The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
It wasn't as though this washing was required by the law. It was a human tradition, no doubt one that began based on good intentions, but of human origin nonetheless. Why, then, were they so amazed? Jesus no doubt knew about the tradition, and was aware that the Pharisees expected that he would perform it. Therefore it was an intentional omission. The Pharisees had perhaps begun to use it to signal religious insider status to one another. They certainly didn't seem actually concerned with it as a metaphor for anything deeper within their souls. It ought to have been a deeply personal symbolic act, one in which a person reflected on their need for inner purity. But for the Pharisees it had become a means to pass praise or judgment on others. They did it themselves to check a box and then were careful to make sure others were checking the same box, indicating their common membership in the same religious club. In the first place, Jesus had no need to cleanse himself. And in the second, he wasn't interested in joining the mutual adoration society that the Pharisees seemed to represent.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
It is possible that our motivations for specifically religious acts can be not only neutral but negative. If we perform our religious duties merely to appear praiseworthy to others, or so that we can judge others who don't meet our standards, we are not only not growing, but becoming corrupt. In Galatians, Paul taught that circumcision for the Gentiles would potentially lead them away from path to salvation revealed in Jesus. But so too can merely human systems of religious traditions and self-imposed laws. How are they similar? Both, seemingly, are meant to be signs that point to something important. But, without grace, they remain at the level of the flesh and are easily twisted to our destruction. They make us fixated on ourselves, and on what we do at an external level, and make us forget that we are really supposed to be awaiting the hope of righteousness through the Spirit by faith. As Paul said "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything", how much more could Jesus say, 'neither handwashing nor the lack of handwashing counts for anything'. However, Jesus didn't go on to mention faith or hope directly. Rather he mentioned giving alms, and therefore charity. For Paul and for Jesus charity was meant to be the result of faith. Alms were meant to be an instance of "faith working through love".
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.
Alms might have appeared to be a merely external act, one that could be performed for show. And perhaps this was not impossible. Yet it was more difficulty to sabotage an interpersonal act of charity than it was to forget the purpose of something that was merely symbolic. It was possible to blow one's horn in the city square when giving alms. But if one simply gave alms in a normal unaffected way it was likely to be an action that affected the whole being, internal and external, cleansing the soul in the process. Alms-giving not predicated on rewards for the ego required faith. Without faith it might seem futile. The fact that the poor will always be with us might seem insurmountable. Without faith we might not recognize the God given dignity of the poor, his presence in them. But when we have faith we reach beyond the walls of our egos to make truly human connections. We become the hands and feet of God reaching out to the world and begin to embody in ourselves the heart of Jesus Christ. Faith works in love because it opens the door for Jesus to work in us. So we say with Saint John Paul the Great, "Do not be afraid. Open, I repeat, open wide the doors to Christ!"
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
It wasn't as though this washing was required by the law. It was a human tradition, no doubt one that began based on good intentions, but of human origin nonetheless. Why, then, were they so amazed? Jesus no doubt knew about the tradition, and was aware that the Pharisees expected that he would perform it. Therefore it was an intentional omission. The Pharisees had perhaps begun to use it to signal religious insider status to one another. They certainly didn't seem actually concerned with it as a metaphor for anything deeper within their souls. It ought to have been a deeply personal symbolic act, one in which a person reflected on their need for inner purity. But for the Pharisees it had become a means to pass praise or judgment on others. They did it themselves to check a box and then were careful to make sure others were checking the same box, indicating their common membership in the same religious club. In the first place, Jesus had no need to cleanse himself. And in the second, he wasn't interested in joining the mutual adoration society that the Pharisees seemed to represent.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
It is possible that our motivations for specifically religious acts can be not only neutral but negative. If we perform our religious duties merely to appear praiseworthy to others, or so that we can judge others who don't meet our standards, we are not only not growing, but becoming corrupt. In Galatians, Paul taught that circumcision for the Gentiles would potentially lead them away from path to salvation revealed in Jesus. But so too can merely human systems of religious traditions and self-imposed laws. How are they similar? Both, seemingly, are meant to be signs that point to something important. But, without grace, they remain at the level of the flesh and are easily twisted to our destruction. They make us fixated on ourselves, and on what we do at an external level, and make us forget that we are really supposed to be awaiting the hope of righteousness through the Spirit by faith. As Paul said "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything", how much more could Jesus say, 'neither handwashing nor the lack of handwashing counts for anything'. However, Jesus didn't go on to mention faith or hope directly. Rather he mentioned giving alms, and therefore charity. For Paul and for Jesus charity was meant to be the result of faith. Alms were meant to be an instance of "faith working through love".
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.
Alms might have appeared to be a merely external act, one that could be performed for show. And perhaps this was not impossible. Yet it was more difficulty to sabotage an interpersonal act of charity than it was to forget the purpose of something that was merely symbolic. It was possible to blow one's horn in the city square when giving alms. But if one simply gave alms in a normal unaffected way it was likely to be an action that affected the whole being, internal and external, cleansing the soul in the process. Alms-giving not predicated on rewards for the ego required faith. Without faith it might seem futile. The fact that the poor will always be with us might seem insurmountable. Without faith we might not recognize the God given dignity of the poor, his presence in them. But when we have faith we reach beyond the walls of our egos to make truly human connections. We become the hands and feet of God reaching out to the world and begin to embody in ourselves the heart of Jesus Christ. Faith works in love because it opens the door for Jesus to work in us. So we say with Saint John Paul the Great, "Do not be afraid. Open, I repeat, open wide the doors to Christ!"
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