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 the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”
Confused over Jesus’ Words - though clear – the spokesman for the group - Peter – asks the Master to explain the parable. Surprised by their dullness – their lack of ability to get it - Jesus tells them plainly Words similar to those He spoke to the Pharisees earlier in Matthew as well as those He spoke in Luke. What comes out of the mouth comes directly from the heart. What makes a man unclean, common, polluted or defiled is not found outside of him – external hand washing rituals never make one clean or unclean - rather it is found inside of him, in the condition of his inner being. In reality, the mouth is merely the heart’s microphone.
34 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matt 12:34-37 (NIV)
45 “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 (NIV)
Paul tells us clearly in Romans that it is impossible for those who are controlled by the sinful nature to please God. The unbelieving heart cares only for his sinful interests with no regard for God and His ways of life and peace. When our mindsets and aspirations are of the sinful nature it leads to death in all its forms – physical and spiritual. There is no defilement in the products of God’s goodness only in the products of our corrupted hearts. Every word or deed flowing from the mouth and hands – whether good or evil - finds their source from within the spring of the heart:
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:6-8 (NIV)
“A baptism of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day.” Duncan Campbell
Further, Paul warns us in Galatians that those who consistently choose to live according to the sinful nature will not inherit the kingdom of God. These are the things which defile a person. Paul’s list is much akin to our Lord’s in our verses for today which Jesus states makes a man unclean:
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21 (NIV)
Yet, praise God, we no longer have to be enslaved in these ways – held captive in this death sentence of our own choosing. Out of love, Jesus came to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and heal us of all our transgressions – saving us, as King David states, from being ensnared by the work of our hands. He came to set the captives free from the death of these actions – purifying us by His blood and giving us life in abundance through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:9-11 (NIV)
“The heart is constituted such that the only way to dispossess it of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one...and when God stands revealed as an object of confidence to sinners—and where our desire after Him is not chilled into apathy by that barrier of human guilt which intercepts every approach that is not made to Him through the appointed Mediator...it is when released from the spirit of bondage...and admitted into the number of God’s children, through the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of adoption is poured upon us—it is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great and predominant affection, is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires and the only way in which deliverance is possible”. Scottish Pastor, Thomas Chalmers, 1780-1847
“Make and keep me pure within.” Charles Wesley