Jesus recently rebuked the Pharisees and scribes for usurping the authority of the Scriptures with their own rabbinical traditions. They took the authority of a man’s word over the Word of God. The result was that they were in violation of the Law they were trying to uphold. After admonishing the religious elite, Jesus turns to the lay people.
“…Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand…”
Here is the cry of the LORD, “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels” (Proverbs 1:5). The Lord calls out to those who have a desire to know wisdom, to know the truth. He summons those who have a hunger for the knowledge of the Most High. His cry is for them to listen, and to understand; he wants them to seek the truth, to see the truth, and to know the truth. Only by knowing the truth can we believe and act upon it. To dismiss or ignore the cry of wisdom is a foolishness that compels us unto death.
Proverbs 1:20-23 – Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
It is a fascinating thing that the God of Creation has sought to teach us over and over again?
- The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge (Psalms 19:1-2)
- Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
- The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)
Now Jesus came, God in the flesh, showing us the way and teaching in every little town he came to, and even in the wilderness of Judea, even going out of his way into Samaria. Jesus came to teach the Way. He came to correct the doctrine of the Pharisees. Jesus wants them, and us, to know that holiness is not an outward demonstration; it is an internal deficiency of a man.
“There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.”
The Pharisees were concerned that the disciples did not wash their hands and that the food they ingested would have been made unclean because they had not obeyed the tradition of washing their hands. You see, Jews were forbidden to touch unclean things because they would be contaminated by them.
By way of simple illustration, Leviticus 5:2-3 says, “if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty”.
To give you more background, the washing of hands is commanded by God for the priests to enter into the tabernacle in Exodus 30:21. In several other places in the Old Testament, the Israelites are instructed to wash their hands and other parts to symbolically wash away sins, and to ceremonially purify themselves before God. This is simply because God is holy, and those who worship him need to be holy also.
But the Jewish leadership, by the time of Jesus’ arrival, had added to this law so that every time you touched anything, you had to wash your hands to be purified before you ate. Additional rules were added to the Law to make sure no one inadvertently broke the law. So, you had to wash your hands because throughout the course of the day, you might have been cross-contaminated by someone else, or something you touched that you did not know was unclean. This would be like Job, who was reported to make sin offerings to God on behalf of his children just in case they had sinned that day and forgot to make atonement. It was not a requirement, although it was well-intended.
Here, the Pharisees condemned the disciples for eating without washing. Something God did not command. On top of this, their reason for the confrontation was not to warn the disciples of possible sin, but to accuse Jesus before the people. So, their doctrine was wrong, their judgment was in error, and their intentions were evil.
This false doctrine caused people to be irrationally concerned that they could not eat unless they were ceremonially clean. They believed that this would bring condemnation and death from God. This was a burden they did not need. Keeping the Law as written was already a difficult task, but adding these additional burdens made keeping the law a hopeless, desperate endeavor. Instead of the Law being something to delight in, as David had, it had become terribly oppressive.
Jesus wanted to set them free from this oppression, just as he came to set us free from sin and death, so his burden was with the children of Israel. He wanted them to understand that what you take into your body, washed or not, is not the real issue with sin. A man is not made sinful by eating of the dust. His heart is what corrupts a man before God.
Luke 6:45 – A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Our real problem is that we do not know what it means “to be good”
Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah is saying that even when we do something good, our reason for doing it is often inappropriate to the piercing eyes of the Lord. The book of Proverbs tells us, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)
Jesus then doubles down on the importance of what he is saying, “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear”. This is something everyone can know. If you can hear me, then pay attention to what I am saying. This was and still is an eye-opening proclamation.
“…the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.”
Yet even with that simple statement, the disciples were among those who did not comprehend. When they get Jesus to themselves, they ask him to explain what he was saying. Jesus then broke it down for them. The things that you take into your mouth do not go into your heart; they go into your stomach and pass through and are gone. However, what comes out of your mouth shows what is hidden in your heart.
Every evil thought and action that you do comes from within your own heart. It is not Satan. It is not someone else’s fault. It is yours. Any impure thought, covetousness, adultery, sexual immorality, hatreds, murders, thieving, wickedness, deceit, lusting, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, and even the evil eye – spite. Jesus said, “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man”.
Therefore, God is not concerned with whether you have washed your hands; he is concerned with whether you have washed your hearts. The Apostle John eventually understood. He wrote, “And every man that hath his hope in him (Jesus) purifieth himself, even as he is pure”. (1 John 3:3).
For this reason, Peter tells us,
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:13-16)
Later, the Apostle Peter tells us that we should walk as pilgrims in a strange land, abstaining from fleshly lust, having honest conversations, and doing good works that glorify God in Jesus Christ. Why?
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9)
Because you are called out, and you have benefited from the mercies of God. Because God desired those who have a pure heart. Jesus directly said this in Matthew 5:8 when he taught the be-attitudes, he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
Do you know how God takes a wretched sinful heart and makes it clean? John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Acts 3:19 – Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Romans 10:10 – For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
To those who believe in the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ, repent, and confess that the Lord has made a promise…
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) How about it? Can you use a new heart, one that is tender and caring; one that knows how to love purely? Are you tired of that hard-heartedness? Tired of the sour bitterness in your mouth? Do you believe Jesus died to take that sin away, and that only he can give you this new heart? So then confess to him what you know. He is life; there is no life without him, hear and listen.
The Way of Christ Ministries 