Matthew 15:10–11

The Lord sets all this aside. He calls up the "multitude" — no matter who or what they might be. We are told in Matthew 9:36 that they were "like sheep without a shepherd." And He addresses Himself directly and completely to what is within. He passes by all that Satan had known how to use to blind the conscience, and He goes at once to the root of the matter.

The Lord called the crowds together again and gave them the truth on this subject in simple, short words, such as they might "hear and understand." He spoke to the crowds directly, with no one in between. These simple peasants of Galilee could drink from the well-spring of truth itself. He called everyone to pay attention to Him, and to lay hold of His words.

Without fear, which He never knew, He publicly declares that the teachings of the sayings of the elders are evil. A simple truth, indeed. And yet how many professing Christians have not grasped the very first principle: the evil is within, and this is what defiles the man.

The Lord's subject in this saying is not the means of cleansing, but the cause of defilement... How then does a man become unclean? Is it by the polluting influence of outside things entering his body? The Lord declared that a man's uncleanness comes from the inner motives behind his words and actions. No one can bring a clean thing out of an unclean.

So much for man in his religious state. But He calls the crowds to hear that man in his purely natural state is defiled. He is defiled not by anything that goes into his mouth, but by all that comes out of it. For all the streams of outward activity only flow from the heart — the defiled spring of every defiling thing.

The Lord therefore calls the crowd together to Him. He gives the most public statement of something that may seem to us so simple, and yet which a large mass of professing Christians have not even yet reached: "it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person." The source of defilement for a man is, sadly, within him... Brought into the clear light, such a principle commends itself to every man's conscience. But the Pharisees would resent it all the more.

In verse 10 He calls the crowd to Him, and speaks to them in such plain words that you would think they would be the ones to be offended; but we are told that it was the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who were offended.

Notice where "understanding" lies in God's estimate — always in the conscience. He is not producing learned men, though He does speak wisdom to those who are mature. He is bringing sinners to heaven. His dealings are with the heart and the conscience. Whether it is a parable or anything else, I have no "understanding" of it until my conscience is at work and before God by faith.

So the Lord called the crowds together again. He gave them the truth on this subject in simple, short language — the kind they could "hear and understand." He spoke to the crowds Himself, with no go-between, so that these simple farmers of Galilee could drink from the well-spring of truth itself.

He never knew fear. So He publicly declares the evil teachings found in the sayings of the elders. A simple truth, indeed — and yet how many professing Christians have never grasped this very first principle: the evil that defiles a man is within him.

The Lord's subject in this saying is not the means of cleansing, but the cause of defilement… He now instructs those who are untaught in the law about the true source of defilement. Cleansing assumes defilement. How, then, does man become unclean? Is it by the polluting influence of outside things entering his body? The Lord declared that the inner motives from which a man's words and actions spring are the cause of his uncleanness. No one can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one. … The things that mattered most were those that came out of a man. His plans, his motives, his desires, his character, his moral tone — these made a man a centre of power, spreading influence either for good or for evil.

There are no such things for the Christian as the clean and unclean foods that there were for the Jews. The Lord makes that very clear: it is from the heart that evil proceeds.

The great general snare is denying the evil of men. The deception Satan constantly uses now is the idea that man is not so bad, and that moral culture can improve him. The progress of the world is astonishing, they say. There are societies for promoting every good cause and for the improvement of man. People look for the faults in the circumstances and surroundings instead of in man. Here is a word that passes judgment on all these efforts of men together… The real secret of man's terrible condition is his heart. This affects everything that comes out.

Here we are all in the same case, whatever the apparent differences in outward life. "Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" is not just a description of the world before the flood. It is the truth about the heart of man everywhere and at all times. It is the defiled spring of everything that defiles. The moment God brought Isaiah to his true position before Him, grace answered by removing his guilt. There was no delay at all.

…many Christians consider only externals and forget that the real index of what defiles is what a person allows to come out of his mouth. For these come from the heart. The heart is the source of evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies… If the mouth expresses hatred, that is the principle of murder (1 John 3:15). Someone who is adulterous will usually give it away by corrupt language. A thief will likely speak in a greedy way. Wisely indeed does Proverbs 4:23 tell us, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."