10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man's mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’”
Silly Pharisees, no amount of washing of the hands will ever clean the heart – no matter what religious soap is used and - for that matter - no kind or quality of food will pollute the person or defile the soul either. What we eat does not render a person repugnant to God nor does it disqualify them from His fellowship. Paul tells us in Romans:
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Romans 14:17 (NIV)
Remember, too, Peter was told not to call anything common or unclean that God had made clean in Acts:
13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Acts 10:13-15 (NIV)
Paul also writes in First Timothy:
4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 1 Tim 4:4-5 (NIV)
In our verses for today, our Lord gives us a - hear, heed, think and reason - to the Truth He is about to set forth. In other words, pay attention, listen up and do it! The intellectually elite are not the only ones He is speaking to here (hallelujah); indeed, the ordinary and common folk are also to apply their minds to understanding - heeding Jesus’ Words as well. It is profitable for one to simply chew on the Word of God – mull it over in our minds – to use reason – to pray for wisdom and discernment – to seek and search for the Truth and apply it. Let’s not be willy-nilly about this – the benefits are far too great for us to cavalierly pass up our responsibilities in this so great an endeavor. Proverbs tells us:
1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Prov 2:1-8 (NIV)
The Pharisees had issues with the Lord’s disciples over their lack of adhering to the manmade rules they had staunchly set forth. Particularly in this case, the washing of the hands or rather the lack of washing was brought to Jesus’ attention (as if anything goes unnoticed by the Lord Jesus). Foolishly thinking hearts were set right by mere observance of outward rituals, these religious leaders were about to be set straight by Christ. Cleansing of the heart is an inside to outside job not vice versa. Clean hands cannot make a clean heart rather a clean heart makes for clean hands. When our hearts are right with the Lord Jesus our actions will follow suit. God always starts with the heart being the seat of all desires. The heart prompts the motives which prompts the action.
“It is a blessed thing when you can bring all your desires into focus so that they all center on one object. When one has fifty different desires, one’s heart resembles a small pool of stagnant water, spread out into a marsh, breeding miasma and pestilence; but when all of one’s desires are brought into one channel, one’s heart becomes like a river of pure water, running swiftly to fertilize the fields.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Surely, these religious leaders were divided in heart. Jesus calls them later in Matthew “whitewashed tombs” appearing beautiful on the outside but on the inside filled with all sorts of wickedness:
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matt 23:25-28 (NIV)
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye...
But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart...” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry