Matthew 15:10-20: another POOP-y subject

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Prior to this part, the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem are recorded to have asked Jesus, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat." (Matt 15:2)

Jesus, in His response to their self-righteous accusation, called them hypocrites who had made void the word of God for the sake of their tradition (which they taught the people as commandments) - honouring Him with mere lips and worshiping in vain - while they condemned those who broke ceremonial laws (such as to eat with unwashed hands) to have flawed faiths. 

He proceeded to shed light on the matter. Eating with ritually cleansed hands, utensils, plates and body did not keep one from being defiled, as per common belief. Food consumed would only pass through the gastrointestinal tract and be expelled as waste - or poop. Whether you were "clean" or "unclean", poop is POOP. Poop stinks, breeds diseases and rots. Poop is unclean (God did instruct the Israelites through Moses that faeces/excrement had to be meticulously covered outside the camp (Deut 23:12-14)) but poop would come out - eventually. Rather, what stays inside the body, is just as detestable and gross as poop, and defiles a person is a corrupt heart - a malignant one that never intends to obey God and opposes His ways even while the lips endeavour to utter holy nuances. Such a heart expresses itself through words spoken and can not be hidden. The words potentially destroy their listeners, homes, marriages, society, nations, lives, and ultimately, their speaker. (For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he - as per Proverbs 23:7).

It is no wonder that we are to keep our hearts with vigilance, for from our hearts flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23).

When poop comes out from the mouth, it is not good. A troubling symptom indeed.