Bible Text: "Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. Listen, he said, try to understand. It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth. Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” (Matthew 15:10-12)
Having dealt with the religious leaders, Jesus now instructed the common people about authentic godliness. This is not to say that there are not defiling things that we can take into ourselves; one example of this might be pornography.
But in this specific context, Jesus spoke about ceremonial cleanliness in regard to food, and He anticipated that under the New Covenant all food would be declared acceptable (Acts 10:15).
In these words of Jesus we see the guilt of those who are blind leaders of the blind.
We also see the responsibility of followers to make sure their leaders are not blind.
The disciples came to Jesus, saying something like this: “Jesus - did you know that you offended those guys?” Of course Jesus knew that He offended them! He intended to offend them and the way they valued man’s tradition too highly.
Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.
Though the Pharisees and teachers of the law had scrolls and interpreted them in the synagogues, this does not mean that they really understood them. . .
Having dealt with the religious leaders, Jesus now instructed the common people about authentic godliness. This is not to say that there are not defiling things that we can take into ourselves; one example of this might be pornography.
But in this specific context, Jesus spoke about ceremonial cleanliness in regard to food, and He anticipated that under the New Covenant all food would be declared acceptable (Acts 10:15).
In these words of Jesus we see the guilt of those who are blind leaders of the blind.
We also see the responsibility of followers to make sure their leaders are not blind.
The disciples came to Jesus, saying something like this: “Jesus - did you know that you offended those guys?” Of course Jesus knew that He offended them! He intended to offend them and the way they valued man’s tradition too highly.
Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.
Though the Pharisees and teachers of the law had scrolls and interpreted them in the synagogues, this does not mean that they really understood them. . .
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