Dining With A Pharisee

AFTER Jesus answers critics who question the source of his power to heal a man who could not talk, a Pharisee invites them to dinner. Before they eat, the Pharisees engage in the ritual of washing their hands up to the elbow. They do this before and after a meal and even between courses. Although the tradition does not violate God's written law, it goes beyond what God requires in the matter of ceremonial cleanness.

When Jesus fails to observe the tradition his host is surprised. Even though his surprise may not be expressed verbally, Jesus detects it and says: "Now you Pharisees, you cleanse the outside of your cup and dish, but the inside of you is full of plunder and wickedness. Unreasonable persons! He that made the outside made also the inside did he not!"

Jesus thus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who ritualistically wash their hands but fail to wash their hearts from wickedness. He counsels: "Give as gifts of mercy the things that are inside, and, look! all other things by a loving heart, not by a desire to impress others with their pretense of righteousness.

"Woe to you Pharisees," Jesus continues, "because you give the tenth of the mint and the rue and of every other vegetable, but you pass by the justice and the love of God! These things you were under obligation to do, but those other things not to omit." God's Law to Israel requires the paying of tithes, or a tenth part, of the produce from the fields. The mint and the rue are small plants or herbs used in flavoring food. The Pharisees carefully pay a tenth of even these insignificant herbs, but Jesus condemns them for ignoring the more important requirement to show love, exercise kindness and be modest.

Condemning them further, Jesus says: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the front seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! Woe to you, because you are as those memorial tombs which are not in evidence, so that men walk upon them and do not know it!" Their uncleanness is not apparent. The religion of the Pharisees has outward show but no inner worth! It is based on hypocrisy.

Next time: Conclusion of Dining With A Pharisee

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991