This coming Sunday’s gospel reading has two sections, the first optional. At my church we will only read at the second half, and the rest of this week Water Daily will focus on that. But today let’s look at the first passage (printed at right). It seems like a technical discussion of religious law. But in it we see Jesus radically reinterpret the religious understanding of his people, and dismiss the leadership of the religious teachers and leaders. No wonder they wanted him removed.
It begins with a seemingly harmless statement: “Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’” What’s the trouble with that?
Well, his disciples tell him, the Pharisees, chief upholders of the Law, took offense at that, presumably because it undermined laws about food and ritual cleansing. Jesus responds to by further insulting them. “He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’”
Now he’s in deep – he says that not only are these leaders not authorized by God, they are the blind leading the blind. When the disciples ask for further clarification, Jesus explains that the impurity that should concern us is not whether our food is kosher or our hands ritually clean. Rather, he says, the negative and destructive thoughts, words and actions that come from inside our hearts defile us. He is not dispensing with the Law of Moses, but he is reinterpreting it and, if you will, spiritualizing it.
This is key to his message of Good News, that the Kingdom of God is not about rules and rituals, but is an invitation to dwell in the reality of God, in relationship with God, our heavenly Father. It’s our hearts that matter in the long run, more than bodies or behavior – and if we align our hearts with God, our behavior and bodies will reflect that core relationship. The movement is inside out, not outside in.
What does this ancient debate have to do with us? Perhaps it’s not so ancient – it is human nature to look for rules and rituals to make us feel ordered, when what God asks is a reformed heart and a renewed spirit. And the human heart is a complicated place – capable of great love and generosity and grace, and also the source of such pain and petty, mean-spirited behavior toward ourselves and others.
What this passage says to me is that I should look at my own heart to discern my motivations before I adopt “behavior modification” techniques to help me better regulate my life. It invites me to connect with God early in the day so that what I do flows out of that renewed relationship. It reminds me to notice when I seek external “fixes” instead of internal renewal. What does it say to you?
This teaching also reminds us as a society that treating the whole person with honor and dignity, even if he or she is a “problem,” instead of treating symptoms and trying to impose regulation from without, will help each one to function out of their wholeness and make for a more whole community.
It’s not what we eat that’ll hurt us – it’s the distaste we harbor for our neighbor and the disrespect with which we sometimes treat ourselves. And Jesus can help us with that.
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