“The Pharisee was shocked and somewhat offended when he saw that Jesus didn’t wash up before the meal.” (Luke 11:38 MSG)
Jesus had been invited to dinner at a Pharisee’s home. It’s hard to believe it was an earnest invitation, but more likely some biblical version of Dinner for Schmucks. The Pharisee was flexing, all the while watching Jesus for discrepancies in His teaching. He didn’t have to wait long, Jesus didn’t wash His hands before dinner!
That may read like a small faux pas to a culture that carries hand sanitizer in our purse, but in Jesus time it was nothing short of a religious misdemeanor. Jewish culture maintained the belief that cleanliness was next to godliness; hand washing was an essential ritual of righteousness. Washing up for supper was the Israeli version of Iowa’s removing of shoes in the mudroom on the way in the house. It’s simply how it’s done! Sidestepping this cultural moray was a serious social infraction.
Besides that, Jesus spent His days with sinners! With tax collectors and prostitutes, people the Pharisees would never so much as acknowledge, let alone share a conversation with or (gasp) a meal. Jesus was dirty by default, because He spent the bulk of His time with unclean people.
The Pharisee, who asked Jesus into his home with insidious motive, is amazed (NLT), marveling (KJV), surprised (NIV) – this was not the Jesus he expected. How could this Rabbi turn a blind eye to the centuries-old traditions of the elders?
We tend to be the Pharisee in this Bible story. We are often shocked and offended by the sins of others, whether they are perceived or authentic. It is the nature of the beast, I suppose: we offer justification and grace to ourselves but leave others in the proverbial wind. We are all-too wiling to overlook personal wickedness but cannot see past the trespasses of others.
Jesus’ lack of hand washing was intentional and His response to the pharisaical outrage is epic. He basically says to His holier-than-thou host: who cares if the outside is spotless when the inside is filthy and rotten!
As believers, we aren’t inspecting for the the appearance of holiness, we are pursuing actual holiness. And that starts from the inside and works it way out. We needn’t waste our outrage on people and circumstances we cannot change, we instead set our spiritual focus on the one person we can transform entirely: ourselves. We give the benefit of the doubt to those around us because it’s what we’d like to receive as well.
“and forgive our sins as we forgive others…” (Luke 11:14 NLT)
Lord, when it comes to sin, let us look in and not out. Make us as painfully aware of our own shortfalls as we tend to be of our neighbor. Give us grace: grace for us and grace for others. Forgive us as we learn to forgive others. Amen.