Matthew 15:10-20

Rachel Workman: ¹⁰ Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”

¹³ Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, ¹⁴ so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” Does that scare you? It should. If one of us is being led by a false teacher then we too will face the fires for it.

¹⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”

¹⁶ “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. ¹⁷ “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. ¹⁸ But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. ²⁰ These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” In the heart of humans lies the desire for sin. We desire to do what we want to do with no consequences. It's not so much our angry words Jesus is talking about here. But more of a deep seeded evil desire to do something we know is sinful with no regard as to who we hurt. He addresses the Pharisees here. Their words and their desires were sinful. They wanted Jesus dead so that he would stop disrupting what they were working hard for. They had a pretty sweet gig before Jesus showed up and wrecked it.

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John Burnett:  ¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

¹² Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[a]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides ^[b]of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”  In Jesus’s day it was Judaism, today it is the prosperity gospel and the majority of the mainline denominations compromising the gospel in an effort to fill seats.  Their eternal state is of little concern.  Our sin defiles us and it is usually manifested by what comes out of our mouth.  Jesus’s blood covers those sins along with every sin we commit.  Knowing how much I sin, I am so thankful for God’s grace toward me and that he opened my eyes so I would not follow any blind men into the pit.

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[c]said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [d]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[e]eliminated? ¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ^[f]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”  The heart is wicked and without being born again, we would suffer the consequences for those sins.  That is why it is called amazing grace.  God knew the sins we would commit before we were formed in the womb yet he died for us anyway because he loved us unconditionally.

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Allen Michaels:  ¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” This is my biggest issue; my mouth. My angry, hateful thoughts run a close second. Together, they create this person that leaves people scratching their heads when I say I’m a Christian. I don’t even say it anymore because I just get drawn into arguments. I think of it as “going all Old Testament on their a$$es.” Others around me see it as being the typical hypocritical Christian. I have probably driven more people away from Christ than I have led to him. I can post scripture all day long, but until I learn to demonstrate it by the way I talk and live, I might as well be writing Haiku. FYI, I’m not really sure what Haiku really is. I just know it’s some kind of Japanese poetry. When I was in Japan there were Haiku get-togethers (houses, stores, parks, etc.) everywhere.

Jesus points his listeners to the source of true defilement -- evil desires which come from inside a person's innermost being. Sin does not just happen. It first springs from the innermost recesses of our thoughts and intentions, from the secret desires which only the individual soul can conceive. This is precisely why Jesus came to free sinful men and women deceived by the glamor of sin and enslaved by its seductive powers.

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” The Pharisees were blind to God’s truth, and all those listening to them were becoming spiritually blind as well. I agree with John in his posting yesterday, when he said “This is one reason I am not a fan of denominations. They each have their own traditions and have strayed so far from the gospel.  I need to hear the gospel every Sunday because I have this tradition of sinning.”  This is so true today. Some religious leaders are so blind to God’s true word and as a result are blinding their congregations as well. We should not follow blindly. If we ever have doubts on what we are being taught we need to open the Bible and see for ourselves.

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. Is it just me or did Jesus “talk down” to his disciples? It’s almost like he ran out of patience with them. Maybe it’s because I have no patience and become very short with people (to me this is normal behavior) that to me this appears to be an insult to Peter. Like, “what are you, a moron?” It was probably a question out of love that I just see as an insult.  ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” We go to great lengths to keep our outward appearance nice, but what’s in our hearts is much more important. I don’t think Judgment Day is going to be a beauty contest. If it is I’m screwed. What we are deep down is what will matter to God. I’ve heard is said many times that “when people become Christians, God makes them different on the inside. He will continue the process of change inside us if we only ask.” I for one have so many doubts on this, but that’s another story for another day. I do know that God wants us to seek healthy thoughts and motives, not just healthy food and exercise.