Being Dull

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BEING DULL

Matt 15:10-20

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'"  12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" 13 He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."  15 Peter said, "Explain the parable to us." 16 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'" 

NIV

We already mentioned this truth in dealing with the traditions of men which many enjoy observing rather than living by the truth. Still, there is more in these words of Jesus that we should consider. The first is his response to Peter wanting an explanation of the parable. We are not sure exactly on the timeline here, and how long Peter and the others have been with Jesus, but it has been a while and Peter has heard many of the teachings of Jesus and watched as He healed literally hundreds of people. By now Peter must understand some of the truth, yet he fails to grasp the meaning of what defiles a man’s body. Jesus asked Peter if he was still so dull. This could speak directly to our hearts or our understanding of the truth. We can be so intelligent, so learned in the scriptures, having so much knowledge of the word, being able to quote chapter and verse, and even know some Greek or Hebrew, or at least have the lexicons at our deposal and still, it is possible that we could be so dull because we would rather heed the traditions of men rather than the truth. This truth is all about those traditions, as we already mentioned, but especially about what we eat and drink. Although many who abide by this tradition pay little attention to what or the amount of food they eat. Their major problem is the liquid they drink. Some even have taken on an attitude of pride that alcohol has never touched their lips. Can we be so dull that we would think Jesus cares about what we eat or drink? He knows that it simply passes through the body, but what is in our hearts is an entirely different matter. Yes, we should not get drunk, but we also should not be under the influence of evil thinking, which Jesus says is being led by blind guides. When men would rather abide by the traditions of men over the truth of God, they might well be a blind guide. We know that is strong language, but it is not ours, but rather the language of Jesus. We have to ensure that we are not led, or leading people away from the truth regarding this condition of the heart by focusing on the condition of the stomach so that we will not be so dull.