Out of the heart come evil thoughts . . . these are what defile a person. Matthew 15:19-20
As long as you keep your mouth closed, I told myself, you won’t be doing anything wrong. I’d been outwardly holding back my anger toward a colleague after misinterpreting things she’d said. Since we had to see each other every day, I decided to limit communication to only what was necessary (and retaliate with my silent treatment). How could a quiet demeanor be wrong?
Jesus said that sin begins in the heart (Matthew 15:18−20). My silence may have fooled people into thinking all was well, but it wasn’t fooling God. He knew I was hiding a heart filled with anger. I was like the Pharisees who honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (v. 8). Even though my outward appearance didn’t show my true feelings, the bitterness was festering inside me. The joy and closeness I’d always felt with my heavenly Father were gone. Nurturing and hiding sin does that.
By God’s grace, I told my colleague how I was feeling and apologized. She graciously forgave me and, eventually, we became good friends. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts” (v. 19), Jesus says. The state of our heart matters because evil residing there can overflow into our lives. Both our exterior and interior matter.
Read: MATTHEW 15:7-20 (NIV)
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[a]”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[b] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
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 a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
INSIGHT
- Jesus said that the sin in our heart defiles us. What “evil thoughts” might be defiling your heart?
- How can you pray regarding this matter?
When Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, it was from a passage in which God, through the prophet, confronted the people of Jerusalem over their self-righteous religious practices (Isaiah 29:13). In that day, the people claimed to know God, but their actions proved their hearts were stone-cold. In the Messiah’s day, He directed Isaiah’s accusation specifically at the Pharisees, who were guilty of the same sin. The Pharisees had just accused Jesus’ disciples of failing to wash their hands before eating. Mark’s parallel account about this scene expands on the Pharisees’ unhelpful tradition (see Mark 7:3-4). There was nothing wrong with the washing of one’s hands prior to eating. But the Pharisees had made this a requirement, elevating “human rules” to the status of God-ordained law (Matthew 15:9).
PRAYER
Loving God, please forgive me for the sins I’ve been nurturing in my heart. I want my heart to be pleasing in Your sight. Please help me to change. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: MATTHEW 15:7-20 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: NUMBERS 28-30; MARK 8:22-38
