Into the Belly - Matthew 15:17

Matthew the apostle wrote, “Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are you also yet without understanding?”, and in chapter fifteen and verse seventeen of his book, Matthew shares how Jesus told His disciples about, “whatsoever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly” where we read:

Do not you yet understand, that whatsoever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly,

and is cast out into the draught?

The verse reads, “Do not you yet understand, that whatsoever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “do not you yet understand” which means “do Peter and the other disciples of Jesus not perceive, consider, think upon, ponder and take heed”, “that whatsoever enters in at” or “that whatever of each, every, all and everyone of the things that go, are put in and proceeds into” “the mouth” which means “the orifice in the face used for eating and speaking” “goes” or “proceeds toward and advances” “into the belly” which refers to “in the stomach and abdominal cavity”. Matthew shared how Jesus referred to the way food and drink go into the mouth and proceed through the digestive system.

The verse continues, “... and is cast out into the draught?” Matthew added the words, “and is cast out” which means “and is driven out through excrement” “into the draught” which means “ toward a place where human waste discharges and is dumped like a privy, sink or toilet”? Matthew shared how Jesus referred to the “human digestive and waste system” which take care of physical food and drink.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus employed the example of the human digestive system to demonstrate how “physical” food and drink are consumed and discharged. This is a natural physical occurrence, and anyone who is alive has some familiarity with this. God desires to have a loving, personal “spiritual” relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and this enters into a person through their “soul”. Those who are wise will listen to Jesus' words and discover the source of their thinking, attitudes, speech and actions, and if they find them contrary to God's ways, let them repent and turn to Jesus for redemption and salvation.

Next time Matthew shares how Jesus continues His answer by saying, “those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.