There are many common phrases in modern vernacular that come from the Bible, one of which is “the blind leading the blind.” We often use this idea to talk about a situation in which someone is helping a group of people and no one in particular is better equipped to lead or teach than anyone else. For example, if I were to teach someone piano, it would be the “blind leading the blind.” I cannot play piano! It would just be two novices messing around (and it would sound pretty terrible)!
This phrase is first found in Matthew 15:10-20, and in the context, Jesus is talking with the Scribes and Pharisees, who have taken issue with the fact that his disciples do not wash their hands before they eat, thus “breaking the tradition of the elders” (vs. 1). Jesus then cites an example where scribal tradition had gone directly against something that was explicitly commanded by God. By making this point, Jesus brings to light the importance of staying true to the word of God, no matter what “traditions” man may have made from it. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with traditions (as long as they do not go against God’s word), but fidelity to the scriptures and obedience to God’s commands has always been of the utmost importance. At the end of the day, though, it was precisely due to this intense affinity for their rabbinic traditions that caused the Jewish elite to lead their followers “into a pit,” so to speak. They cared more about their extraneous regulations than they did about the straightforward laws laid out by Moses.
Jesus uses this discussion as a teaching moment in which he informs his disciples about the danger of the Scribes and Pharisees’ approach to teaching: they are selfishly putting their interpretation of God’s word above the self-evident truth of the Word itself, and leading themselves and those that listen to them toward destruction.
Jesus uses several metaphors in this passage, but here are some key takeaways:
- Uncleanness: Cleanness and purity laws were a core aspect of the Old Law. Many of these laws had to do with physical contact with people or objects that were unclean. However, the point of these cleanliness laws was always to point to the purity of heart that God expects from His people. We are to be holy, for He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) Food is ingested and excreted; this is a normal biological process that says nothing about our heart.
- Roots: We are to be “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). We are “established in the faith, just as [we] were taught,” being “rooted and built up in [Christ]” (Colossians 2:7). Christ is the Rock upon which our lives are build (Matthew 7:24-27). There are so many ways in which our lives are built on Christ: He impacts everything: how we treat people, how we make decisions, even how we view life itself! Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 15 that His Father has specific intentions for the type of fruit His followers will bear. He defines what productivity and success looks like in His vineyard. If we are not rooted in Him, we are not rooted at all.
- Blindness: This lack of roots leads to blindness. Without a “home base,” we are aimless wanderers, headed into the abyss with our eyes shut. People who claim to know they way to eternal life, glory, or deep-seated joy are blind frauds. Jesus tells his disciples to leave those kinds of people alone (vs. 14). They are truly the blind leading the blind: people that know nothing about the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and both they and those that follow them will end up falling into a pit. In other words, there is no way but Jesus’ way!
Jesus concludes this section by defining what does in fact defile a man: sin. Sin comes from the heart and can take many forms. Whether ungodly thoughts about others, unbridled anger, lust, envy, etc., all sin separates us from God and “defiles” us. That is why we must guard our hearts so closely.
Jesus makes it clear that the issue the pharisees were originally so worried about was not a problem at all. There is no spiritual problem in eating with unwashed hands. An unclean heart, however, leads to all types of issues. For this reason, whether we are teaching or learning about God’s word, we must be careful to do exactly as it says, or we may just find ourselves leading others or being lead other right into a pit…
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