Matthew 5: 8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Last week I had a conversation on the topic of purity. Even if everything looks good on the outside (like our Facebook profile), who among us is truly pure? In his letter to the Romans, Paul refers to Psalm 14:1-3

“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”

Romans 3:10-12

Even though they knew the Scripture, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were fixated on the kind of purity that a bar of soap could provide. They were so focused on external actions and rituals that they had missed the point of purity.

Later Jesus said to these same religious people “You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25).

Notice that in the beatitude, Jesus describes the purity of the heart. Purity begins on the inside. He will describe this in greater detail later as he reminds the Pharisee – “You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean” (Matthew 23:26).

Want to see God? No amount of soap can make us clean. No religious ritual in itself can make us spiritually clean either. How would you describe purity of heart to someone else?