The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - The Second of Three Meetings.

 

TEXT: Matthew 15:10-11  –  “¹⁰ When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹ Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

We are continuing to study Chapter 15 today. In our study today, we are pondering about three meetings that Jesus has. We saw Him meeting with the Pharisees, today we will consider His meeting with the People, and the last lesson will be on His meeting with Peter. We will then consider the two miracles.

After dealing with the accusation from the Pharisees, Jesus then speaks to the crowd around Him. He calls them around Him. A rabbi would often do this when a very solemn pronouncement is about to be given.

The Pharisees carried the ceremonial pollutions much further than the law intended and burdened it with additions of their own, which our Savior witnessed against. We must be careful not to add our own personal preferences to what God has established.

Jesus tells His followers (and us today), that we are polluted (sinful), not by the meat we eat with unwashed hands, but by the words we speak from an unsanctified heart; thus it is that the mouth causes the flesh to sin. Ecclesiastes 5:6 states – “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?”  Christ, in a former discourse, had laid a great stress upon our words (Matthew 12:36, 37).

His point? It is not the disciples that defile themselves with what they eat, but the Pharisees that defile themselves with what they speak spitefully and censoriously of them.

Both meetings so far are stressing the truth that He taught in Matthew 7:1-5 – ““Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Today, ponder, do I judge people without getting my own house in order?  Do I censor others without seeking to clean up my own life?