Some Pharisees and scribes came
to Jesus from Jerusalem. When they saw his disciples eating bread with defiled
hands, they became critical. (Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and
forearms, according to the tradition of the elders. They bathe themselves
before eating when they come from the market, and hold to many other traditions:
washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and
scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of the
elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”
He answered them, “Well did
Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of people.’
“You set aside the commandment
of God, and hold tightly to the traditions—the washing of pitchers and cups,
and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “You reject the
commandment of God to keep your tradition. Moses said, ‘Honor your father and
your mother;’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother should be put to
death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “The help you might have
received from me has been dedicated to God’s use,”’ then you no longer require
him to do anything for his father or mother. You void the word of God by your
tradition, and do many things like this.”
He called to the crowd, and
said, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of someone,
that going in can bring defilement; but the things which proceed out of the
heart are what defiles a person. Those who have ears to hear, should listen!”
The disciples came, and said,
“Do you know the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
But he answered, “Every plant
which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They
are blind guides of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into
a pit.”
When he had entered a house away
from the crowd, his disciples asked about the parable. He said, “Don’t you understand?
Whatever goes into you from outside can’t bring defilement because it doesn’t
go into your heart, but into your stomach and then out of the body? All foods
are clean; it is what proceeds out of your heart that brings defilement: evil
thoughts, adultery, sexual sin, murder, theft, covetings, wickedness, deceit,
desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. These evil things come
from within, and defile you.”
Woe to you Pharisees, who tithe
mint and rue and every herb, but bypass justice and the love of God! You ought
to have done the former without neglecting the other. Woe to you Pharisees,
who love the best seats in the synagogues, and honored greetings in the
marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like
hidden graves people walk over without knowing.”
One of the lawyers answered him,
“Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”
He said, “Woe to you
lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and
you won’t even lift one finger to carry them. Woe to you who build monuments
for the prophets your fathers killed, glorifying what they did. God said, ‘I
will send prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute. The
blood of the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required
of this generation: from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who
perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, it will be required of this
generation. Woe to you lawyers, who took away the key of knowledge! You
wouldn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering, you hindered.”
As he said these things to them,
the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw things
out of him. They lay in wait for him, seeking to catch him in something
he might say, in order to accuse him.
Reflection
Jesus had harsh words for
those who spoke hypocritically of obeying the law while finding ways around it
in their daily lives. Have you run into people who do this? Do you have
favorite words of Jesus you follow closely and others you explain away or
simply ignore?
Prayer: Convict me, Lord,
when I begin twisting your teachings to fit my own preferences.
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