Matthew 15:10-28
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ 13 He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’
15 But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ 16 Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’
21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ 24 He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27 She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
Matthew 15 teaches us about Jesus‘ reconsideration of many concepts, starting with two main traditions: the Biblical, written one received by revelation and known as the Pentateuch or Moses’ Law; and the second one, thought to be given by God and received orally by Moses, passed to his brother Aaron, then to the priests in Israel and through them to the elders. According to the Scribes and the Pharisees, both traditions are to be equally respected. Throughout centuries the oral tradition had a great influence on daily life in Israel. Among many other rules, we see Jesus responding to the ordinance of hand washing before eating. Those who would dare eating without washing their hands were considered impure, and it was thought that they might profane the food others were invited to consume.
Jesus doesn't object to the hygiene that requires eating with clean hands. He goes beyond the apparent cleansing of hands to reach the depth of true purity. Jesus cares for the essential and not the superficial, not the surface, but man's heart—the center of good intentions that may please God according to the Ten Commandments, or of evil thoughts against God's will!
Purity of hands, yes, but more important is purity of the heart, from where all kinds of evil thoughts and deeds may defile one's life. Whatever humans eat comes in and goes out, but what is inside human hearts may provoke, produce and defile. In verse 18, Jesus is teaching the apostles to draw out their thoughts and actions from God's will rather than from human traditions. This is what the apostles refer to later on when the Sanhedrin commanded them not to preach Jesus nor witness for Him. Their reaction was very clear: Acts 4:19, “Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!” Again in Acts 5:29 "Peter and the other apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather human beings!'”
Let us read this passage again and take a few minutes to think about and evaluate our own traditions and God's commandments! Are our heart and our face synchronized or are we a hypocrite with double faced actions or reactions? What traditions are we to honor or are we to eradicate?