Rules and regulations around food are not a new condition. They did not start with the protections that the Food and Drug Administration imposes. They did not start with regulations about food safety and the work of multinational corporations. There have always been rules around eating.
My mom always insisted that we “wash our hands before eating.” We put the fork on the left side of the plate and knife and spoon on the right, sharp edge of the knife facing your own plate. The drinking glass was to the right side of the plate. We were Bostonians, after all. We had culture, even though my parents came from hard working stock. There were other rules about the order of eating. You couldn’t eat your dessert first! Prayer started it off.
I can bet you had some rules around eating as well, when you were growing up. Perhaps they weren’t the same rules as mine, but think about it. Everyone has them, even though they are often unspoken, unwritten rules. Traditions grow up slowly over time and involve many small impositions of rules.
The religious culture of Jesus’ day had many rules and rituals, just like cultures today. We get a glimpse into one of those rules in our passage. The rule was simple. If you have been out among non-Jews, wash your hands to symbolize that you are better, holier than they are. They had many rituals that symbolized this same distain for people not like them. And those who wouldn’t observe these rituals were put into that “other” group. They were excluded. If you are having trouble wrapping your mind around this, think yacht or country club with a religious twist.
But Jesus will have nothing to do with this exclusionary practice. No secret handshakes, no membership cards, no outstanding annual dues. Jesus sees right to the heart of the matter: their hearts. It wasn’t the ritual itself that caused the greatest trouble for Jesus, it was their heart attitude that ruined the value of the ritual.
You see, somewhere along the spiritual journey of God’s chosen people, the Jews, they had gotten the message that the purpose of their choosing was that they would be chosen, that they would get an unlimited lifetime pass to God’s amusement park. But of course that wasn’t the LORD’s intent from the beginning. His purpose was to pass His love through a people to the whole world. They were meant to pass it along, not become the exclusive holders of God’s grace.
Are there rules you have in life that close people off from the hope we have in Christ? Do you have rituals that indicate you feel better than other people, certain people? Do you not go certain places because you are not like them?
The Arnold Journey 