Septic Tank
Notes
Transcript
Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, “Listen and understand. It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person.”
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you just said?”
Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled up. Leave the Pharisees alone. They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.”
Then Peter spoke up, “Explain this riddle to us.”
Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults. These contaminate a person in God’s sight. But eating without washing hands doesn’t contaminate in God’s sight.”
I am glad Peter asks Jesus to explain this to them. I really like the way the Message translation handles Peter’s request. The Message translates it this way, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.” In some translations Peter’s request is to explain this parable to them. I really do not see this as one of Jesus’ parables. The fact that the disciples did not understand would also lead us to believe that those hearing this would be confused too. I know that when I first read it, I was confused and had to read it a couple times.
Let’s really dissect this text this morning. The disciples and Jesus had just crossed the lake from where they fed 5000 people. The Pharisees and scribes/legal experts come to Jesus asking why his disciples are breaking rules handed down to them. Jesus answers the Pharisees and scribes and then turns to the crowd that is gathered along with his disciples and that is where we pick up in our text today.
In this text, Jesus continues the discussion he was having with the Pharisees and scribes but talking with the crowd about how God feels about it. Jesus starts off by saying, “it’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight.” If we were to flip back to verse 2 we find why Jesus says this. “Why are your disciples breaking the elders’ rules handed down to us? They don’t ritually purify their hands by washing before they eat.” (Common English Bible. (2011). (Mt 15:2). Nashville, TN: Common English Bible.) The Pharisees were upset that the disciples weren’t washing their hands prior to eating. Rev. Dr. Tom Long addresses washing hands in his Commentary on Matthew when he talks about how it is different than our washing of hands. For us it is cleanliness, in Biblical times it was to purify the hands in case a person had touched something deemed unclean like a dead body, someone who was sick, or and unclean animal.
Jesus tells the crowd this doesn’t matter because God is not insulted by what goes into your mouth but the words that come out of your mouth. So, purifying your hands the way the Pharisees wanted the disciples to do, did not matter. Now, I must say, today we understand the importance of washing our hands before we eat. It is about getting germs off your hands prior to eating so that you do not put something that may make you sick into your system.
Now, the disciples point out to Jesus that he has offended the Pharisees and scribes. And Jesus responds with something that is probably more offensive. He goes into a “riddle” as Peter calls it. Jesus talks about plants that the Father did not plant. What in the world does that mean? Is Jesus really talking about plants? John Wesley in his notes says this “Every plant—That is, every doctrine.” (Wesley, J. (1818). Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (Fourth American Edition, p. 55). New York: J. Soule and T. Mason.) In other words, man made ideas.
See, the idea of purifying hands was a man made concept and rule. If you read through the Old Testament, you will not find where God says this must be done. As Rev. Long says, “There is no Old Testament law that requires ordinary folks to wash their hands before daily meals. If the Old Testament doesn’t require it, how, then, did hand-washing before meals become a ‘tradition of the elders’?” (pg. 170) The “traditions of the elders” is a reference to the laws that were handed down from the Old Testament. In Jesus’ eyes this made the Pharisees and scribes blind leading and unable to lead others to follow God.
This causes Peter to ask for explanation. Jesus seems surprised that Peter makes this request and responds “Don’t you understand?” (CEB, Mat. 15:16.) Or better yet the Message translates this verse to say, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid?” (Msg, Mat. 15:16.) Jesus cannot believe that the disciples did not understand and breaks it down further. Jesus is pretty blunt with his explanation and I am going to paraphrase, what we eat and drinks goes to our stomach and then out into the septic tank. What comes out of our mouth comes from our heart. It is the words that come out that is a sign of contamination in God’s sight.
Jesus gives us a biology lesson when he talks about consuming food and drink. This is also still taking a shot at the Pharisees and scribes understanding of the importance of washing hands prior to eating. I always find it interesting when Jesus does this because it is almost like he is saying, “I can’t believe I have to explain it to you. This is how the body works.”
Verse 19 is where this gets serious. It is where we find the complete truth Jesus is trying to explain. “Out of our heart come evil....”(CEB, Mat. 15:16). Jesus knows that human hearts are bent toward evil and must work toward love. But, his point is that what God wants is our heart to be bent toward love, grace, and mercy not laws or man made doctrines.
Now, that you know what Jesus was saying in this text to the disciples, crowd, Pharisees, and scribes, what does this mean for us? Well, the same still applies today. The things that come out of our mouth are what contaminates us in God’s sight. Food and drink still travel the same direction, to the septic tank. But, our words have found new ways to be contaminated.
It is not just what comes out of our mouths that contaminate us but is is also what we put on paper. At the time Jesus made this statement, people were not writing things out and did not have social media. We have many different ways to express the things of our hearts that contaminate us in God’s sight. And when we are contaminated in God’s sight then we have sinned against God.
The greatest part of this is that we can ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin to have the contamination removed. But, too often we act as if God does not see what we are saying and/or feeling. Our access to social media has allowed us to use language that contaminates us in God’s sight. You see it everyday, especially during an election year. Insults are thrown out like they have no bearing on who we are as a Christian. With these insults, memes, images, and words we are contaminating ourselves in the sight of God.
Friends, Jesus was pretty straight forward with his words in this text. He did not mince words. He said if you are doing things that hurt others then you are contaminated in the sight of God. While those social media posts may be funny they are an insult to another person who was created by God. It is time we stop with all this and be reminded that what comes from our mouths or keyboards comes from our hearts. Before you say something or post something ask yourself, does this really show my heart or should it be put into the Septic Tank and forgotten?