Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: You may well be religious, you may 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 him?

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I’m Steve Hiller. Jonathan, if we’re going to be honest, some of us listening today would have to say my heart is kind of far from God right now. I know it shouldn’t be, I don’t even necessarily want it to be, but I’m not quite sure what to do in this moment. For the person who says yeah, my heart is far from God, what’s the next step?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, those are such good questions to be asking. I think the exercise of looking within and saying, "Is my heart close to the Lord?"—that is a healthy exercise for each of us to undertake spiritually before the Lord. If the answer is, "My heart is far from the Lord and my love for him has grown cool," we need to go back to basics, don't we? We need to consider the reality of sin.

It may well be that there are sin issues in our life that need to be addressed; there needs to be repentance. It may well be that there has been a veneer of religious activity, but not a real turning from sin and a pursuit of holiness. we need to address that honestly before the Lord. And then we need to remind ourselves of gospel truth: that Jesus came and lived and died in our place that we might be forgiven, that we might be cleansed.

He sent his Spirit that we might be empowered for a new kind of life. We need to come back to those basics and say, "Lord, cleanse me. Lord, help me. Lord, empower me. Lord, change me." I think that kind of honest gospel reckoning with the Lord in our heart of hearts—that's something that needs to happen if we sense that we've grown cool toward him or drifted away from him. Or if we've been religiously involved, but actually maybe there's never been heart reality, well, that is the reckoning that needs to take place.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's continue to look at this. We're in Matthew chapter 15 today. Our message is called "The King Who Judges the Heart." Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: You may well be religious, you may 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 rite 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 in 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. 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 says, 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 in 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 in verse 19: "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, that doesn't defile anyone." When Jesus looks at you and when Jesus looks at me with his X-ray vision, he doesn't care whether we washed our hands for 20 seconds or 40 seconds with soap and hot water.

He doesn't care if we got hold of the hand sanitizer before lunch. He cares about what's inside: evil thoughts, plans and plots to do wrong, thoughts of unkindness and of hatred toward other people. He cares about the kind of hatred that actually leads to murder. He cares about adultery, which, of course, begins in the heart before it ever moves to a place, to a person.

He cares about sexual immorality in all its forms, which, of course, begins in the imagination. He cares about the unfulfilled material desires that lead to theft, to the scheming jealousies and ambitions and rivalries that lead to false witness and to slander. That's what Jesus cares about. And what had happened among these religious leaders was this: they had so prioritized rite and ritual, so focused on those outward things, that the reality of the heart, the source of true defilement—it had slipped from view.

Their religion was upside down, backwards, inside out. These religious leaders, teachers of the law of Israel, they had it profoundly wrong, and it's a scandal that they did, but we need to recognize as well how widespread their error is. You see, it is the universal instinct of humanity to see our standing before God as a matter of externalities, as an outward issue rather than an inward issue.

You see, if by ceremony I can make my body clean, if by discipline I can make my outward behavior conform, then all will be well. God will look upon me and be pleased and ultimately accept me. But you only operate that way, ultimately, if you believe that the problem with humanity, the problem with you and the problem with me, is an external problem.

But what's Jesus saying here? He's saying that the problem of humanity is not the external problem of dirty hands; it is the internal problem of a filthy heart. And if that's the case, if that's the reality, then the solution is not and cannot be to buy a big bucket of hand sanitizer at Costco down the road. The solution is not a good disinfectant. The solution must be far more radical than that.

All the way through the Gospels, all the way through the earthly ministry of Jesus, he is preparing us to understand what he would ultimately achieve at the cross. He is teaching the truth of the cross ahead of time through every interaction, in every lesson, through every miracle. That's what he's doing. And of course, that is precisely what he's doing here.

He is showing us that if our problem is internal rather than external, we need a cleansing agent that reaches deep within. And what is the cleansing agent that can reach deep within the human heart? It is nothing less than the blood of Christ shed at Calvary. I don't know if you remember the hymn, more of a chorus really, that we used to sing in days gone by. It probably fell out of favor because it seemed oversimplified, and it was rather repetitive in a way, but it came to mind for me this week as I reflected upon the teaching of Jesus here. Maybe you remember it. I think it puts things rather well.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see: nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea: nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone; nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done; nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace: nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness: nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.

