EXPLORE THE TEXT
Reject superficial religion and focus on what matters most.
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he asked.
17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth
passes into the stomach and is eliminated?
18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart,
and this defiles a person.
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities,
thefts, false testimonies, slander.
20 These are the things that defile a person;
but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
Angry? Frustrated? Compassionate? Why?
Jesus’s disciples approached Him in verses 12-15,
concerned that He had offended the Pharisees.
Jesus pointed out that they were “blind guides” (v. 14)
who led people astray.
When Peter asked Jesus to explain His teaching, he revealed that he’d missed the point.
Read the following content.
how did Jesus contrast the physical body with the spiritual one?
It was not so much that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had said.
More likely, they found such a hard teaching difficult to accept. .Jesus began His reply by setting up a contrast between the physical and the spiritual.
He told the disciples that food is only physical and does not impact the spiritual.
Instead, what is eaten goes through the digestive system and is eliminated.
No matter how “clean” or “unclean” food might be,
eating it does not impact a person spiritually. (PSG, p. 24)
Heart
Share different ways we use the word “heart” in our culture.
Read Matthew 15:18-20 again silently.
How was Jesus using “heart” as He spoke to His followers.
The heart is the core of our spiritual lives,
so we need to take seriously what we allow to take root in our hearts as believers.
Jesus was pointing His disciples to the most important element:
a heart turned to God.
No amount of outward obedience or acts of piety
can replace a genuine heart of worship and love.
If we want to follow Jesus in a genuine way,
we have to reject superficial religion the way He did.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 26 of the Personal Study Guide:
Invite adults to share which is the most difficult for them to obey in genuine faith. Challenge them to spend time in prayer this week reviewing the list and asking God to fill in the gaps they experience in
their lives.
Direct the group to the second set of questions on page 26 of the PSG. Read the content aloud and instruct adults to silently ponder what they might be substituting for a genuine relationship with God. Remind them that Jesus’s questions were given to us to consider today, and we can go to Him with our responses. Share how God has spoken to you personally as you studied this week.
Close the session in prayer, inviting God to help adults honor Him above every other standard. Urge the group to identify ways they can reject superficial religion so God can give them pure hearts as they draw close to Him.
Send the group a text or email. Suggest that they review the first set of questions on page 26 of the PSG. Encourage them to share ways they will commit to helping other believers toward a deeper relationship with God. Remind adults that the words of their mouths reflect what is in their hearts.
Regeneration is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (See Luke 13:3; John 3:3.)
Take seriously all biblical commands for Christian living.
Read Matthew 15:1-6. Identify in these verses the commands based on God’s Word. Identify any practices based on human tradition. Why do you think some people make man-made traditions the measure of spirituality (v. 2)? Make a list of ways you can avoid the trap of substituting human expectations for obedience to
God’s Word.