Pt. Giuse Trần Văn Nhật

CLEAN & UNCLEAN

Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Judaism and Christianity are religions of the Book—we are based on the Sacred Scriptures or Bible to know God, His commandments, and the way of living. At first glance at today’s Gospel, we might have the wrong impression that the Pharisees are the ones strictly observing the laws and that Jesus is the one ignoring them. The Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for not keeping the purification tradition, and Jesus excuses them for it.

In Jesus' time, the Pharisees and the Scribes would have been considered extraordinarily religious people. They went to the synagogue every Saturday, prayed at least three times a day, washed before every meal, fasted routinely, and gave ten percent of their income each year to the Temple. It seems they were perfect religious models.

They routinely spied on Jesus and His disciples because of the growing honorable reputation of Jesus. In this reading, the Pharisees challenge Jesus’ disciples for failing to observe “the tradition of the elders,” particularly eating without washing hands.

What are “the tradition of the elders”? Are they the Law of Moses? According to John J. Pilch and modern anthropologists, “the tradition of the elders” is a set of practices defined, maintained, and practiced by elites who lived in the cities. These traditions are called “The Great Tradition.” The Pharisees required everyone to observe these urban traditions. Peasants in the countryside or travelers like Jesus and His followers would have difficulty observing these traditions because water was scarce and not readily available for washing. Besides, fishermen routinely came into contact with dead fish, dead animals, and other pollutants.

Peasants, therefore, developed “The Little Tradition,” which adapted the requirements of “The Great Tradition” to the realities and deficiencies of peasant life. Obviously, Jesus sided with “The Little Tradition” and counter-challenged the Pharisees for minimizing and ignoring the Law of Moses in preference for their “Great Tradition” (Mk 7:9-13).

In the first reading, Moses said, “In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” By these words, we see that the Pharisees are the ones who broke the Law of Moses, not Jesus. Jesus’ reaction to the Pharisees reminds us of His mission: somewhere in the Gospel of Matthew, He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (5:17).

Here, Jesus fulfills the law by lifting it up so that it’s no longer a burden but a way to serve people. In the second reading, St. James tells us that: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Jesus stands for the poor and powerless people; He understands their situations because He is Immanuel, God-with-us.

The law itself is good, but if it becomes a means to self-exalt and to humiliate others, it would lose its purpose. Sanitization is a good habit before eating, but it should not be a reason to criticize others for not doing so. With a compassionate heart, one can see a reason behind it to sympathize with the poor.

The tendency of those who observe the law is to criticize those who violate it. They think about the law instead of the people. The Pharisees did exactly that. They challenged Jesus not merely for sanitizing reasons but because they wanted to show off that they were the righteous ones for keeping the tradition to the very details.

Here we see that Jesus goes to the point—clean or unclean. Unclean food or unclean hands is not as important as unclean thoughts, words, and behaviors. Jesus said, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

God’s commandments are to help us become holy. Holiness is different from being religious, and anyone can be holy if they put the love of God and of others above everything else, even themselves.

Being religious is external, so it can easily be done mechanically and for an ego purpose, while being holy is internal, within the heart, which only God sees. Therefore, the actions of a holy person are not affected by others’ compliments or criticism; thus, they have a peace that nobody can take away.

We pray every day, we participate in the Mass, we keep the Ten Commandments, all to become holy as Jesus encourages us. When we try to live in holiness, we discipline ourselves to control our hateful words, bad thoughts, and whatever defiles us. Praying daily will help us to know ourselves better by recognizing our weaknesses and that we are sinners.

The tendency of those who observe the law is to criticize those who violate it. This is a challenge for us—who want to keep God’s commandments and the Church’s law closely—and to have compassion for those who do not or cannot keep the commandments for any reason.

We keep the commandments not because we want to prove we are deserving of salvation—which is the mentality of a slave who works not out of love but out of duty, making it a burden—but to show the love of a child to God the Father, who commands us to love others as ourselves.