A Matter of the Heart
Matthew 15:1-20
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. [Matthew 15:18]
We have been seeing the different groups that Jesus dealt with during His earthly ministry: His enemies, the multitude, and disciples. All three were highlighted in Matt 14 and we will continue to see how Jesus dealt with each over the next several chapters. There is great application for us because these are the same groups that we deal with today.
This morning we will focus on Jesus enemies, the religious Scribes and Pharisees. It is interesting that sometimes our greatest foes are within religious circles. It is the Wheat and the Tare parable.
These religious leaders accuse Jesus of breaking the tradition of the elders. [v.15:2] Now, it is interesting that they would admit that it was the tradition of the elders and not what is written in the Law of Moses. Back in Chapter 12 they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, but remember, it was their added tradition [and faulty interpretation] that He broke.
This, however, underscores the danger of religion when it becomes a list of dos and donts. Sometimes religion can end up being more from the heart of man than the heart of God, which pose problems. Jeremiah warned that The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it. [Jer 17:9]. You know, it never ceases to amaze me the things that come out of a persons mouth and even their texts and emails that they have time to ponder while writing. But Jesus said it clearly, But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
Bad words [spoken and written] come from a bad heart and good words come from a good heart. It is a simple principle.
And so, we will continue to see the hearts of these three groups over the next several chapters. The heart of Jesus enemies is to destroy Him; the heart of the multitude is to use Him; and the heart of the disciples is to serve Him.
But we will also see going forward that the focus moves toward teaching His disciples. This is because His disciples would bear spiritual fruit that would continue the message of the Kingdom when He is gone. We must also notice, however, that Jesus still dealt with His enemies and ministered to the needs of the multitude.
These chapters are great lessons on ministry management and how we should be investing our time, energy, and resources in furthering the Kingdom.