External vs. Internal Cleanliness

It was the worst case of leftover food mutiny I’d ever seen. My college roommate had prepared a massive feast, including a huge pot of duck stew. We nicknamed it “Drunk Duck” because of the large amount of alcohol the recipe required. Anyway, after dinner was over, we went to bed and forgot all about the dishes . . . . for several days. When we finally returned to face the kitchen, we found that the pot which had held the drunk duck was literally alive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of maggots had found the pot’s interior to be the perfect breeding ground. There was no cleaning-up that mess. All of it went into a garbage bag and out to the dumpster. What’s interesting is that when we first walked into the kitchen, everything looked normal. The pot containing the maggot community actually appeared to be clean from the outside. Only a glance into the interior revealed what was really going on. And there’s the point: it’s not the outside cleanliness of a dish or cup that determines its usefulness, but the inside.

So consider this: You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Matthew 23:26

Jesus used this image to rebuke those whose religion focused on external appearances rather than internal realities. They were interested in how one dressed or what rules one kept. As long as the external details were watched, the condition of one’s heart remained irrelevant. Jesus would have no part of such empty religion. He pointed out that a cup with only a clean exterior was still useless to its owner. Its real condition is shown by what’s inside. That’s why Jesus said that lust was the same as adultery, and hate was the same as murder. It’s our internal condition that reflects where we really are before God. Any religion that doesn’t bring about internal change is ultimately useless. Men don’t need clean shells; they need pure hearts.

So take a look at your vessel. What’s the inside like? Is it pure and holy, or do hate, sin and death reside there? Let Jesus cleanse, heal and forgive what’s inside. Confess your sin. Invite Jesus’ Spirit to fill you, to restore you from the inside out. Then, you’ll be clean.