<p>15:20&nbsp;<em>These are the things which defile the man - but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man</em>- The emphasis may be upon the word &quot;hands&quot;. The idea would then be that it is the heart which requires washing, rather than hands. In this case the Lord would be directing their minds to Jer. 4:14: &quot;O Jerusalem [note the Pharisees in question were from Jerusalem, Mt. 15:1], wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts dwell within you?&quot;. But this of course begs the question- how can a man wash his own heart? Surely it needs the Father and Son to do this for us. The whole offer of Jesus is of a&nbsp;<em>holy</em>&nbsp;spirit or heart to be given to those who believe in Him. Perhaps John's equivalent of this section of teaching is in the repeated mention he makes of the Greek&nbsp;<em>nipto</em>, to wash- the same word used here in Mt. 15:2. John records how utterly essential it is for the disciple to allow the Lord Jesus to wash&nbsp;<em>them</em>&nbsp;(Jn. 13:5,6,8,10,12,14, and also in the record of the cleansing of the blind man in Jn. 9:7,11,15). The cleansing of the heart in and by Christ is implied by the teaching recorded here in Mt. 15, but only made explicit in John's Gospel.</p>
<p>The Greek&nbsp;<em>koinoo</em>&nbsp;[&quot;defiles&quot;] strictly means 'to make common'. The later New Testament uses it in a quite different and spiritual way, speaking of how there is a &quot;common faith&quot; (Tit. 1:4; Jude 3) which means that the community of believers are bound together by what they have &quot;in common&quot; (Acts 2:44; 4:32). The Lord's new Israel had new principles. If the heart was cleansed, then the focus moved from fear of collective&nbsp;<em>defilement</em>&nbsp;to rejoicing in and experiencing what we have&nbsp;<em>in common</em>&nbsp;in Christ.</p>