Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: We're happy for Jesus to see the sanitized version of ourselves, but we can hardly bear the thought of Jesus seeing beneath that polite veneer, gazing into our heart of hearts, reading our intentions, evaluating our motivations. The thought that Jesus Christ has X-ray vision that reveals the most hidden corners of our lives, now that's a very, very unsettling thing to consider.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller. And Jonathan, I'm always amazed and kind of amused, actually, at how we may have this tendency to put up this Christian front, as you called it, a veneer, as if somehow we think we're going to fool God into thinking that we're a better person than we really are. Do you think that's because sometimes we don't want to have to admit the ugliness of the sin in our own lives?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I think that's absolutely the case. And this business of putting up a front or a veneer, we can sometimes manage that before other people, not generally those who know us really well. But there will be those within our circle of acquaintance, perhaps within our community or our church, and we can maintain a front.

But before the Lord, we are utterly incapable of doing that. He sees the heart. He sees everything within. And we mustn't deceive ourselves to think that we can hide the true reality of our heart and our life from God. He sees it all. And one of the things that happens within our passage today that we're going to be considering is Jesus calls out the ugliness of the heart and he shows us that the source of our trouble is within.

And that's such a help because before we can find the cure, we need to know the nature of the disease. And Jesus gives us a profound diagnosis as to the illness, the ailment of the human heart in sin.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's continue to look at this from the book of Matthew. We're in chapter 15 today as we begin a message called The King Who Judges the Heart. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: It's a very unsettling thing, isn't it, when you become aware that someone can see right through you? There are some people who seem to have an uncanny knack for doing that. In conversation, you know their gaze is just penetrating. You just sense that they're evaluating you on a deeper level, and it seems rather hard to hide from them what you are really thinking.

It's a bit like going to an airport and being asked to walk through one of those new body scanners. I don't know if you've seen those things, they're just dreadful, but they make you go and stand inside this box and this awful machine just sees through everything and you feel utterly exposed, nowhere to hide. Here in Matthew chapter 15, the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates his penetrating divine insight into the people around him. And as he engages with them, he reveals their heart.

Now, as we observe the Lord Jesus Christ going about doing this, we're going to find that it is a very, very uncomfortable thing. You see, you and I, we would prefer to engage with Jesus on a very superficial level. We would like to present to him our best selves. We would like him to see us when we are on our best behavior, when we come to church in ironed clothes and with brushed hair, speaking kindly to other people, sitting reverently in a service of worship, making polite conversation after church in the foyer.

We're happy for Jesus to see the sanitized version of ourselves, but we can hardly bear the thought of Jesus seeing beneath that polite veneer, gazing into our heart of hearts, reading our intentions, evaluating our motivations. The thought that Jesus Christ has X-ray vision that reveals the most hidden corners of our lives, now that's a very, very unsettling thing to consider.

Nonetheless, here in our passage, we learn that it's true. And as the Lord Jesus looks upon the people before him in this chapter, his penetrating X-ray vision sees their heart within. And what he reveals defies expectation and it brings profound insight to you and to me. He reveals, first of all, the hypocritical heart of religion.

Religious leaders, scribes and Pharisees, teachers of the law of God, they come to Jesus in verse one. They've come a distance, probably well over 100 kilometers. Jesus is ministering in the north, and these leaders have decided to make the trip up from Jerusalem to see him. They've done so, it becomes clear, not to benefit from his teaching, not to receive his healing touch. No, they've come to express a gripe and to deliver a complaint.

It's given in the form of a question, but it's a very, very pointed question, one loaded with judgment. Verse two: Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. Of course, we don't know with certainty what prompted this visit, but maybe some of the friends of the Pharisees and the scribes had been by the shore of the Lake of Galilee that day in the previous chapter when Jesus fed those 5,000 men plus women plus children.

Maybe these friends went excitedly back to Jerusalem and described what had taken place there that day, how the disciples had distributed all this food, how thousands upon thousands of hungry people had been miraculously fed by Jesus. And perhaps when these religious leaders heard the story, when they received the report, when they pictured the scene, rather than rejoicing and marveling at what God had done that day by the lakeside, they ignored all that and incomprehensibly turned to ask the question: Did the disciples wash their hands properly?

With the appropriate religious procedure before they participated in the meal, before they gave out the bread? Let's just stop here. Let's pause on that, let that sink in. Jesus has been going about the region performing miracles, demonstrating that in him and through him, the very kingdom of God has come near, that even now the new creation is breaking in to this sin-stricken world. The sick are healed, the lost are instructed, the hungry are fed. It's marvelous. It's wonderful. It's glorious.

