Matthew 15:1-20

Reading the next part of the passage reminded me of this passage in Matthew. Here, the Pharisees have beef with Jesus, asking him why they don't wash their hands before they eat. I'm often quite disgusted when I see people leaving the washroom before washing their hands. However, the Pharisees are more interested in following these rules that they made rather than actual cleanliness.

Jesus responds to their question revealing the hypocrisy of their ways. One thing they do is claim something to be given to God. They do this to make an excuse so that they don't have to use the item to help their parents. They try hard to honor the rules, creating this loophole so that they end up dishonoring their parents for the sake of keeping the letter of the law. They are hypocrites and they merely give lip-service to God, but their hearts are in fact far from God.

What happens next is actually quite amusing. It isn't enough that Jesus has just called them a hypocrite to their face, but now he calls the crowd to insult the Pharisees again. The Pharisees have just mentioned up their precious rules about washing their hands in order to ensure what enters their body is physically clean. Everyone probably knows this about the Pharisees. Now, contrary to what the Pharisees teach, Jesus tells the crowd that it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles you, not what goes into your mouth. This is such a big deal that we see its effects from the reactions of the disciples. They're worried that what Jesus said has offended the Pharisees, questioning whether Jesus was even aware of his own actions. Of course Jesus is aware of his own actions. He said what he said for a reason, and the Pharisees were offended for a reason.

The Pharisees are blind guides. They shouldn't be worried about offending blind guides, because they are merely the blind leading the blind. Unfortunately, the general consensus was that they were the godliest of all the people in the society. In the end they would see that those who were not planted by God would be rooted up. The blind Pharisees who were not planted by God will certainly be rooted up. Whatever that means, it's not a good thing or a thing to be desired for yourself.

What happens next? Peter asks for an explanation of the parable and Jesus gets upset at a lack of understanding. That which comes out of the mouth is that which comes from the heart. From the heart comes a whole bunch of bad things which defile a person. Out of your mouth comes what is in your heart. This is what defiles a person, and not eating with unwashed hands. This isn't to say that you shouldn't wash your hands before eating. You probably should wash your hands before you eat. However, the washing of your hands does not keep you from being defiled. To keep clean, you must watch carefully what comes out of your mouth, lest you defile yourself by what you say.