DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- DEFILED

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – DEFILED

"When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, 'Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!' " (Mark 7:37)

The Old Testament Covenant contained dietary laws that forbade the Israelites from eating various types of food because eating them defiled the person – made him or her unclean. In this teaching, Jesus was initiating a new Covenant – that what they ate did not defile them, because the digestive process takes the food through the stomach and it is eliminated from the body, purifying the body from unclean waste. Whatever comes out in the bodily discharges would still make people unclean externally and they need to wash. But this washing was different than the ritual washing of hands which was done "in a certain way" (vs. 3). The ceremonial cleansing had nothing to do with cleansing the motives and intents of the heart.

Jesus used the digestive process to illustrate a spiritual truth. It is not what comes out of the physical body that defiles a person. It is what comes out of the heart – evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. These are all moral issues that flow out of a person and make him unclean.

The point is that we can be so careful about outward cleanliness. We wash our hands well, we prepare our foods properly, and we have clean dishes as healthy practices. These are all necessary and good. But at the same time, we take so little care about what is really important – the things that make us unclean inside. We probably all know people who are fastidious about cleanliness, but have dirty mouths and filthy lives. May God help us as Christians to not be like that. Cleanliness is important, especially what is in the heart.

Love, Dad