And the religious leaders, as they hear the reports of these things, they're asking: Have appropriate procedures been followed all the while? They're asking: Have the traditions been kept? They're asking: Did the disciples wash their hands first? The Old Testament set out certain requirements for hygiene and for ceremonial purity before God. But alongside the scriptures, there had developed over time a wide-ranging set of oral traditions that sought to explain and develop the principles of scripture and that functionally just added extra regulations to the Word of God.

That's what Jesus is talking about when he speaks about the tradition of the elders. And so the point here is not so much that the disciples of Jesus have broken the Torah, the written law of God, but rather they have failed to give due respect to the traditions, to these extra regulations. And so now comes the challenge from these religious leaders.

And as we read this and let it sink in, we just have to stand back from all this and sort of ask ourselves the question: Are you kidding me? Is this really all they have to say? I mean, trying to conceptualize this, it's like a truckload of firefighters. They get back from fighting a major blaze in an apartment block. They're out there most of the night. They saved 23 lives. There's no fatalities. They stumble back exhausted into the station at 3:00 a.m.

And the station manager, he's standing there at the doorway with arms crossed. And he says to them as they walk back in: Did you fill out the health and safety checklist before you left the station, before you entered that burning building? Did you do a risk analysis and file it properly in the filing cabinet? Did you tick every box on the form? Show me. I haven't found the forms. Where are your forms?

I'm making this up, of course. I've no idea how these things work. But it's that kind of spirit. It's that kind of outlook. Or to try another example, you're driving along in your car and you see someone injured and bleeding by the side of the road and you stop your car, you pull over to help them. You jump out, you run to them, you bend down and you hold pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.

You take out your phone, you dial 911, you call for an ambulance. You save this person's life. And then the police eventually arrive on the scene, see all that has taken place, and they issue you a ticket for parking your car in a no-stopping zone. It's just absurdity. It represents a profound loss of perspective. It reveals a deep illness of heart. Jesus is engaged in a major rescue operation.

His disciples have been at his side assisting him. And all these religious leaders, all they can think about is whether they've been washing their hands properly as they've done this. And while you and I might be inclined to scream at someone who behaves like this, Jesus answers them with a calm spirit, with wisdom and deep insight. Verse three: He answered them, and why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Those words, they're spoken with an even voice, we imagine, and in a rational tone. But the message that now comes is truly devastating. For God commanded: Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say: If anyone tells his father or his mother, what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God.

Now, the commandments make it very, very clear that it is a primary duty of the people of God to honor their father and to honor their mother. The commandment is not hard to understand. The principle here is not a matter of debate. It's clear enough. No teacher of the law in Israel would deny that. But the traditions of the elders, the oral law, it added in a dynamic here, an interesting one, one that could very, very easily be abused.

It was possible under the tradition of the elders to dedicate some portion of one's property, of one's wealth, of one's assets to the temple for the time of death. To say: Look, 50% of my wealth is set apart for the temple. I can use it for my lifetime, but it is set apart, it is Corban, that's the term that's used, and when I die, it must go there. Now, on one level, that sounds very, very generous and very, very noble. What a wonderful and lovely thing to do.

But here's the catch. I can use my assets in my lifetime, but I cannot give them away once they're dedicated. I've promised them now to the temple. I've made a formal commitment. And so if someone comes along and needs something from me, even though I have the resources, I am now in the position to be able to say: No, I'm so sorry, the wealth, it's been promised elsewhere. It's destined for the temple.

And here is where the sharp end of Jesus' argument comes in. You could pledge wealth to the temple, declare it Corban, and then turn around to your needy parents whom the law of God says you must honor, who perhaps now need support in their old age. And you say to them: Look, I'd love to help you if I could. I'd love to help, really would. It's so tough for me, quite burdensome for me to see you not properly housed, hungry, cold. But the wealth is now promised to the temple, dedicated to the Lord.

It may look like I've got cash to spare. I understand that. But the Ferrari has been deeded to the temple. The beach house, it is gifted unto the Lord. The yacht, it has been promised to the priests. Nothing I can do. I so wish I could help. And in the name of religion, the Word of God has been set aside. The law of the Lord has been trampled into the dust. The name of the Lord has been dishonored.

