Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Rev. Neli Miranda

           

After six weeks of reading and reflecting on chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, we now return to the Gospel of Mark. In Mark, we witness that Jesus spends most of his public ministry in Galilee, the northern province of Palestine.  Galilee was distinct from Judea, the southern province where Jerusalem, the capital, was located. Although Galileans and Judeans shared the same ethnic origin, they were different due to their distinct history, geography, and culture. The Judeans despised their northern neighbors, believing themselves to be an ethnically and religiously pure people. While Judeans prided themselves for their “ethnic purity”, Galileans lived among a mixed population and in close proximity to Gentiles.  Judeans were also in closer proximity and adherence to the Jerusalem temple and religious authorities while Galileans, living farther from Jerusalem, were seen as more lax in their observance of the rituals prescribed by Jewish law.  Let’s not forget that Jesus was a Galilean, not a Judean.

In today’s gospel we read that some Pharisees and Scribes have come from Jerusalem to hear Jesus. The Pharisees were a socio-religious group centered around oral tradition and adherence to the Law while the Scribes, who often aided the Pharisees in interpretation and teaching, were experts in the Law and Jewish scriptures.  Both groups, belonging to the religious elites, have heard of Jesus’s reputation and have traveled to Galilee to hear him not to learn but to correct and challenge any teachings that disrupt the established norms, the status quo.

As the Pharisees and Scribes gather around Jesus, they notice that Jesus’ disciples are eating with “defiled hands”, without observing hand-washing rituals prescribed by tradition. So, they question Jesus, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” (7,5). Their question transcends mere hygiene. They are invoking a rigid and strict cleansing ritual stipulated in the “tradition of the elders”; that is, the oral traditions and interpretations developed over time by the Jewish religious elders. Those who did not comply with these rituals were considered impure in the eyes of God. Mark tells us about the intricate rituals concerning food: “all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders… they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles” (7,3-4). According to the “tradition of the elders”, individuals who failed to adhere to this ritual were considered ceremonially impure, alienated from God. Can we imagine ordinary people who needed time for other daily responsibilities devoting time to this strict, elaborate ritual? How might they have felt had they not been unable to fulfill it faithfully?

Clearly, the Pharisees and Scribes have come to Galilee to challenge Jesus’ authority and question his liberating teachings which are not rooted in empty rituals. They challenge Jesus, in front of the people, attempting to undermine his authority. In response, Jesus denounces them as hypocrites since their actions contradict what they profess. They had not understood that external rituals, such as religious ceremonies, do not purify the human heart. Recalling a passage from Isaiah, Jesus says, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” Then, Jesus adds, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition”(7,6-7).

While the Pharisees and Scribes burdened the people with complex rituals as divine mandates, they neglected the core teachings of God, “you shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself”.  In contrast, Jesus proclaimed a liberating spirituality, not tied to external rituals. He did not ask people to stop washing their hands but to purify their hearts: “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile” (7,15).

Today, in our Christian spirituality we have rituals that nurture our spiritual growth such as attending church on Sundays, giving offerings, praying, and participating of the Holy Communion, among others. These practices are integral to our faith. Yet, their meaning is diminished if they are not aligned with how we interact with others. Merely fulfilling our Christian obligations can lead us down the path of the Pharisees and Scribes, who failed to show love for their neighbors. We cannot honor God with our lips and treat our neighbors unfairly at the same time.  Jesus is very direct when he identifies a range of internal defilements: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. Jesus emphasizes that these actions stem from the human heart and all of them are intertwined with our relationship with others. Thus, our impurity does not arise from our unwashed hands but from the way we treat others; it is our heart that needs to be washed!

Sisters and brothers, before rituals and regulations, Jesus calls us to prioritize love for God and our neighbors as ourselves. In the epistle of James today we read: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1,27).  That is the true religion! 

Amen.