So the Jews reached the Praetorium--Pilate's residence-- with Jesus, early in the morning, but "they themselves did not go into the Praetorium lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." (18:28) Do you see what happened? It would have made them ceremonially unclean, according to their Law, to enter the Roman courts, and they wanted to still be a part of the Passover feast! Do you catch the irony? They were about to murder the Son of God--rejecting Him in their hearts and declaring Him a heretic--yet they wanted to remain "ceremonially pure." Twisted. Truth is, they were already utterly defiled in their denial of Him.
As Jesus explains, "There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man." (Mark 7:15) Our hearts defile us. It isn't what we do externally, it is what we do internally. We can speak the sweetest, kindest, Southern words, but if in our hearts we criticize and tear down then we are missing the point--we stand defiled. We can externally appear "faithful" to our spouse, but if in our hearts we long for another--physically or emotionally--we stand defiled.
God looks at the heart. He sees our inner-most person. He knows our fears and understands our weaknesses...fully. Yet He loves us completely and desires to transform us from the inside-out. So how goes your internal musings? Join me in asking our faithful Father to make us aware of our hearts--bringing every thought captive.
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