Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

“Cleanliness is next to godliness,” so I have heard from all the important women in my life, from my mother to both my grandmothers. This applied to cleaning my room, washing dishes, polishing my white sneakers with talcum powder to a high gloss shine (a free tip that works), brushing my teeth, and only wearing properly ironed clothes.

I was today-years-old when I learned this phrase is not in the Bible but coined by the founder of the Methodist church, Pastor John Wesley, during the 16th century. He wrote for his Sunday sermon, “Let it be observed, that slovenliness is no part of religion; that neither this nor any text of Scripture, condemns neatness of apparel. Certainly, this is a duty, not a sin... Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.”

The tenet of godly cleanliness evolved from God’s requirement during the time of Moses for His people to be clean through ritualistic handwashing (Exodus 40:30-31). This purification process formed the basis of Jewish practice before prayers and meals. The Pharisees adopted a strict policy of handwashing that they mistakenly equated handwashing to having a pure heart. Clean hands = clean heart. Dirty hands = unclean heart. An equation that does not really add up, does it?

In today’s reading, Jesus is still sparring with the Pharisees’ obsession with enforcing rules they have created outside of Scripture. Rules they have made up and rules they break as it is convenient for them. While Jesus was minding His business caring for the spiritual and physical needs of his crowd, Pharisees were sent to “investigate” the questionable activities of Jesus, and the first thing they noticed was that the disciples failed to wash their hands before they ate. They were not concerned about proper hygiene, but they were accusing them of having impure hearts and ignoring the traditions and customs handed down by Jewish elders (Matthew 15:1-2).

Jesus answers their question with a question in verses 3-6, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]? For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].”

Jesus then calls it like he sees it. The Pharisees are hypocrites. They honor God with lip service only, but their hearts are far removed from Him. They were replacing Scriptures with something of their own invention.

Jesus then gathers the crowd and uses the confrontation with the Pharisees as a teaching moment of what true defilement really is. Jesus says, “It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean, but what comes out of a person’s mouth that defiles them.” Moral pollution comes from the inside, not the outside. Unwashed hands are not the problem. A defiled heart is responsible for evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. Practicing tradition does not change the heart; only Jesus, a heart specialist, can change the heart.

What does a clean heart look like? A pure heart is cleansed by the Lamb’s blood sacrifice and is filled with The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity (Titus 3:5). A pure heart seeks to please God in all matters and remains in a posture of obedience (Acts 5:29). A pure heart has agape love for others and places the needs of others ahead of their own needs and interests (John 15:12-13). A pure heart honors God in speech and actions (Colossians 3:23).

Reflection:

• Read Psalm 51:10-19. Highlight each verb. Choose a highlighted verb as a starting place to craft a prayer.
• Listen to Donnie McClurkin’s “Create in me a Clean Heart”.
• Pray: Father, create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me. Forgive me for my sin and being made unclean by the world. Rescue me from everything that has made me impure. Thank You for the blood that has made me white as snow. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Family Application: Matthew 15

Author: Cooper Herrington

Have you ever seen one of those “spot the difference” puzzles. The two pictures look almost the same, but there are a few things different. That is what our story is like today. Yesterday, we read Matthew 14 and the feeding of the 5,000. Today, in Matthew 15 we are reading about the feeding of the 4,000. Both stories are similar, but they have a few differences.

In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus was spending time with Jewish people and had only been there for one day. In our Bible story today, Jesus is spending time with people who are not Jewish. These people did not know God. The people in today’s Bible story got hungry again, and they only had seven loaves of bread and three fish. Even though the disciples had been with Jesus when He fed the 5,000, they still did not have faith. They asked where they were going to get enough food to feed the 4,000. Jesus again performs a miracle and feeds all the people having leftovers.

We can learn a lot from today’s story but one thing is that Jesus cares about every person. He wants to have a relationship with everyone. We get to have a relationship with Jesus, and we get to tell other people about Jesus and invite them to follow Jesus too.

• Think of someone you know who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus that you can talk to about Jesus and invite to follow Him.
• Prayer: God, You are amazing! You love everyone. God, give me a chance to talk to someone who doesn’t know You. Let them come to know You, Jesus. God help me be loved by You and love You and Your people more. Amen.