Jesus talks about inner purity. What Jesus identifies seems to be a common problem for the Church, a real hurdle. We are forever confusing what the Bible actually specifies with our interpretation of how those things should be lived out. For instance, in my denomination we take a total abstinence stand against alcohol. We won’t use wine for communion. When I was raised, if someone revealed that they occasionally had a drink, it was scandalous. But the Bible never says that. I promise you I would have lost respect for the person who had been caught drinking a beer on a Saturday night while watching the football game at home.
That’s because my focus was on the outside of the person, not the inside.
The same thing happens today when we are too quick to criticize those who smoke, or purchase a lottery ticket, or go dancing with their spouse, or dress provocatively. Those are all exterior things that may not reflect what God is doing on the inside.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still adamantly opposed to everything I listed above, well, maybe I’m not adamant about dancing….I simply can’t dance. So, there’s that. I just don’t think you can make a statement about someones faith based on what you see on the outside.
In the same way, people who look really good on the outside may actually be corrupt on the inside. That’s what Jesus was talking about in this passage. He isn’t opposed to the hand washing ceremony, it’s just not necessary, and the Pharisees are prioritizing it above God’s law (to have a pure heart). These same Pharisees hate Jesus, and will eventually plot to kill him…but they look very religious dipping their hands in water before they eat.
Jesus just calls them on it, because He can see their heart.
What might the application be for us? I would say we should be careful to keep our priorities straight. Of greatest importance should be the thoughts and attitudes that “come from the heart”. On the negative side, those are things like evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed…etc. The motivations for all these sinful actions actually begin in the mind and travel to the heart before we act on them. Our first act of worship is to make sure we confess these things, ask for forgiveness and for help to resist them in the future. The same pattern can be followed for healthy activities. We make it a priority to think about good things, such as “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely or admirable…. (Philippians 4)” We begin by inviting God to work within us, and In time we will pray to be 100% dead to self and fully alive for Christ. At that point it won’t matter if we worship in a large or small church, with or without drums, with or without liturgy. We might be in shorts and a Tshirt, or in a suit and tie. Communion may have wine and wafers, or be grape juice and a loaf of bread. Since we no longer live, but Christ lives in us, we will be able to worship Him anywhere….because He is everywhere.
Never let religious activity take the place of authentic relationship. Always make relationship with Christ your top priority. If religious activity follows, then that’s great. Traditions are fine, as long as they don’t limit or transgress the relationship with Christ, or violate Scripture in any way.
In His Service,
PR