Why do your disciples eat with hands unwashed? - March 21
Today’s Scripture: Gen. 47:27–48:7; 1 Cor. 10:1–13; Mark 7:1–23
In the Gospel for today (I promise, you can’t make this up!) the Pharisees are criticizing Jesus because he lets his disciples eat without unwashed hands. The tradition was that all Jews including the Pharisees only ate if they washed their hands, but the younger generation, i.e. those who were following Jesus, weren’t following this practice. They obviously weren’t aware of the COVID-19 pandemic that would take place 2000 years later!
But Jesus’s point strikes home. And I paraphrase: “Why are you so worried about the outside when I am worried about the serious stuff, like the character of who you are, the nature of your soul, the person you are becoming?” It is interesting to me that we take so seriously a virus. We have quarantined ourselves in isolation, bought three years’ worth of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and there isn’t a webcam to be found across America (if you have one we can use for Sunday’s service I would love to know). Why don’t we take with the same seriousness the spiritual issues of the world? Greed is destroying our earth, and arguably our souls, and yet we are worried about washing our hands? Maybe if we are to care about what is most important, the gift of human life, the real work is to change or clean ourselves. But please do wash your hands too.
- John+
Questions for Reflection
What part of our own selves needs a little work? How can we work on becoming better in this time of isolation?
Daily Challenge
List a few things that you would like to work on and during Morning Prayer on Sunday, name those during the Confession of Sin.