What is Defilement?

Intro: Read Matthew 15:1-20

Prayer

The Pharisees and Washing Hands

Something is amiss in this story that you will easily miss if you have your 21st century goggles on. If you’ve peaked at the sermon title, you can probobly guess what thing i’m talking about.

Defilement and Handwashing

Washing hands was a ritual observance perpetuated by the Pharisees. But defilemnt is a biblical idea

Why the pharisees washed their hands:

• Handwashing — Washing hands was a religious ritual that denoted purity in ancient palistine.

• Cuniform Alphabetic texts from Ugarit

• Ugaritic databank

• Most notably the databank includes the foundational text for the ancient canaanite religion that worshiped Baal

• Not found in scripture

• tied to the idea that cleanliness is tied to godliness (ever heard of that?)

• The pharisees kept alive a practice started by pagan traditions

Jesus was angry, not because of tradition, but because of the prioritizing tradition over Godly commands.

Where does defilement come from?

• The world taught that defilement was something that came from the world around us

  • the heart starts at a net positive

  • the environment makes the heart defiled

  • emphasis on guarding against the world

• Jesus taught that defilement was something we do to the world around us

  • The heart starts at a net negative

  • the heart defiles the things around it

  • emphasis on renewal of heart

Koinos

What is 'koinos'?

While the word koinos is generally translated common, in mark and Matthew, the translators used the word defilement.

The biblical dichotomy

• Holy

  • special use

  • "sanctified"

  • not common

• Common

  • general use

  • not holy

The process of taking a common object and making it Holy is called sanctification.

• Samuel's dedication

• dedication of the tabernacle

• high-priestly dedication

• the sabbath is made holy

The process of taking a holy item and making it common is called profanity

• Use of the temple for selling and trading in John 2

• defiling the heavenly temple in Dan 8

• using a pulpit for eating my lunch would be making it for common use

Are we defiling our hearts?

We let the things we're full with come out of us in actions and words.

The heart was made for a specific use

Be careful what you put your affections on, because when you put your affections on things your heart was not made for--set aside for, you are defiling-profaning yourself.

Recommend "The Sanctified Life"

Invitation: Sit alone and think, is my heart for common use, or is it to specific use?