There is nothing from outside a man entering into him which can defile him; but the things which go out from him, those it is which defile the man.
Jesus has just exposed religious leaders who washed their hands but not their hearts. Now He calls the whole crowd over and moves the question of uncleanness from the dinner table to the heart.
The Lord is not explaining here how a person gets cleaned up. He is answering a prior question: where does the dirt come from in the first place?
The Lord's subject in this saying is not the means of cleansing, but the cause of defilement. He is not speaking here about how useless ceremonial washing is, or about using water to remove the stains of immorality. He had already told the Pharisees about that. Now He teaches those who were never taught the law where defilement really comes from. Cleansing assumes there is something unclean. How then does man become unclean? Does it happen when polluting things from outside enter his body? The Lord declared that the cause of his uncleanness lies within: in the motives from which his words and actions spring.
The statement is about moral defilement, not about health. Food can damage a body without touching the soul.
Nothing from outside, entering into a man, can defile him. Spiritual defilement does not come that way. Of course a man may eat food that harms his body. He may even take poison. But that in itself does not defile him spiritually. But the things that come out of a man (not physically of course) are those that defile him.
We usually blame our circumstances. The verse blocks that escape route — bad surroundings can only stir up what is already inside.
The real source of defilement is not a man's environment but himself. It is true that man is a fallen creature. If he goes into scenes of evil and temptation, his surroundings will stir up the lusts inside him. But even so the source of the evil is from within. An angel can pass through Sodom and not be defiled, but not so Lot. There was no evil heart in the angel to answer to sin; there was in Lot.
The same principle reaches further. Whatever comes out of man carries man's character — including his religious rules.
The Lord here brings to light the broad principle which of itself would account for His sentence on all tradition. Does it come from man? That is enough… Apply that principle in full, and it shows what tradition really is. Tradition comes out from man. It is not a word spoken to man with the authority of God. It is a human word, and shabby pride would gladly dress it in purple and gold to cover its nakedness.
Jesus adds a call to hear, and we need it. The words are simple. Accepting them about yourself is not.
The saying was weighty. Now, as then, only the sons of faith receive this truth, which condemns men down to the very core of their being. There must be the "ear to hear."
If the source is bad, cleaning the surface wastes effort. So what does a person actually need?
What stronger proof could we have that it is not reformation men need, but a new creation! What proof, too, that outward practices can never be enough on their own, because they cannot reach what is within! If men only saw their own inborn corruption, as the Lord Jesus sets it out, they would trifle no more with priests and their doings. They would hurry straight to the Saviour's feet. There, and nowhere else, they find blessing for eternity.
Nothing from outside defiles a man. But the good a man needs is not inside him either. He must receive it from Another.
In a word, the doctrine is plainly laid down here. Man — that is, man in his present state — is only the source of what is evil. I need another absolutely perfect One, outside me, to be my life, and such a One I have in Christ. If I am a Christian at all, Christ is my life. From then on my business is to live on that good which I have found in Christ, and to live according to it. So the happy man is the one who is always thinking of Christ and delighting himself in Him.
- Outside: nothing that goes into a person makes him unclean. Jesus is answering where the dirt comes from, not how to wash it off.
- Inside: what comes out shows the source. Uncleanness starts in the heart, not in the menu or the neighbourhood.
- Excuses: bad surroundings do stir up evil. They can only do that because something inside answers them.
- Religion: the same test condemns human tradition. It also comes out of man, and it carries his character.
- Remedy: no washing or reforming reaches inside. Man needs a new creation, and a life found outside himself, in Christ.
If any one have ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.