Jesus and the Pharisees are not friends. Not only do the Pharisees constantly find fault with whatever Jesus says and does. Through their many encounters with Jesus, the Pharisees prove themselves to be self-righteous religious leaders, full of pretense and deceit (Lk 18:10-13). They readily boast of their service and obedience to God, all the while concealing their extortion and cruel treatment of others (Lk 11:39-44). They fail to see their own need for repentance and thus do not seek forgiveness of their sins. As a result, they have been forgiven little, and for that reason, they love little (Lk 7:47). The Pharisees are hypocritical frauds with very little love in their hearts for God or for others. Thus, they are not like Jesus. No wonder they are not his friends.
In fact, Jesus and the Pharisees are so different that Jesus becomes their stern critic who eagerly calls attention to their moral failures and misguided ways. Today’s gospel reading is an example in that regard. Jesus goes to the home of a leading Pharisee for dinner. The Pharisee becomes indignant over the fact that Jesus does not observe the prescribed washing before a meal. In response, Jesus is quick to call attention to the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. He notes how they focus on the minutia of ritual and custom, but fail to acknowledge the embedded evil in their hearts.
Another example of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees occurs when Jesus goes for dinner to the home of Simon, a prominent Pharisee. A woman, who was known to be a sinner, is also there. When she sees Jesus, she expresses profound sorrow for her sins by giving heartfelt attention to his place as an honored guest. Jesus accepts the sincerity of her contrition and forgives her sins. Simon rails against what he perceives to be the misplaced compassion of Jesus, and rebukes him for his response to the woman. Undaunted by Simon’s critique, however, Jesus insists that love and mercy must take the place of self-righteous pride and the unjust condemnation of others (Lk 7:36-50).
At every turn, Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and challenges them to live their faith with sincerity, honesty, mercy, and love. The Pharisees, however, remained fixated on a show of complying with the Mosaic Law as evidence of their faithfulness. Their focus was on the letter of the Law, not the Spirit of Love.
While their actions may have been technically correct, their motives were far from authentic. This is why they castigated Jesus for not honoring the ritual of washing before meals as prescribed by the Law. From their perspective, following the correct ritual and custom was sufficient justification under the Law. What was in their hearts, what else may have motivated their actions, was of little concern to them.
Jesus invites the Pharisees to a new way of life, a new way of seeing things. Jesus calls us to the same way of life. God wants to give us a “new heart” and a “new spirit” so that we can reflect His love and holiness in our daily lives. For, love is the genuine source of faith in action (Gal 5:6). An authentic relationship with God and with others, therefore, stems from love rather than adherence to ritual and custom. This way of seeing things is our sure path to becoming more like Christ every day, and the only way to be his friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment