Our paragraph topic is: (Christ explains what defiles a man) Part 1.
Christ had taught the people. He had informed the crowds that followed him of the difference between being unclean, defiled, and being clean. For years the Pharisees had taught the people that they were unclean if they did not wash before eating. They had impressed upon the people that they were an unclean people because they did not have access to water as the did the rich, the powerful, the educated, the well to do, those with influence. For water was not readily available to everyone. One had to go to the well and carry water to the home. One had to walk miles to the river and transport water to where one lived, to have access to it, readily. So to wash before eating was a luxury. To be able to clean up before eating was the pastime of the rich, and yet this was the sentence that was placed upon the people, they were unclean.
But Christ came and taught different. Christ came and opened the eyes of the people. Christ came and gave new insight to the people to lift them out of the grave of uncleanness. He instructed that it was not what one put into the mouth that made one defiled but what one brought out of the mouth that made one unclean. And the Pharisees heard these words and took offense. For it was they who were unclean.
And understanding came upon the people. A light awareness was brought to the people. They understood the difference and the cloak of ignorance was lifted from their understanding and they became clean. They became undefiled. They became new children in the eyes of God through their understanding of who they were. And the Pharisees took offense. And then came the disciples seeking understanding. For they were lost. They were confused. They were still under the cover of the trickery of darkness. But Peter spoke to him, saying, "Explain to us this parable." And he said,"Are you also even yet without understanding?"
Are you yet even without understanding? These were Christ's words to his disciples. These are Christ's words to us today. With all that has be spoken to you, do you still not have understanding of the words? Seek their meaning. Search their truths. Desire their wisdom and it will come to you. Christ left us his words to enlighten us, just as he spoke them to the crowds that followed him in his time. His words lifted the veil of darkness from the minds of the people who believed that they were defiled. His words open the minds and the hearts of the people who believed in him. His words made clean a people who believed they were soiled. And yet today we still are without understanding.
Today we still do not grasped the spiritual meanings of the words he spoke and the cleansing that they bring to our hearts and minds and bodies and souls. Christ came that there would be light in the world and men would no longer have to walk in darkness. Yet even today we prefer the darkness. Even today we prefer to live in the world instead of living in the understanding and the enlightenment of the words of the living God who provides all for us. Christ opened the door. Will you follow? Christ gave us the path to follow. Will you seek it? Christ gave us the words to instill within us. Will you feed on them? The choice is yours. Live in the light of Christ or exist in the darkness of the world. Which will you choose?
Christ had taught the people. He had informed the crowds that followed him of the difference between being unclean, defiled, and being clean. For years the Pharisees had taught the people that they were unclean if they did not wash before eating. They had impressed upon the people that they were an unclean people because they did not have access to water as the did the rich, the powerful, the educated, the well to do, those with influence. For water was not readily available to everyone. One had to go to the well and carry water to the home. One had to walk miles to the river and transport water to where one lived, to have access to it, readily. So to wash before eating was a luxury. To be able to clean up before eating was the pastime of the rich, and yet this was the sentence that was placed upon the people, they were unclean.
But Christ came and taught different. Christ came and opened the eyes of the people. Christ came and gave new insight to the people to lift them out of the grave of uncleanness. He instructed that it was not what one put into the mouth that made one defiled but what one brought out of the mouth that made one unclean. And the Pharisees heard these words and took offense. For it was they who were unclean.
And understanding came upon the people. A light awareness was brought to the people. They understood the difference and the cloak of ignorance was lifted from their understanding and they became clean. They became undefiled. They became new children in the eyes of God through their understanding of who they were. And the Pharisees took offense. And then came the disciples seeking understanding. For they were lost. They were confused. They were still under the cover of the trickery of darkness. But Peter spoke to him, saying, "Explain to us this parable." And he said,"Are you also even yet without understanding?"
Are you yet even without understanding? These were Christ's words to his disciples. These are Christ's words to us today. With all that has be spoken to you, do you still not have understanding of the words? Seek their meaning. Search their truths. Desire their wisdom and it will come to you. Christ left us his words to enlighten us, just as he spoke them to the crowds that followed him in his time. His words lifted the veil of darkness from the minds of the people who believed that they were defiled. His words open the minds and the hearts of the people who believed in him. His words made clean a people who believed they were soiled. And yet today we still are without understanding.
Today we still do not grasped the spiritual meanings of the words he spoke and the cleansing that they bring to our hearts and minds and bodies and souls. Christ came that there would be light in the world and men would no longer have to walk in darkness. Yet even today we prefer the darkness. Even today we prefer to live in the world instead of living in the understanding and the enlightenment of the words of the living God who provides all for us. Christ opened the door. Will you follow? Christ gave us the path to follow. Will you seek it? Christ gave us the words to instill within us. Will you feed on them? The choice is yours. Live in the light of Christ or exist in the darkness of the world. Which will you choose?
