Mark 7:1-2, 5, 14-15 NIV
[1] The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus [2] and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
[5] So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”…
[14] Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. [15] Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”
A profound lesson from Jesus! He pulls the rug from under, not only every false religion but also from every perceived insult and “hurt” that sets off a chain reaction of retaliation and revenge.
False religions set much stire on cleaning the outside but have no answer for polluted hearts. They focus on external behavior, hoping that somehow, what they do to the outside will filter through to their inside. Jesus said it doesn’t work like that!
Mark 7:17-23 NIV
[17] After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. [18] “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? [19] For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) [20] He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
What is the source of so much violent reaction from individuals, groups, and even nations? Perceived injury, emotional hurts, hypersensitive egos?
Jesus told His disciples the truth…all the wickedness in the world comes from the heart of the perpetrator, not from the words or behaviour of the victim.
Wow! That changes things, doesn’t it! Just imagine…the next time you are maligned or insulted, instead of reacting with anger or plotting to get back at your aggressor, you calmly remember that words are a mirror of the soul. Its the person accusing who is guilty , not the accused.
Jesus’ sober explanation of the source of evil should alert us to at least two realities…those who speak evil are inadvertantly exposing their own hearts and…we had better watch our own words lest we, too, reveal our own wickedness.
The Bible, in many places, teaches us to guard our words because words are powerful tools for good or evil. For example, the well-known proverb…
Proverbs 18:21 NIV
[21] “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
…and James’ warning…
James 3:2, 6, 8-9 NIV
[2] We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check…
[6] The tongue also, is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell…
[8] …no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.”
…and, likewise, Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees…
Matthew 12:34-37 NIV
[34] “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. [35] A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. [36] But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. [37] For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
What is the solution? James said that no one can tame the tongue. If the tongue is the mirror of the heart, then the solution is to change the heart.
God promised Israel that, in a new dispensation, at the right time, He would do a heart transplant on His people through His Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:24-27 NIV
[24] “ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
Only by this divine intervention, this divine “surgery”, is it possible to have new hearts that produce the good words of righteousness and truth.
As we arm our minds with truth, so, our words will reflect what God requires…
Psalms 15:1-3 NIV
[1] “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? [2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; [3] whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others…”
So, Paul urges us…
Colossians 4:6 NIV
[6] “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”