Connections: "What We Think Is Clean"          August 16, 2026

Matthew 15:10-28

Humans are sensory creatures who judge the world by the way we experience it. If I see a person wearing old, dirty clothes and pushing a grocery cart along the sidewalk, I might judge them as lacking the motivation to better their lives. If I’m in a crowd of people and the person next to me emits a strong body odor, I might judge that they are lazy to neglect personal hygiene. If I see a woman at the grocery store with several children and she seems unable to parent them appropriately, I might judge that she has too many kids or is an unfit mother.

Some of my judgments may be true, but I have no way to be sure of them only through my senses. The unhoused person may struggle with mental health or be an injured veteran with no support. The person with body odor may lack access to personal care products or may simply be overheated. And the mother may be overwhelmed by life circumstances beyond her control.

Jesus’s teaching and the corresponding event in Matthew 15 combine in a powerful lesson. First, Jesus tells the crowd, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles” (v. 11). No part of a person’s outer appearance—their clothes and other material possessions, their cleanliness, their management of others around them—indicates everything about that person’s soul. No matter what they eat, drink, or wear, their true substance lies within. It is the essence of who they are. And that essence is what will come out when we truly take time to get to know people. 

Second, an event happens where Jesus seems to show us our wrong behavior by mimicking it. When a woman comes to him for help with her demon-possessed daughter, Jesus looks at her outer appearance, sees that she is not from Israel, and says what so many others might say when confronted by an outsider—basically, “I can’t help you because you’re not like me” (see v. 24). He knows he is watched, and he shows his disciples exactly how awful it is to turn someone away because of where they’re from, what they look like, how they smell, or any other reason unrelated to who they truly are. And when the woman stands up for herself, Jesus rewards her “great” faith (v. 28).

• The ritual of washing hands was significant to religious people in Jesus’s time. Why do you think they were so concerned about how they appeared to others? Why are we so concerned about that today?
•  We know that some things we put in our mouths do make us unclean (or at least unhealthy). What do you think Jesus actually means here?
• How do you imagine the Canaanite woman felt when she approached this Jewish teacher for help?
• At first, Jesus’s response to her seems cruel, but she answers back with a confidence that shows her understanding of his intent: he is showing the people watching that their prejudice is absurd. How can we cultivate the courage to stand up for people facing prejudice?
• Pray that God will help you focus more on who people truly are rather than what they appear to be.

Kelley Land, a graduate of Mercer University (BA in English, 2000), has worked as an editor of Smyth & Helwys curriculum and books since 2001. In addition, she is a freelance editor for other publishers and authors. She also serves on the board of directors at Macon Little Theatre. Kelley enjoys spending time with her young adult daughters, Samantha and Natalie, her husband John, and the family’s two dachshund mix pups, Luke and Leia. She is often found playing board games with a group of rowdy friends. She loves author Louise Penny’s Three Pines mystery series and the TV show Doctor Who.