Matthew 15:10-20 - What messes up my life?

Devotions
8/23/2008

Reading: NLT Matthew 15:10 Then Jesus called to the crowds and said, "Listen to what I say and try to understand. 11 You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do. " 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 rooted up, 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." 15 Then Peter asked Jesus, "Explain what you meant when you said people aren't defiled by what they eat." 16 "Don't you understand?" Jesus asked him. 17 "Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. 18 But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!"

Meditation

1. Literal – This section has two features of Jesus’ teaching ministry that stand out most when one reads the New Testament. First, Jesus’ teaching in conflict and offends the Pharisees and Jesus uses parables to get his point across. The first teaching here seems very straight forward. We become “unclean” or defiled not by breaking the washing rituals and dietary code of Israel but by our sinful actions. Now this was teaching contradicted the idea that it was important to follow all the outward dietary laws and rituals to be righteous.

The entire section of Matthew 15:1-28 is concerned with ritual purity -- who is clean/unclean and what makes them that way? There is a connection from beginning to end with the word artos = "bread". Unfortunately, this Greek word is usually left untranslated in v. 2b: "For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." It is a key image in Jesus' conversation with the Canaanite woman, v. 26 and in the feeding stories before and after our text: 14:17, 19; 15:33, 34, 36. (Note also its use in 16:5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12). The chapter begins because the disciples have not followed the ritual cleansing riturals of the Pharisees when eating bread, a women is humble enough to ask for the crumbs of bread that fall of the table filled with Messianic blessing for the Jews, and the blessing of the kingdom is given by the multiplication of bread given like Manna from heaven.

Pharisees have come to Jesus asking why his disciples break the oral law, which they believe to be God-given and to have equal status with Mosaic Law: why do they not wash before eating? He has pointed out to them that at times they give priority to the oral law over the biblical Law. The Pharisees teach rules of human, rather than divine, origin.

Now (v. 10) he tells the crowd a “parable” (v. 15), a saying with a hidden meaning. He sees moral behaviour (“out of the mouth”, v. 11) as important, not food laws (“into the mouth”). When the disciples point out that he has offended the Pharisees (v. 12) by his reply to their question, he is blunt: do not follow them; being “blind” (v. 14), they and their followers will be judged adversely (“pit”). When Peter asks for an explanation, Jesus addresses all the disciples (“you”, v. 16, is plural). What is eaten, Jesus says, even though ritually clean, ends up unclean (“sewer”, v. 17), so food laws are unimportant (for their purpose was to keep Israel pure from idols and separate from the nations not to become viewed as magical). The “mouth” (v. 18) was seen as the channel by which the “heart”, the very being, expressed itself. Immoral behavior (“evil intentions ...”, v. 19) does alienate one from God (“defile”, v. 20) but not breaking laws of human origin or misunderstandings of God’s own Word.

Christocentric: We are confronted here with the reality of Jesus being the Christ. He is the authoritative prophet, priest, and king from God. His word is greater than the tradition of the rabbis of Israel. His interpretation of the dietary laws is enough to change the practice of God’s people. One must see Him as the one who has sight while orthodox Judaism is blind. We must recognize the strong demand here to bow the knee to Jesus as the ultimate authority over life and faith.

Moral: Don’t sweat the superficial and small things. Don’t focus life on things that end up in the sewer or the trash. Do be concerned about your words and deeds. Do worry about what your words and deeds reveal about the condition of your heart. Don’t view yourself as righteous and good because you keep a few “outward” Christian things. Instead recognize the depth of your sin within your heart and the need for forgiveness. Do not be a blind person leading another blind person. If you are blind then admit it and lead no one. Put first things first. Above all else ask God to give you a pure heart.

Eternal: The greatest joy of heaven will be that the controversies will be over, the questions will be all answered, and most important of all our hearts will be pure of all sin. The greatest joy of heaven will be that we are really morally clean, washed pure from all sin, and no longer defiled. We will be cured of our moral cancer and actually experience in our entire being love for God and love for others. We will become an incarnation of love, purity, and holiness. This will be the fulfillment of our greatest potential as human being. Lord, come quickly that we may be pure!

Prayer: Lord, continue to purify my heart. Keep me from superficial self justification of my actions. Lord, work in my heart to give me a greater and greater love for righteousness. Thank you for cleansing me of my sin by your sacrifice on the cross.

Contemplation: Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see me

Action: Make a list of every impure thought, word, and deed today. Seek to become sensitive to wrong intentions, wrong words, and wrong actions. At the end of the day confess these very specific things knowing that the blood of Christ washes away all my defilement. Then be really thankful for Christ’s death for my sins.