Homily Notes 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time/ “Clean on the Outside and the Inside”
Our religion is based on the Word of God. For that reason, we read the scriptures every time we gather for liturgy. Because we believe in the sacredness of the Word we read out of decorative books. We carry the Gospels in procession from the entrance of the church to the altar, from the altar to the ambo at the time of Gospel proclamation. The question is not whether we believe in the importance of the word, but how we put the word into practice.
The Jews considered the Law the essential part of their faith. Moses, they believed wrote the first five books of the Bible. The part the Bible that I refer to is called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch contains a certain number of detailed regulations, but in matters pertaining to morality what is laid out is a series of great moral principles which individuals were to interpret and apply to themselves. For a long time, the Jewish people were content with that.
In about the 4th or 5th century before Christ, there was a learned class of Jews who came into existence. And they were known as the scribes. The new religious teachers were no longer content with great moral principles, but they wanted everything defined. The scribes broke down the great moral teachings into thousands of little rules that guided every part of Jewish life. All these regulations were being formulated during the time of Christ. It took hundreds of years for these rules to be written. Because this process took so long, there is always great debates about what rules were being used when Jesus lived. In the third century after Christ, these laws that were codified in what is called the Mishnah- the tradition of the elders.
The aspects of the Mishnah that are argued about in this passage were how hands were to be washed. When the devout Jews would sit down to a meal as well as between each course hands were washed. Now this was an elaborate procedure. First the hands were held with fingers pointing upward. Water was poured over the hands so that it flowed down to the wrists. Each hand had to be cleansed with the fist of the other. After that, the hands were held with finger tips pointed downward. Again, water was poured so that it started at the wrists and went to the fingertips. Not only was how the water poured in a certain way, but a specified amount had to be used; no more water than could be held in two egg shells. Now this procedure, although pious, is not found in the Bible. The Bible does talk about washings. The Bible speaks of uncleanliness. But it does not outline the elaborate technique I just described. We probably ask ourselves was it necessary?
For the typical working person in the time of Jesus, going through these ceremonial washings in the proper way was not practical. Such people were just lucky to eat. Jesus had the working class gathered around him. The Scribes were criticizing them. Because they did not perform all the little rituals, the scribes said they knew little about God. The debate in this passage encapsulates the argument between Jesus and the religious elites of his time.
Jesus accused the Scribes of hypocrisy. Jesus and the Scribes had different ideas about what pleased God. Was it a ritual or the values a person practiced that was pleasing to the Lord? The thing that seemed to be most important to the scribes was how a religious person carried themselves, how they looked, how they performed religious rites. It seemed like a religious person could be hateful, they could be judgmental, but that did not matter if they washed their hands the right way.
For Jesus the essence of religion was what a person held in their heart. Did they love their neighbor as themselves? Were they charitable? Did the love of God translate into action? Was a person humble? Were they quick to point out their own sinfulness while asking for forgiveness. Jesus believed those were essential values.
During these troubled times for our church this is a good gospel to meditate on. Are religious leaders speaking to preserve the institutional church or a structure that gives them security? If that is what is happening, we are only washing the outside of the cup. We will never have the reform that we need. As the People of God, we must demand that we all pay attention to the essence of our religion; which is about justice, mercy, love charity, truth, responsibility. We all know it is much harder to cleanse the inside of a vessel rather than just wipe the outside. We pray this day that we will listen to Jesus as a church so that we are willing to confront hypocrisy wherever we find it even if it is within ourselves.
Please Note: rough draft~grammar may not be perfect