By THE SPIRIT Matthew wrote in chapter 15:
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
The word defile means to make unclean, profane, or pollute. The Pharisees focused on the outward traditions of men rather than what was coming out of the heart for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you are around a person long enough you will find out what is in their heart, especially when pressure is applied. The Pharisees were being challenged by the teachings of Jesus and they tried to ensnare Him by applying their traditions. Generally traditions are connected to past revelations with man’s logic and reasoning applied thus producing a watered down, ineffective tradition. Traditions blind men from the true, pure Word of FATHER and they convince followers to join them in their blindness. Jesus described the end result: both will fall into a ditch. There they will produce no good fruit.
The other statement made by Jesus had to to with a plant FATHER did not originate. In chapter 13 Jesus explained the parable of the wheat and the tares. The tares looked like wheat until the time of harvest. The seeds came from the wicked one and were sown among the wheat. In the end, the tares were uprooted and burned. We must beware of the traditions of men and only focus on the pure, undefiled Word. We must trust The Holy Spirit to minister its applicability to our situation and not simply take someone else’s opinion as “Gospel”.
Peter had to unlearn the traditions of the Pharisees because he did not grasp the parable. Jesus explained:
16 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?
17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Each of us must assess our own thoughts and words. Yes, we can watch over what we speak in order to project righteousness to others. Some people are excellent at expressing acceptable speech that promotes the perception of spiritual superiority. Only FATHER knows the thoughts and intents of the heart thus we must be brutally honest about what words want to come out and whether they promote life or death. I believe this is why we must focus on Love above all so that the good seeds of Love overtake all other seeds planted in the past by the world. Each of us has the choice of what we pay close attention to on a daily basis. If one is watching the news cycles over and over, the world is planting seed into the heart. At some point evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and/or blasphemies will come forth. Let not that seed be found among us. Our words will ultimately testify of what is in our hearts.