Matthew 15:1-20
That Which Defiles
1 Then some 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!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”
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.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Matthew 5:21-30
Murder
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 7:24-27
Building on a Solid Foundation
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Jesus explains to us about defilement...He teaches that the crime of murder is an end from an earlier means...He explains that adultery is another end from an earlier means...Murder started from some earlier emotion of hate or possible envy...Adultery and sexual immorality started from an earlier emotion of lust...These evil acts started from a first evil thought...
Jesus teaches us that evil first takes its shape and forms in our heart...If the heart has wickedness in it or grows in wickedness, or wickedness come in it quickly, we have a problem...If a heart is full of wickedness and evil, then murder, adultery, sexual immorality, or theft, false testimony, slander, or other bad things can happen...Murder and adultery often appears to us to be the crime...But Jesus tells us when we look back we see that much earlier in time a heart that was filled with hate, which started the murder..When we look back, we see that adultery appeared to start the temptation, but it was not...The original look of lust were the beginnings of a desire toward another person, were the first of the sexual immorality...So it is not what enters our mouth we have to fear, but the temptations and evils that comes out of our hearts...
When we build our emotions on a solid foundation, we have a better chance when the rains and floods of temptation and negative thoughts come and these winds of temptations beat against us...If we want to follow Jesus and act righteously, we must understand the beginnings, as well as the end to what a temptation can do to us...When we follow Jesus and His teachings, we better can stand the winds of temptations, when they come into our lives...Jesus' strength is a power that we need over the hates and lusts, and temptations in our lives...Only when we realize that these temptations have started much earlier by some little envy, like a small dislike that turned into a hate, a small naive lust that grew into a desire, can we better be like Jesus and what He teaches us...