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Gospel: Luke 11: 37-41
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
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.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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If this Gospel scene took place in modern day, I’d imagine Jesus pulling a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer out of his pocket, squeezing a dab onto his hands, rubbing them together, then proceeding to eat his meal.
To us, his hands would be clean.
But not to the Pharisees.
What mattered to the Pharisees was not whether or not Jesus had germs on his hands; what mattered was whether or not he followed the Law.
And the Law required rinsing your hands in a very particular way before breaking bread.
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“Oh you Pharisees!” Jesus says. “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.”
For the Pharisees, religion was a matter of externals and laws. They worshipped the idol of detail; omitting the slightest step of handwashing was a sin.
They failed to understand that the source of sin is not the hands, but the heart.
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When I examine my own heart, where is there purity? Where might there be impurity?
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I find it interesting that priests still follow the ritual of handwashing today. Right before celebrating Eucharist, he pours water over his hands and prays: “Wash me, O LORD, of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
But we do so with the understanding that “sin” is not found underneath our fingernails; it starts within.
May the Lord purify us all until we are holy and blameless in his sight.
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Image credits: (1) FreePik (2) Cavman Considers, WordPress (3) Palm Beach Lakes Church of Christ