Am I a hypocrite? (Mk 7:1-13)
“When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.”
Jesus' first encounter with the Pharisees and scribes (cf. Mk 2: 1–3: 6) developed into a series of bitter disputes. The current meeting takes place in a similar climate and creates an even greater gap between Jesus and the official representatives of Judaism. Their attention is focused on the fact that Jesus' disciples did not follow the traditional rite of netilat jadaim, the ritual of the washing of hands before eating accompanied by the recitation of the appropriate blessing. This rite was meant to express the desire to approach in an attitude of inner purity and respect for God who nourishes his creatures with his hand (cf. Ps 26: 6; 104,27). This rule did not result from the commandments of the Torah but from the oral tradition developed by rabbis, the so-called halakhah. Based on the Torah regulations, which concerned only the ritual ofpurity of priests, the rabbis created a number of detailed legal and ethical norms that were to be binding on all Israelites. In this way, they wanted to express the idea that all Israel is a priesthood people among the nations.
Mark, who writes his gospel for the Roman community of pagan Christians, accurately describes and explains Jewish rituals that were incomprehensible to them. The mention of "relaxed fist" indicates how to wash your fingers together with a small amount of water.
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders”
Jesus responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”
Jesus unmasks the Pharisees as hypocrites (Greek: hypokritai). The word means the act of an actor who hides his face under a mask to pretend to be someone other than who he is. Hypocrisy is the game of appearances, hiding the real motives of behavior under external forms. Over time, the hypocrite begins to believe that the falsehood in his conduct is realtruth and becomes a spiritual blind person. He loses the ability to reliably self-evaluate, cannot accept exhortations and calls to conversion. He is ready to kill the prophets whom God sends to open his eyes (cf. Mt 23: 16-24, 29-35). The Pharisees are hypocritical first by asking Jesus a question that, under the guise of concern for pious tradition, is a trap for Jesus. The term hypokrisis appears in Mark once more, in the same context - in the discussion about the tax coin (Mk 12: 15).
If Jesus' polemics with the Pharisees have been reported so extensively by all evangelists, it is probably because the problem of religious hypocrisy is a problem for many Christians. Jesus' disciples also turn out to be many times foolish and dull, and hardened of heart. Jesus warned the apostles against the "leaven of the Pharisees" (Mk 8:15), that is, against unbelief, which produces such effects.
Who is a hypocrite?
This is someone who thinks that his duty is to fulfill the Law perfectly, to be sinless before God and before people. Hypocrite does not understand that the task of the law is only to reveal the evil in the human heart, to awaken in us the need for forgiveness, mercy and conversion, and this is only given by Jesus Christ through faith in Him! First, this mercy must be received gratuitously, by grace, from Jesus, who came to take away our sins, and then - being aware of our own reality - open to giving mercy to others, sinners, like ourselves.
Since the hypocrite is unable to cope with the role played by a shining role model, he denies the truth about his own condition as a sinner, figuratively speaking "sweeping garbage under the rug." How?
a. He likes to list sins that he has not committed (I did not kill anyone, I did not rob, I did not cheat on my wife, I did not get drunk ...). Thanks to this, he wants to create theimpression in himself and others: That I am not so bad ...
b. willingly confesses other people's sins instead of his own (I got angry with my husband because he came drunk; I had a fight with my mother-in-law, because no one can stand her ...)
c. as a result, he does not see his own sins (after all, I am not doing anything wrong ...).
That is why Jesus calls them blind!
Since the hypocrite does not see the path of conversion ahead of him, he realizes himself in religious formalism, which can take one of two versions: the maximum (multiplication of services and prayers, "servicing" several churches a day or a week) or minimal (I say prayers, go to the sacraments every second Christmas, what more do you need? ...).
Comparing ourselves with others often leads to a ruthless judgment on them and makes it harder and harder to see a deeply hidden sin in oneself.
God fights for the heart of such a person: first through the light of the word of God that judges and penetrates the conscience (cf. Heb 4:12f), secondly through prophets, i.e. people who bring him a word of exhortation and encouragement in God's name and when these measures are not enough - God can give an even stronger word in the form of difficult facts that are to wake him up and make him reflect on himself (1 Sam 3:11; 2 Kings 21:12). It may be one or another compromising sin permitted by God - in front of other people, in order to destroy our false good image and confront us with the truth about us, to save our consciences from hardening and souls from condemnation. Better is then a loss of reputation than a definite rejection by God.
Even then we can "sweep many things under the carpet" saying to ourselves: This sin was only an accident at work, but I really am not like that ... But it is better to stand before God in simplicity and confess, like David: I have sinned against the Lord (cf. 2 Sam 12:13; 24:10; Ps 51: 6), this fact shows who I really am. Then the good news comes to us: the Lord forgives our sin - we will not die. When we give up self-justification, we will accept God's mercy, and profound change begins in us, the fruit of God's grace. A person who has experienced free forgiveness, help and salvation will lose the will to judge others. We become humble and merciful, and thus we can draw others to Christ.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george