Matthew 15:10-20
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Jesus’ words invite us to continue our discussion of the nature, purpose, and function of the law. What I’ve suggested is that the law is God’s gift to help us get the most out of life by caring for our neighbor. For as we care for our neighbor, rather than look out for ourselves, we suddenly have a whole company of neighbors similarly looking out for us.
But rather than trust our neighbor, rather than use the law to help and care for the persons near us and in need, we use it instead to try to secure a place for ourselves by judging others. We use the law not to instruct us to help each other but instead to accuse one another, thereby securing a moment’s sense of security and superiority but ultimately turning potential friends and supporters into adversaries, as the one who is accused and attacked inevitably feels the need to attack back.
This is what Jesus means by saying that it is not what goes into the body that defiles and distorts us but rather that which comes out. Because if we use the law to codify what foods we can eat and on that basis declare not just foods but those who eat them as clean or unclean, we have defeated the purpose of the law. All food, all of life, is neither good or bad, it just is, existing in the potential for us to use it wisely or poorly, to help one another or not. But that which comes out of us are our intentions, either to help or hurt, heal or ravage, save or damn.
Washing hands doesn’t make one unclean, misusing the law to hurt out of our sense of insecurity and fear is what makes us unclean. Thus Jesus not only declares all food clean but also reorients us to the nature and purpose of the law as God’s gift by which to live a more abundant life by caring for one another.
I know this may feel a bit dense theologically, but perhaps it can be reduced to this: rather than judge, seek to understand; rather than accuse, offer help; rather than defend yourself, open yourself to the needs and support of your neighbor. This is not the easy path to follow, as it takes equal measures of courage and faith, but it is the path Jesus invited us to tread, the path he himself pioneered and on which he still offers his help and support to all who call.
Prayer: Dear God, grant us the courage to trust your law, to trust our neighbors, and to trust ourselves. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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