Scripture Daily

Context No. 2155 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 15:10-14: in context

10He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. 11That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Jesus calls the crowd to hear and understand a truth that overturns a common assumption about purity. It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person, he says, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles. The Pharisees, focused on external rules about clean and unclean foods and ritual washing, were offended. But Jesus points past the external to the heart: for what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and it is from the heart that defilement comes. True purity and impurity are matters not of external observance but of the heart.

Jesus relocates the source of defilement from the outside to the inside. The assumption he confronts is that we are defiled by external things, by what we touch or eat or fail to wash, and that purity is a matter of outward observance. Jesus says no: what enters from outside does not defile the heart; what defiles comes from within, from the heart, and shows itself in what comes out, in our words and deeds. The mouth reveals the heart; and it is the heart, not external things, that is the source of defilement. Out of the heart, Jesus says, come evil thoughts and all manner of sin. The problem is within, and so is the true measure of purity. This searches how we think about our own purity and impurity. We can focus, like the Pharisees, on external observance, on keeping outward rules, on the appearance of cleanness, while neglecting the heart, which is the real source of defilement. We can keep our outward conduct respectable while the heart harbors what defiles, evil thoughts, malice, pride, lust, and imagine ourselves clean because the outside looks right. Jesus exposes this: the defilement is within, in the heart, and no external observance cleanses it. What comes out of us, our words and deeds, reveals the heart; and it is the heart that must be attended to, cleansed, guarded, not merely the outward appearance. This directs us to the heart as the thing that matters. Keep your heart with all diligence, the proverb says, for from it flow the springs of life. If defilement comes from the heart, then it is the heart we must attend to, guarding it, seeking its cleansing, watching what fills it, since out of its abundance the mouth speaks and the life flows. Outward observance, however careful, does not cleanse a defiled heart; and a pure heart, not mere external observance, is what God desires. This calls us to attend to the heart rather than resting in outward appearance. Do we focus on the external, on keeping up appearances of cleanness, while neglecting the heart from which defilement really comes? Jesus points us within: it is from the heart that defilement proceeds, and it is the heart that must be cleansed and guarded. Create in me a clean heart, O God, the psalmist prays; and it is the heart, not the outward appearance, that we must bring to God for cleansing, attending to the source rather than resting in the surface.

Do I focus on external observance and the appearance of cleanness while neglecting my heart, from which defilement really comes, keeping my outward conduct respectable while the heart harbors what defiles, and can Jesus' teaching that it is not what enters the mouth but what comes out, proceeding from the heart, that defiles move me to attend to my heart rather than resting in outward appearance, guarding it and bringing it to God for the cleansing that outward observance cannot give?

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