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During the time of Jesus Christ, the religious leaders of the Jews, called the Pharisees, were very concerned about strictly interpreting and keeping the Jewish Torah (Law).  They showed special zeal in insisting that laws of tithing and ritual purity be kept.  However, Jesus rebuked them for their actions in Matt 23:25-26: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”  It would seem strange that Jesus would rebuke these religious leaders of the Jews.  But Jesus was able to see through these Pharisees into the heart of the matter.  One is able to fool others by pretending to be something when one is not.  One can also appear to be walking with God when one really is not.  Jesus was not fooled by pretence.

When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king over Israel, “Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (1 Sam 16:6, 7).  It is the heart that matters.

God looks past outward behaviour and appearance to the real issue.  The heart of the matter is the condition of our hearts.  We read in Prov. 21:2: “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”  The call of Jesus in the Beatitudes to purity of heart is two-fold.  First is personal inward moral purity, holiness and righteousness.  Second is being single-minded of purpose and desire.  Generally, there is a correlation between our purity and the degree to which we know of the blessing of seeing God.  Being entangled in personal sin will certainly obscure our view of God.  The pursuit of earthly treasures takes away our clear sight of Him.  Realising that this is the heart of the matter, we must come back to God and cry out as David did in Ps 51:10: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”