Mat 15:11 | PNT | STEP | Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man . The Mosaic law forbade Jews to eat what was ceremonially unclean, in order to teach the need of moral purity. The Rabbis added stringent precepts to prevent the slightest contact with ceremonial uncleanness, but were careless about moral purity. Christ shows that a pure heart is far more important than clean food, in the ceremonial sense, in the stomach. Pharisees in all ages have paid more attention to the letter than to the spirit, to the symbol than to that which is signified. That which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man . The impure words that indicate an impure heart. What one eats does not render him defiled before God, but what he says. See .

Matthew 15:11

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man. The Mosaic law forbade Jews to eat what was ceremonially unclean, in order to teach the need of moral purity. The Rabbis added stringent precepts to prevent the slightest contact with ceremonial uncleanness, but were careless about moral purity. Christ shows that a pure heart is far more important than clean food, in the ceremonial sense, in the stomach. Pharisees in all ages have paid more attention to the letter than to the spirit, to the symbol than to that which is signified.

That which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. The impure words that indicate an impure heart. What one eats does not render him defiled before God, but what he says. See Mt 15:18-23.