Daily Bread

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

Back in first century Palestine, if you were a Jewish person, there were all kinds of purity laws about what you could or could not eat. There were also rules about ceremonial washing before you ate certain foods. The Pharisees and other teachers of the religious law were appalled that Jesus' disciples were not following the religious rules and regulations, but Jesus, throughout his ministry, reframed the law in the light of God's mercy and compassion, especially for those who were oppressed or marginalised.

The law was originally intended to protect people from being exploited or harmed, but obedience to the law had become the focus of the super-religious at the expense of others. The laws that were there to honour and protect had become weaponised and used as 'chains of oppression' and this was totally unacceptable to God, and of course, to Jesus.

This weaponising of legislation and rules still happens today, where those who seek wealth, power, and control, take a nation's laws and rules and use them to their own advantage at the expense of others. Sadly, many innocent succumb to propaganda and become brainwashed and believe those in power are working for their good, even when it leads them further into moral or physical poverty. History bears witness to how communities have underestimated the power of words, especially from those in authority.

Despite us no longer being subject to the religious law, God has been, and always will be, concerned with our hearts — the core of our being. Notice how, in the Bible reading, the list of 'evil intentions' all negatively affect other people, for it is our heart towards others that purifies or defiles us.

Holy God
Help me recognise when rules and regulations
are twisted and weaponised to oppress and subjugate others.
Help me recognise when my own morality has been compromised,
and when my own moral compass has gone astray.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and give me a pure heart,
that I may always be outward looking,
and always looking to the interests of others.
May I stand with the marginalised and oppressed,
speak the truth, and fight their cause.
This day and forever.
Amen.