Jesus cleanses us from the inside out!
Mark 7:15 – “There is nothing outside of a man that can make him unclean by going into him. But the things that come out of a man are what make a man unclean.”
There are plenty of signs to tell us we are dirty. We can see the dirt and grime on our body. We can feel the greasiness with our hands. We can smell the pungent fumes emanating from our bodies. We can hear other people tell us that we are dirty and need a bath. And the solution to our uncleanliness is a simple one…take a bath or a shower.
How easy our spiritual life would be if it was this simple! In order to remain clean, stay away from the things that make us dirty. That was what most spiritual leaders were teaching the people in Jesus’ days. But if they got spiritually dirty, they would need to cleanse themselves with a ceremonial bath. Follow these steps and you can be clean.
This sounds so simple and within our power. Is it a surprise that the majority of religions and religious leaders still give this solution to the problem of uncleanness? If it was so simple, then why do people not feel clean even after following all the steps? There is something missing. Jesus unveils where our uncleanness comes from, “There is nothing outside of a man that can make him unclean by going into him. But the things that come out of a man are what make a man unclean.”
We make ourselves unclean. We sure love to put the blame of our uncleanness on others but the truth is, our sinful hearts produce all the unclean things in our lives. And no matter the steps we take, we cannot cleanse our sinful hearts. It is beyond our power.
But there is one who can and did cleanse our sinful hearts. Jesus perfect sacrifice is enough to cleanse us from the inside out! Our baptism is his gift to us that washes our sinful hearts and purifies us. Our baptism connects us to the Savior’s death and resurrection. Anytime we become unclean because we listened to our sinful hearts, we run back to our baptism and we remain clean. Each day, we drown our sinful hearts in the purifying bath of baptism and rise clean, ready to do our Savior’s bidding.
Dear Savior in heaven, continue to purify us and make us clean. Let us find our comfort knowing that you washed us clean in baptism. Help us live in our baptismal grace all the days of our lives. In your name we pray, Amen.