Matthew 15:5 “But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’
We live in an age of hand washing. There has probably never been a time when people are more conscious of the cleanliness of their hands than right now. That and the location of your mask! We want to help those who are vulnerable to not become sick and die. A good thing!
But this isn’t the first time hand washing has been center stage. In Jesus day, the religious leaders preached a message of hand washing. But they weren’t doing it to prevent infections, they were doing it as a mark of superior moral values. To put it in modern day language, they were virtue signaling!
Jesus wants nothing to do with their virtue signaling, so He points out their hypocrisy. Jesus is a ‘right in your face with Truth’ kind of person. When Jesus sees the virtue signaling, He pulls the mask down and shows the infection that the mask hides. Jesus exposes their hearts.
Jesus is out and about in His ministry. The religious leaders come from ‘the swamp’ of Jerusalem, the place where hypocrisy is at its most egregious. They question Jesus about His disciples not following one of their favorite rules: don’t eat without washing your hands. This is not the rule your parents used to tell you. Remember, this isn’t about germs. This is about doing an outward act as a way to show how religious you are.
So in Jesus’ typical fashion He doesn’t answer their question. He doesn’t address their virtue signaling directly. Instead, Jesus gets right to the condition of their spiritual hearts. They have found a way to get around the Laws requirements through what we might call a “sheltered investment.” They have kept their money in a way that shelters it from supporting their parents, and yet they still have use of it themselves.
You see, the rich back then had ways to avoid their obligations just like the rich do today. Sheltered annuities, offshore accounts, stock options, foreign investments, capital gains tax rates, home mortgage interest deduction, second-home mortgage interest deduction. These and many more rules allow people today to avoid paying taxes legally.
We don’t know the details of how these religious leaders avoided the obligation to care for their parents back then, but by using their tricks, they became guilty of breaking on of the Big Ten! So despite all their virtue signaling with their hand washing rituals, they were guilty of one of the foundational commandments. And Jesus catches them in their tricks.
Have we invented ways to avoid our obligations? How about our privileges to serve? Have we made our lives so busy that we don’t have time and space to help those less privileged than ourselves? Do we boast about the check we wrote so we don’t have to actually do the work ourselves, paying our way out of guilt?
I want to encourage you to personally do acts of mercy, and do them in a way that doesn’t draw attention to them. Learn to do them incognito, or at least away from the limelight. Leave the PR people at home. Don’t call the local press to cover the event. Don’t post it on social media. Let our Father who sees in secret be the One to reward us.
The Arnold Journey 