You see, religion drives us to wash our hands, to bathe in spiritual water, to cleanse ourselves with ritual and to improve ourselves with regulation. And Jesus says you've misunderstood the nature of your problem. It's internal. Notice it again. It's devastating what he says in verse 19: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person."

The problem is internal, says Jesus. And so he drives us forward to the cross—the place where he would shed his cleansing blood, the only agent in all the universe that is effective for cleaning the human heart in the sight of a holy God.

Steve Hiller: You’re listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and a message called "The King Who Judges the Heart." We’ll get back to this message in just a moment, so I hope you’ll stay with us. Our message has been one of the most listened to of the past year. We went back and we looked at what have been the most listened to broadcasts of the past 12 months, and we put those together in a series called Listener Favorites. That’s what’s currently airing right now on the radio.

In addition to that, we’ve also put together a study guide to help you go a little bit deeper. The study guide is free and you can access that at our website. Just come to encounterthetruth.org. That’s encounterthetruth.org. And whether you’ve connected with us on the radio, online, or through our app, we’re glad that you’re listening. It’s only made possible through your generosity.

As you give a financial gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book that Jonathan has chosen called *The Final Lap*. It’s all about navigating through the transitions of later life. Find out more or give online at encounterthetruth.org or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH. We'll have more information about this a little bit later in the broadcast, so stay with us. Right now, back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Jesus reveals the hypocritical heart of religion, the defiling heart of sin, and finally, as we close, the humble heart of faith. Jesus has so far been engaging with religious leaders from the capital of religion, from Jerusalem itself. Tragically, they failed to see their need before God. They have been dealing all the while with externalities and not internalities, and they have come to Jesus in a spirit of criticism.

It's a tragedy because they're blind to the true issues. They're showing themselves actually to be spiritual outsiders—outsiders when it comes to the things of God, to the salvation that the Messiah brings. Now, that in itself is quite shocking. It's tragic. It defies all expectations for religious leaders. But what comes next is now no less shocking, even if it is quite wonderful.

Notice how the drama turns. Notice this next encounter in verse 21: "And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.'" Now, just notice with me the details here. They're very significant.

This is a woman approaching Jesus in a society where men are so often treated with preference. The previous exchanges here have been with men. Jesus is now in Gentile territory, in Tyre and Sidon. These cities were known as cities of wickedness in the Old Testament. Jesus had spoken of them as examples of wickedness back in Matthew chapter 11.

While he is in this ungodly place, we're told that a Canaanite woman approached him. The Canaanites were the historical enemies of Israel, from whom the Lord took the land of promise to give to his people. And this woman—her daughter has oppression from a demon. Deeply unclean. So here we are in the land of wickedness. A Gentile woman descended from the historical enemies of Israel comes to him with a crisis of uncleanness. She's a total outsider, the polar opposite of the religious men who have been hounding Jesus over the hand-washing in the previous verses.

In the eyes of ritualistic religion, this woman could not have been more unclean if she lived inside a sewage treatment plant. She could not be more spiritually radioactive if she slept on a bunk next to a failed nuclear reactor. She carries an aura of defilement all about her. She glows with spiritual radioactivity. But here is the remarkable thing about her: she comes to Jesus in a way that none of the religious people did.

She comes to him not in a spirit of proud criticism, but in humility. "Have mercy on me." That's a different spirit. That's a profoundly different approach. More than that, she calls upon Jesus as Messiah King of Israel. "O Lord, Son of David." She's not an Israelite, but she knows that the Scriptures promised a king in David's line who would come and redeem and save and rule—a Messiah. And while the religious leaders seem entirely blind to it, she sees it. It's a profoundly different response.

Now, the religious people hearing this woman and seeing who she was would plug their nose and just walk the other way. It seems that the disciples actually had something of that reaction themselves. They begged Jesus in verse 23, "Send her away, Jesus. Get her out of here." Jesus himself—he sees her heart immediately. But what he does here is interesting. It's striking. He holds back his full response, and he draws out what is there within her heart.

His response initially seems chilly, even harsh, but it is calculated to reveal her heart. And that's what happens next. Her heart is revealed in verse 24: "He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'" But she came and she knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It's not right—it's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table." "You're right that I'm the Son of David, but as such, I've come to serve Israel. I've got a focus there. I can't take the gifts for the children and give them to the outsiders—to the Gentile dogs, as they were known, the unclean ones." Now, these are hard words. What's she going to do? Is she going to get angry and offended and demonstrate that she was just an opportunist wanting to see if Jesus would throw a quick miracle her way?

