone envisioned a computer. It was first created in their mind and then created physically.
That is how all things happen. We first create something in the mind, and then it becomes part of our behavior.
Jesus taught that first the creation is in the intellect and will. what happens in the intellect and will is revealed through our speech and behavior.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 