Matthew 15 - 11.21.25
Scripture: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-11
1 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
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.”
Observation
My mother told us when we were kids to wash our hands before we eat. When we were outside playing, I’m sure when we came to the table with dirty hands many times, Mom did not want to see us touch food with dirty hands, especially when food is being passed around. Now as an adult, when Mary and I are at Disneyland, we know to wash our hands often. Most of the snacks at Disneyland are eaten using your hands, and I wonder how many people wash their hands.
The Pharisees were talking about ceremonial washing of the hands. Whenever you see the word “Pharisees” in the New Testament, it is generally not a positive story. Pharisees were the religious leaders who have read or been taught the scriptures. They are always trying to catch Jesus and the disciples doing something that is against the laws and traditions. Jesus, when responding to the Pharisees, looks at their heart.
In Matthew 15:17-20, it says “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.”
Application
Washing your hands before you eat is just sanitary. Eating with dirty hands is just a bad look. It could also give you an upset stomach. Jesus was not concerned about what goes into your mouth but was concerned about what comes out of your mouth. Jesus is looking at the heart. Jesus was looking at people who thought they looked great on the outside, but inside they are dirty and have not a cleansed heart.
Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
We need a new heart.: Psalms 51:10 – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
We need to guard our heart: Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, Guard your Heart, for everything you do flow from it.”
God is the strength of our Heart: Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and portion forever.”
We need a discerning heart: Proverbs 18:15 – “The Heart of the decerning acquires Knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for loving me. Search my heart O God, help me to have a decerning heart, and help me guard my heart. Let me have a loving and gracious heart. Let the things that come out of my mouth honor you Jesus. In Jesus name Amen.
- Robert Oberg