And so comes the verdict. Verse seven: You hypocrites. You hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Jesus there quotes from the prophet, when in another era the Lord had declared the worship of his people empty and vain because their hearts were so far from him.

Their religion, it was worldly. And it was manmade rather than truly God-honoring. Now, what's the point? What's the lesson? What's the scandal here? Well, the lesson is simply this: it is fearfully possible for people, even for you and even for me, to be outwardly religious but inwardly godless.

Steve Hiller: This is Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths, and a message called The King Who Judges the Heart. We've looked at what have been the most listened to of the past year. We've looked at what have been the most streamed, downloaded, and requested broadcasts of the last 12 months, and we've put them together in a series called Listener Favorites, airing currently on the radio. Some of the other topics we're looking at: how we can become steadfast and wise, have confidence in trials, and enduring faith.

Now, in addition to this series that we're airing on the radio, another way you can go a little bit deeper is to get a copy of the study guide that accompanies this series. We put this together and it's available for free at the website, encounterthetruth.org. That's encounterthetruth.org. And whether you've connected with us online, through the radio, or our app, it's all made possible through your generous financial support.

So thank you for giving to and supporting this ministry. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called The Final Lap. It's all about navigating the transitions of later life. What it looks like to move from work to retirement, independency to dependency, and then finally from life to death as we approach that finishing line. This book is our way of saying thank you for your financial support. You can find out more or give online at encounterthetruth.org. Back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: What's the point? What's the lesson? What's the scandal here? Well, the lesson is simply this: it is fearfully possible for people, even for you and even for me, to be outwardly religious but inwardly godless. It's fearfully possible. Over time there had in Israel grown up traditions that outlined what it looked like to be a religious person.

You keep these rules, these patterns of behavior, certain types of washing, certain financial commitments and so on, whole lot of other things besides. And as long as you were ticking all the boxes of traditional necessity, of outward conformity, you were deemed to be in the right, in good standing, a member of the community of the people of God.

And Jesus, he looks with his X-ray vision through the veneer of religion and he gazes into the heart and he says: Your human-made religious traditions are actually a disguise. They have become a cloak to conceal a heart that is very, very far from God. And the traditions themselves, far from honoring God, they have become a means, a mechanism actually for dishonoring him and for flouting his word.

Now, I really wish I was insightful enough and clever enough to give us a long list of religious traditions today that fit into this category. Traditions that you and I, we regularly practice, that mask an inward godlessness. I'm afraid I'm not clever enough. I don't have that. I guess if I did, I'd be in a good position to try and put a stop to them within our fellowship. I don't have a list of practices that we should axe.

But here's what I think we need to do with this warning, with this admonition that comes from Jesus. Here's what we need to do. We need to look within, each one of us. We need individually and personally to have a good look at our heart. I need to look at my heart. You need to look at yours. We need to stand under the X-ray and look at the picture ourselves. What is it you see when you do that?

Do you see a heart that loves the Lord Jesus, that serves him out of a desire to please him, to glorify him, to respond to his gospel grace with gratitude and with praise? Is that what's going on inside? I hope so. But I know as well how very, very easy it is to engage in religious activity, in service, in disciplines of life out of other types of motivation. Isn't it easy to do that?

I want to be accepted within my Christian community or my little subsection of the Christian community, the one that matters to me. And to do that, I've learned that I need to tick certain boxes. I need to do certain things. I need to participate in certain ways. I need to demonstrate my commitment through certain activities, certain patterns of life.

Or I want to try and get others to behave in a certain way. I'd frankly like them to conform to an ideal that I have for what it looks like to be a Christian, a member of the church, a part of this community. And so I'm going to model certain types of behavior. I'm going to commend certain types of behavior. I'm going to cajole other people to conform to my pattern.

Or I'm aware of sin in my own life. I'm aware that in some ways I'm actually leading a kind of double life. I don't want people to see that side of me, of course. So I'm going to work hard at projecting a certain kind of image: a dutiful, reverent, thoughtful, active, serving Christian kind of an image. And I'm going to polish very, very carefully that image.

And all those motivations and patterns of behavior that I've just described, I think I've seen all of them. And all these motivations give rise to patterns of outward behavior that functionally do this: they make religion a disguise for the heart. Outward religion becomes a cloak that attempts to hide and disguise a heart that is actually really quite far away from the Lord and growing further. A heart that does not honor him.

