Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15:14

The followers of Jesus were charged with being sinners or unclean because they did not wash their hands before eating (Matthew 15:2). It is good to wash your hands before eating, but it would not constitute a sin if you were to eat without washing your hands. It would certainly be bad manners to do so, and it would be an example of poor hygiene, but it would not be sinful. Why? Because sin, as Jesus explains, comes from the heart that is filled with “evil ideas” which lead people “to kill, lie, and slander others.” (Matthew 15:19).

The Pharisees were masters at covering up the real sins of the heart, while imposing external burdens on the people which they conveniently characterized as God’s laws which would be sinful to break. Jesus broke through this hypocrisy by freeing the people from these “man-made rules as though they were God’s laws” (Matthew 15:9), and revealing the true nature of sin that derives from the heart. That alone is sin, therefore, which raises from the heart; lies in evil thoughts or ideas; and is expressed by the mouth or performed by outward actions. A corrupt heart is the source of evil thoughts and actions which defile a person. A contrite heart, on the other hand, is the source of ever good thought and action. This is what makes a person clean; not the kinds of foods or drinks or the manner of using them, whether with washed or unwashed hands.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for honoring God with their words while ignoring the real sins of the heart (Matthew 15:8). Many Christians today fall into the same trap as the Pharisees; they honor God with their words but their hearts are far away from Him. They refuse to sit down with others who are not of their ‘religion;’ they refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick or those in prison (Matthew 25:46) because their hearts are set on other things.

There is a story about a wealthy parishioner who refused to pay his workers a just wage. One day the local priest went to see him and told him that he should pay his workers a just wage. “That’s business you’re talking about, Father,” he said, “Your job is religion, not business!” The successful businessman was able to separate, in his heart, his moral obligations to his fellow man from his religious observances.

What the Lord expects of us, is not external religious observance but a contrite heart that accepts the whole truth of the Gospel.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10).

Fr. Hugh Duffy