Clean Heart? Or Clean Hands?
THIRTIETH IN MY TEACHING SERIES ON THE PARABLES OF JESUS
The Parable of The Heart of Man
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.
Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Mathew 15:10-20
The Jewish religious leaders came to Jesus to ask Him why his disciples turned from the tradition of the elders when they did not wash their hands when they ate bread.
It’s What You Say That Matters
In this parable, Jesus was teaching the Pharisees that even though it was important to wash their hands before eating a meal (as their law required), it was even more important to understand that what was coming out of their mouths was what would hurt them or others.
Jesus asked the Pharisees why it was okay for them to turn from God’s commands, but then look down their noses at others who they thought were doing the same. He pointed them to what Isaiah had prophesied of them many years before:
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; Their teachings are merely human rules.”
Matthew 15:7-9
Check The Condition Of Your Heart
Jesus’s intention through the telling of this parable was for the listener to understand that it wasn’t what a person puts in their mouth that defiles them, but the words and attitudes that come out of their mouth. The Pharisees apparently were offended when they heard this, In response Jesus basically said that they were blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
It seems to me that the modern day church can struggle with the issue of legalism much like the Pharisees did. And not only the behaviors themselves, but total compliance to the rules of behavior. This perspective aligns with one of the four most powerful lies satan tries to convince us of:
Those who fail are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished.
Am I a Christian who cares more about my and other people’s compliance to the rules of Christianity? Or am I one who cares more about what is in my and others’ heart?
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