Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-33
“For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come…” (Mark 7:21)
In today’s passage, the Pharisees notice that some of Jesus’ disciples are eating without washing their hands, and they question Jesus. In our day and age, a post-pandemic world, hand washing before meals is a hygienic practice. But in Jesus’ time, this type of hand washing was ceremonial, a tradition of the Jewish elders.
Jesus comes to his disciples’ defense, calling the Pharisees hypocrites and quoting scripture from Isaiah: “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” He calls attention to the Pharisees’ attachment to tradition, rather than worship.
To the crowd, He says, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” In the tradition of washing–not only hands, but cups, pots, and bronze kettles–people put on the appearance of purity. But is the washing really purifying? And if only the outside is purified, is it worth anything?
Jesus stresses to the crowd that it is the inside that matters. He says, “It is what comes out from a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the heart that evil intentions come.” What good is washing one’s hands with an impure heart? If evil intentions are left to fester, they will come out and defile that person and hurt others as well.
We might consider the ways we cling to tradition or customs in a way that makes us appear righteous but does nothing to purify us within. Do we dress up for mass but neglect to welcome others at church? Do we take the time to turn our hearts toward God, or do we only worship where we can be seen? Do we nurture a humble disposition, or do we allow bad feelings like envy and pride to grow within us?
Although it is much easier to focus on the outside, the inside is all the more precious. What is in our hearts affects us and others in deeper, more lasting ways. Yet this is the part that Jesus, our Lord, cares for the most.
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