15 Peter [f]said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is [h]eliminated? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and [i]slanderous statements. 20 These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”

Matthew 15:15-20 (NASB)

Another parable

In chapter 13, Jesus spends some concentrated time teaching the crowds…and His disciples using parables. As we learned, most of the crowd didn’t fully understand the parables and that was intentional. Jesus was always careful to make sure His disciples understood. Many times, they came to Him and asked for the explanation, like here. They are asking about the teaching in Matthew 15:10-11 where Jesus cautions the crowd about the Pharisee’s false teaching. He points out that His focus really is spiritual hygiene, not external. But the disciples don’t quite get it. Jesus is astonished that such a simple teaching they do not understand.

Digestion 101

Jesus therefore needs to teach the disciples a short lesson – Digestion 101: how the body processes food. The food goes in, gets processed and is eliminated. It doesn’t matter if the hands are clean or dirty, the process is the same. The food is eliminated. It does not make the person unclean.

Spiritual digestion

Then He gives them a short lesson on spiritual digestion. Actually, Jesus isn’t talking about spiritual digestion but rather, regurgitation. It’s the things inside us, in our hearts, that are evil and make us unclean, they defile us. These evil thoughts lead us to do evil things such as He listed. These defile us. 

But what is defilement? “Defilement is the state of being impure, dishonored, or desecrated. To defile something is an act of great disrespect toward God or others. Sin can defile a person, a community, or a nation.” (gotquestions.org) And the defilement is not just the body, it defiles the person. And the defilement needs to be addressed. It is sin so needs to be confessed and repented of.

As a believer, if we don’t, we allow a wall of sorts to be built up in our relationship with the Lord. Over time, the wall grows and the relationship suffers decline. We start to feel distant from or ambivalent toward God and even other Christians. It can lead to more sin and spiral out of control. But thank God, as soon as we humble ourselves and repent, He forgives us and cleanses us (1 John 1:9) and the relationship is restored.

RЯeflection

• Fellow follower of Christ. Is there sin that you have not confessed? Jesus urges us to confess and repent. Confession and repentance is not just a one-time act at conversion. Since we continue to sin, we need to continue this spiritual discipline. I also urge you to make time now to pray Psalm 139:23-24 asking God to reveal your sin. Then follow Psalm 51 to confess and repent. Don’t waste another moment as the Spirit is speaking to you.
• If you need a place to start, look at the idols of your heart. Check out this video for more about idols of the heart.

• If you have never come to Christ in repentance, click here.