Don't let the blind lead you...
Matthew 15:10-20
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand this! 11 What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!”
12 The talmidim (disciples/students) came to him and said, “Do you know that the P’rushim (Pharisees) were offended by what you said?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Let them be. They are blind guides. When a blind man guides another blind man, both will fall in a pit.”
15 Kefa (Peter) said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 So he said, “Don’t you understand even now? 17 Don’t you see that anything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and passes out into the latrine? 18 But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean. 19 For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . . 20 These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n’tilat-yadayim (hand washing blessings) does not make a person unclean.”
Clean vs unclean...
This passage is often used as a way to say that "all things have become clean to eat" and what Jesus is really concerned about is what comes from the heart/mouth. Jesus would never state that something "unclean" (shrimp, lobster, pig etc...) would suddenly become a "clean" animal for the Israelites to eat. Just because it passes through the stomach and out the latrine does not mean that the animal is okay to consume.
I do agree that Jesus is concerned with what comes out of the mouth. He wants hearts to be cleaned, not just stomachs. He desires for people to speak appropriately, not just act a certain way.
The heart is important. What happens when the heart is not in a right understanding? The mouth will reflect it. The religious teachers of the day were more concerned about all of the laws and the ways they were being handled. Jesus never wanted the Torah commands broken and never taught anyone to break them. But, He did not like the religious leaders causing issues with the people and forcing them to follow man-made traditions.
Adonai created everyone. But not everyone has taken root into the Truth of the teachings. Some have become blinded along the way and become caught in snares and lies which they than teach others. This is the blind leading the blind...
If all of these situations happened then, why wouldn't they happen now??? Why wouldn't there be leaders who are blindly leading people into situations and Truths that are not in the Word? I read the other day that there is a group using "tarot cards" that are "good" in order to reach the New Age group. This is scary and sad.
We must stop and take time to HEAR Him and KNOW Him. Don't rely on everything that teachers tell us. We must LISTEN to the Spirit. Don't let the blind lead the blind.
Love and blessings,
Rose
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