30,31 Mar -- Foot in Mouth Disease?

The readings for Fri 30 and Sat 31 March are -- Gen 42:5-43:14, Ps 14:1-7; Prov 3:13-14; Mt 15:10-39.

People who are constantly saying the wrong thing are sometimes described as having foot-in-mouth disease. Perhaps it's really just a case of heart-in-mouth disease.

At the beginning of Mt 15, we saw the Pharisees criticising Jesus because his disciples didn't perform the prescribed ritual hand washings before eating. Jesus called them hypocrites and applied the words of one of Isaiah's prophecies to them -- "These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." Jesus put it down to a heart problem.

In the current reading from Matthew, Jesus enlarges on this with some very perceptive comments. "But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man." (15:18). "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies." (15:19) i.e. evil deeds and evil words. "It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." (15:11).

The good news is that Jesus can cure heart disease. And that fixes foot-in-mouth disease.