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.”
When the Pharisees told Jesus that His Disciples were breaking the tradition of the elders, and in a sense meant they were breaking some of the traditions of the Bible...And when Jesus came to dwell on earth, the Bible was the Old Testament...
Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament...And while He fulfilled the Old Testament, things changed when He came and dwelt on earth...The One who the Old Testament He was and is the One who knows it exclusively...Yet, there were some who wanted old traditions and their interpretation of the Bible to be the current way of thinking about Scripture...
But Jesus was not going to let that happen...So He told the Pharisees, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?...For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’...But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it...Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition...You hypocrites!...Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me...They worship Me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”...Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand...What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”...Then the Disciples came to Him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”...He replied, “Every plant that My Heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots...Leave them; they are blind guides...If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”...
Peter did not understand...So Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”...“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them...“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.”...
What we eat goes into our stomachs and moves through our intestines and then out of the body...Eating nourishes our body and part of our eating leaves us...Eating does not make the soul lose its purity, because food and drink does not enter the soul...It is the heart and our faith that defiles our soul...Our evil thoughts that come from our hearts and what we believe-murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander -these things make the soul defiled...These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them...