In our passage today, Jesus reminds us of a very important truth. The fundamental problem that you and I have is a problem of programming. In verse 15, Jesus tells us that it is what comes out of a person that makes them unclean. The Pharisees were putting the emphasis on the wrong place. They thought by washing hands and cups they could avoid spiritual corruption. And today, many take the same approach. Put a nice suit on, on Sunday. Carry a big Bible. Genuflect as you pray. It is posture and preening that create piety. The problem is that changing the outside doesn't change the inside.
Imagine your computer stops working. When you turn it on, it just spits all sorts of symbols and characters across your screen. How do you fix it? One approach would be to take Windex and wipe your monitor. But that's not really going to solve the problem is it? To fix the computer, you probably need some reprogramming. It is the inside, not the outside, that needs to be addressed.
When we have faith in Jesus, He gets to the root of the problem. Through faith in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit. And through the Holy Spirit, our hearts and minds are shaped like the heart and mind of Jesus. It is through Jesus that real inside out change occurs.
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