Jesus is very clear that what you do on the outside is not what defiles you. Your heart is either defiled or not. The leading spiritual indicator which will show the condition of the heart is the words we speak. Everything comes from the heart (Proverbs 4:23). This passage provides a long list of sins that come from the heart. But, words come first. What do my words say about the condition of my heart?
Jesus engaged in conflict with Pharisees and scribes; he summoned the crowd to listen in; the disciples received personalized Q & A. Flexibility in communication is one key, humanly speaking, of Jesus' effectiveness.
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Again today my OT and NT studies ring of each other. We are studying the ceremonies that Aaron and his sons had to perform for the Isrealites as their high priests. I was moved again by the idea that the priests physically laid their hands on the heads of the animals to be sacrificed, symbolically transferring the sins of the people onto the animal before killing it. I was thinking about how I would feel if I stood before the priest and told him of my gruesome list of sins of the heart and sinful words and watched him lay his hands on an animal destined to die for the sins. How would my actions change before the next year of atonement? What if I had to watch my sins be laid upon Christ's head before he was nailed to the tree? "This is my body, broken for you, my blood spilled for you."
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