Protocol. Have you noticed how this word has taken the stage during the past two years? Even our churches got into the act. When you walk through the door sanitize your hands, wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth, stay at least six feet away from each other, use only the marked pews, no hymnals… What is amazing is that a whole society quickly conformed religiously to the new protocols—a society that ignores God’s protocols.
Jesus was invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. These leaders were masters of religious protocol. When Jesus did not follow the expected ritual, the host was upset (Luke 11:37-41).
“After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribe washing before the meal.”
Oops! Even the children knew to do the washing before they sat down to eat. How could Jesus, a rabbi, not obey the religious custom? The Pharisee “was amazed” at Jesus’ behavior. He was shocked that Jesus, an aspiring leader, did not do what every respectable religious person did.
Jesus knew what the Pharisee was thinking and spoke to him and his friends.
“Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”
Oh my! Jesus, this is not the way to make friends and influence people. A Pharisee is kind enough to have you join him and his friends for dinner, and you use the occasion to insult him! You call the whole group “fools!”
Jesus was even more amazed at the behavior of the Pharisees than they were about his behavior. They were experts at taking care of the outsides, but utter failures when it came to taking care of the insides. Weren’t religious leaders supposed to focus on the interior life? He was disgusted with what he saw inside these guys—”plunder and evil.” In other passages Jesus told the religious leaders that they were motivated not by love of God but by love of money and love of promoting their own egos. He reminded them that in creating humans God gave them both an outside and an inside. Which was more important? In the long run the outside would end up as food for worms; the inside, however, had a destiny beyond death. How lopsided they were in their values. The cleanliness that really counted was ignored, as they focused their attention on the cleanliness that didn’t matter that much.
Had they known what their insides looked like and how they were on a road leading to eternal destruction, they would have forgotten about the ritual cleansing, fallen on their knees before Jesus, and cried out “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus has the power to dispense living water that cleans the insides of people. Oh, how these Pharisees needed living water, and didn’t know it.
Jesus then gave them some practical advice.
“But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
He targeted their greed. If they would focus on giving alms to the needy instead of fattening their wallets, their insides would begin to get clean.”
May we have the mind of Jesus and ask God in his mercy to cleanse our insides today.
“The Word of God is alive and effective, able to discern…the thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