Well, what does her response demonstrate? It demonstrates profound humility before Jesus. It shows a changed heart, actually. It shows evidence that she actually believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior with power to heal and power to help, power to intervene, to save. "Give me a crumb, and that's going to be enough for me, Jesus. Just a crumb." Her heart has been revealed. A heart of faith is now on display.

And so Jesus responds in verse 28: "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. The healing, saving, restoring power of Jesus is released when faith is found. When Jesus showed us that the real problem was internal—that defilement comes from the heart, that sin is the issue—when he showed us that, we were left with the question: how then do I access cleansing?

That was the question at the end of verse 20. I suggested there that Jesus was driving us forward to the cross, to the cleansing power of his blood. But still, the question then remains: how do I access that cleansing, that saving power? Well, the Canaanite woman—she actually provides the answer. She shows us that it is the humble heart of faith that receives from Jesus. Her cry—it is actually the model cry of response to Jesus, isn't it? It doesn't get better than this: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David."

You'll notice it's not "look at my religion," "take notice of my obedience," "give regard to my good works." None of that. Oh, no. "Have mercy on me, O promised Messiah King, long-awaited Savior in David's line. Have mercy on me. I'm so filthy I'm radioactive. I get it. I don't deserve a seat at your table. I know. But would you throw me a crumb of your mercy? Would you release your saving power for me?"

And what does Jesus say? "Never in a million years. Insiders only. You're too filthy for me. Out of my way." That's not the ultimate response here. No. "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." Some among us here today don't need to be convinced that our problem is an internal one. You don't need to be convinced that your heart is your problem, that contamination flows from within.

You know it. And to be honest, you feel filthy in the sight of God. That's where you are today. There will be a number, I'm sure. You have a list of sins, of transgressions, a mile long, and those things—they make you feel unclean. Perhaps something in particular is weighing upon you, some sin, and you know—you know that you need to be made clean. That is the greatest longing of your heart today.

If that's you, please see with me the power of Jesus and the readiness of Jesus to respond to anyone—to the outsider who has faith, to respond to the one who calls upon him for mercy, who recognizes him as Lord. Please see with me here the willingness of Jesus to answer the prayer of humble faith. And if you come to him for cleansing, if you ask him for cleansing, here is the promise of the gospel: he will make you clean.

That's the invitation for you. That's the assurance for all who come to him in faith. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Will you come to him, even today? Will you come to him to receive that cleansing? And having come to him, as many of us have, most of us have, will you rest assured today that you have been made clean indeed?

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths in a message entitled "The King Who Judges the Heart." If you missed any part of today’s broadcast or the previous broadcast, which was the first half of this message, you can come and listen online. Our website is encounterthetruth.org. One other way to connect with Jonathan’s teaching is through the Encounter the Truth app. It’s free and you’ll find it at your app store.

Encounter the Truth is listener-supported. That’s exactly what it sounds like: we’re able to be on this station because of your generosity. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book called *The Final Lap*. It’s all about navigating the transitions of later life. Jonathan, who do you think is really going to benefit from reading this book?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, this book is helping us to think biblically about a number of key transitions in later life. It helps us think through how to move as believers from the world of work to the world of retirement, then from the time of independency to the time of dependency, and then ultimately from life to death as we approach the finishing line.

For anyone who is in the midst of any of those transitions—in those later stages, those later decades of life—I think this book will be pure gold. There aren't many books, actually, in the Christian marketplace that help us think biblically about these seasons of life. But we need to be ready for them, we need to think about them, and we need help to navigate them well.

There will be others who are supporting parents and grandparents who are perhaps caregivers, who need to have a biblical framework and some real encouragement as well for thinking through these things properly and from a biblical perspective. And John is a trusted teacher, a Christian ethicist, a medical doctor as well, and his wisdom is tremendously helpful. I know many have benefited from his teaching over the years, and I'm just thrilled that this book is available and that we are able to make it available to listeners here on Encounter the Truth.

Steve Hiller: Well, the book is called *The Final Lap*, written by John Wyatt, our thank-you gift to you as you financially support Encounter the Truth with a gift of any amount this month. You can give online at encounterthetruth.org or when you call 1-833-99-TRUTH. That’s 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 U.S. at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Gredler, I’m Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you’ll join us next time.