What Makes a Person Clean? Outward Ritual vs. Inward Reality

In Matthew 15 and the parallel account in Mark 7, Jesus gives a parable on what really defiles someone. The Pharisees emphasized personal cleanliness before eating to such a level that it had become enshrined as equal to a biblical obligation. Jesus tangentially addressed that issue with this parable but really turned it around to make an apologetic point. Everyone is separated from God, not because of what they eat or drink, but because of the attitudes of their heart.

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:10–20)

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:14–23)

The Question That Led to the Parable

In Matthew 15:1–2 and Mark 7:5, the Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus why his disciples ate without washing their hands. Mark records that they observed some of his disciples eating with unwashed hands before they asked the question (Mark 7:2). Both Gospel writers mention that the scribes and Pharisees held to the traditions of the elders in following this procedure (Matthew 15:2 and Mark 7:3) and wanted to know why Jesus’ disciples did not.

Rather than directly answering them immediately, Jesus condemns them for their hypocrisy in following man-made rules but ignoring the Scriptures, which they professed adherence to and were supposed to be teaching the people (Matthew 15:3–9 and Mark 7:6–13). Not only did they insist on man-made rules, but they even elevated them above the Old Testament commandments. Jesus roundly criticized them for this man-centered approach. And we still see this wrong-authority approach today.

What Defiles a Person?

It was not eating with unwashed hands that defiled a person, but it was what came out of the heart of man that defiled him.

Then Jesus flips the question when he addresses not just the scribes and Pharisees but the crowd that had gathered—including his own disciples. It was not eating with unwashed hands that defiled a person, but it was what came out of the heart of man that defiled him. Jesus takes this opportunity to teach from the Old Testament Scriptures that man is not inherently good and that following a few rules would not earn favor with God. Jesus first quotes from Exodus 20:12 and Exodus 21:17 to make his point about what Scripture teaches about honoring one’s mother and father, then quotes Isaiah 29:13 to highlight what God thinks about hypocritical worship.

After the scribes and Pharisees leave (Mark 7:17), Jesus tells his disciples that these hypocritical leaders are like blind guides who will fall into a ditch and take others with them (alluding to Isaiah 56:10 and Malachi 2:8). But the disciples did not understand the parable about how the heart of man could defile a person. Jesus rebukes Peter, who asked the question (Matthew 15:15–16), and by implication all of the disciples (Mark 7:17–18) for lacking understanding of such a basic truth. Jesus lists a litany of sins—including murder, theft, and covetousness—and explains that all these sins proceed from and are manifestations of a wicked and envious heart (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV).

This heart condition goes all the way back to Genesis 3, when mankind fell in the garden of Eden and lost their sinless state and communion with God. Strife and murder shortly followed in Adam’s family, and by the flood, Scripture stated that “every intention of the thoughts of his [man’s] heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Even after the flood, God reiterated this statement: “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). In fact, this theme of the heart of man being evil runs through the entire Bible.1

What the Parable Does Not Mean

Jesus didn’t directly address the scribes’ and Pharisees’ question with them nor the ceremonial cleanliness motive behind it. He did later briefly mention to his disciples that “to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone” (Matthew 15:20). Some biblical skeptics have pounced on this statement to point at the supposedly erroneous knowledge of Jesus, because some diseases can be transmitted by eating unwashed food or food touched with contaminated hands. But Jesus was not addressing germ theory here (which as God, he knew long before medical science discovered it). Nor was he discussing cooking and food-washing procedures, which would carry more weight on the topic of sanitary eating practices. Jesus was only addressing man-made ceremonial cleanliness rituals.

Jesus scathingly asked these religious leaders why they strictly adhered to man-made rules yet ignored the commands of Scripture (and the actual intent of those commands). It is obvious he was setting up a heart issue here. Which is more important: God’s rules or man-made rituals?

Jesus scathingly asked these religious leaders why they strictly adhered to man-made rules yet ignored the commands of Scripture (and the actual intent of those commands). It is obvious he was setting up a heart issue here. Which is more important: God’s rules or man-made rituals? The answer is obvious, and even the disciples (slow to understand as they often were) picked up on this when they told Jesus that the Pharisees were offended (Matthew 15:12). The parable that Jesus told was also merely a slight retelling of what the prophets had previously spoken.2 The Pharisees had the same heart of rebellion and idolatry that their forefathers had. They claimed to worship God, but their hearts, attitudes, and actions were far from him (see Isaiah 29:13, which Jesus quoted to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6).

Furthermore, when dining with a Pharisee, Jesus said, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?” (Luke 11:39-40). While Jesus was making the point about internal sin (uncleanness), he also was using a metaphor pointing out the ridiculousness of someone who would only clean the outside of dishes and cups. Jesus used this example to highlight that the Pharisees were concerned with outward appearance only, not what was in their thoughts and motivations.

How Can Man’s Heart Be Made Right with God?

This heart of evil is something not even Christians are free of while still on earth. It is only because of the work of the Spirit in sanctification and justification that our hearts have been made clean (1 Corinthians 6:9–11), yet there is still a struggle between our sin nature and what we know is right (Romans 7). In Adam we are unrighteous, but in Christ, we are made righteous (Romans 5:18–19).

This heart of evil is something not even Christians are free of while still on earth. It is only because of the work of the Spirit in sanctification and justification that our hearts have been made clean (1 Corinthians 6:9–11), yet there is still a struggle between our sin nature and what we know is right (Romans 7). In Adam we are unrighteous, but in Christ, we are made righteous (Romans 5:18–19). Even back in the Old Testament, the Psalmist recognized that without mercy and forgiveness, no man could stand before God (Psalm 130:3–8, 143:2). God tells Jeremiah that he would one day write his laws on the hearts of the people and that he would forgive and no longer remember their sins (Jeremiah 31:33–34). He later tells Ezekiel that he would take away the heart of stone and give the people a heart of flesh, cleanse them of their sin, and put his Spirit within them (Ezekiel 11:19–20, 36:25–27; see also 2 Corinthians 3:3).

The author of Hebrews recalls these verses from Jeremiah and Ezekiel and affirms that this is a work of the Holy Spirit who is reconciling sinners with Christ to this day (Hebrews 10:15–23). This is the true heart of the gospel: “That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). While we were alienated from him, the blood of Christ brought us near (Ephesians 2:11–13); and by his sacrifice, Jesus made us holy and acceptable to God (Colossians 1:20–22). Peter reminds us that “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10). Jesus, being fully God, knew that mankind needed a heart transplant; and being fully man, yet without sin, he knew that he needed to be our Sacrifice so that we could be healed. Peter tells us that Jesus “himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). And Paul reminds us that this is all the work of God.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:6–7)