You may well be religious. You may well be disciplined in some respects in your way of life. You may be active in serving within the church. But here's the thing: none of that in and of itself is impressive to Jesus in the least. His penetrating gaze looks within and the question is simply this: is your heart close to the Lord or is your heart far from the Lord? You see, being religiously observant and active, showing up at every church event with a big Bible under your arm, it is absolutely meaningless if your heart is not devoted to the Lord Jesus.

Now, that seems so obvious to say, but how easily you and I deceive ourselves. Jesus reveals, first of all, the hypocritical heart of religion. Next, he reveals the defiling heart of sin. The COVID pandemic has given to all of us a very keen sense of disease and infection and separation and quarantine. We could hardly be more tired of these things if we tried, but it has been so much on our minds and so much a part of our experience.

Now, I'd like you to imagine, if you would, someone who is COVID positive but doesn't know it. They've been perhaps cautious about the virus. They go about the city wearing a mask, perhaps wearing gloves, seeking at all times to insulate and protect themselves, avoiding other people, treating others as first and foremost virus vectors, virus carriers, staying away from the crowds, cleaning surfaces, sanitizing hands, refusing to eat anything that doesn't come from a reliable source.

But what this person doesn't know at the present time is that they are themselves carrying the virus. And the source of their infection is now found within their personal cocoon. They have placed themselves within a bubble of protection, but the danger is actually found within. It is the essence of worldly religion to think that moral filth and moral defilement is to be found out there somewhere.

And my job within worldly religion is to get clean and stay clean by means of right and ritual. That was the instinct of the religious leaders who confronted Jesus that day. They ignored the wonderful reality of what Jesus is doing and achieving through his ministry, and they were obsessed with defilement that came from outside. And into this confusion, into this inverted thinking, Jesus speaks these words of profound importance.

Verse 10: 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. The conventional thinking of worldly religion, of the religious mind, has it wrong, has it backwards, has it inverted, says Jesus. The disciples then come and tell him that the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they were offended by this.

And of course they were, no surprise there. Jesus is taking aim at their system of thought, at their basis of power through policing these things in the religious community. And Jesus is, in essence, don't worry about it. The Father's going to determine who is the real deal. He will weed out those who are not good plants, not the ones he has planted in his garden. Leave those guys alone. They are blind guides who are leading the blind.

When the blind lead the blind, it must end badly. Verse 14: Both guide and follower will fall into a pit. That's where worldly religion is heading, not to the heights of heaven, but to the pit of hell. And so Peter says: Okay, please explain to us then what you meant. And Jesus does. Verse 16: 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. You won't become unclean, really unclean, spiritually unclean in the sight of God through touching something in this world, through brushing up against some particular object or eating some particular kind of food. No, true defilement actually comes from the inside. And here's what it looks like. Verse 19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths here on Encounter the Truth and a message called The King Who Judges the Heart. Now we're going to pause here, but we'll get back to the message next time, so hope you'll join us. Ever miss a broadcast? Listen online, encounterthetruth.org, or through the free Encounter the Truth app.

Encounter the Truth is able to be on this station because of your financial generosity. Being listener supported, we do depend on hearing from you to keep Jonathan's teaching on this station. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called The Final Lap, written by John Wyatt. And Jonathan, why do you think that this book is going to be useful or helpful?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, John is really trying to encourage Christian people to think carefully about the final stages of life and the retirement years as well, and to be prepared for navigating that season of life as believers. Retirement and old age will come upon us eventually if the Lord gives us those years. And not many of us give a whole lot of thought to what it looks like to live well through those seasons of life and to trust the Lord through the ups and downs of those years and those decades.

And John's book is designed to help us think through those things well. And for some listeners, that will be where you are retired or you are living through old age and the Lord's given you the blessing of those years. And I think this book will be a real encouragement to think through what it looks like to be a faithful believer in that season of life.

Then other listeners will be caring for perhaps elderly parents and seeking to encourage elderly parents or grandparents. And I think this book will be a resource and an encouragement to think Christianly about how to do that and how to be an encouragement. I think there's tremendous value here actually for all of us as believers to get hold of this book and to take in the lessons that John has for us from the Word of God.

Steve Hiller: Well, it is called The Final Lap: Navigating the Transitions of Later Life, written by John Wyatt. Our thank-you gift to you as you financially support Encounter the Truth this month. You can call and give over the phone at 1-833-99-TRUTH, or go online to encounterthetruth.org. Again, our phone number is 1-833-998-7884, or encounterthetruth.org.

You can also write to us at Encounter the Truth, P.O. Box 5513, Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M1, or in the US at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Barrett, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.