“it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” – Matthew 15:11
In Matthew 15: 1-20 Jesus teaches about inner purity, and in this scripture above He is very clear about how inner purity can be defiled … by the words that come out of our mouths. But it isn’t until verses 16-20 that Jesus truly explains to His disciples what He means.
“‘Don’t you understand?’ Jesus asked him. ‘Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!'” – Matthew 15: 16-20
Christ shows that the defilement we should fear, is not from what enters our mouths as food, but from what comes out of our mouths, which shows the wickedness of our hearts. Nothing will last in the soul but the regenerating graces of the Holy Spirit; and nothing should be admitted into the church but what is from above; therefore, whoever is offended by a plain, seasonable declaration of the truth, we should not be troubled at it. In this passage the disciples ask to be better taught as to this matter.
“Where a weak head doubts concerning any word of Christ, an upright heart and a willing mind seek for instruction.”
It is the heart that is desperately wicked,
Jeremiah 17:9, “for there is no sin in word or deed, which was not first in the heart.”
They all come out of the man, and are fruits of that wickedness which is in the heart, and is wrought there. When Christ teaches, he will show us the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts; he will teach us how to humble themselves, and to seek to be cleansed in the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.
Instead of being so consumed with dieting and watching what we eat, God is calling us to become more consumed with what is really causing us to be unhealthy, the hidden evil within our hearts.
God Bless!