Banquet With The King: Wash Your Hands

Prayer – Lord, cleanse my heart. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Handwashing station at an Israeli hotel
Water must be flowing to wash before eating.
Your hands are clean. Is your heart?

One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don't eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, "Why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony." Jesus replied, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.' For you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition." Then he said, "You skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.' But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, 'Sorry, I can't help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.' In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others." Mark 7:1-13 NLT

Meditate. Consider Jesus’ guidance in scripture.

Tradition. Rituals. Handwashing is a good thing. God so wisely taught Moses that the Jewish people needed to wash their hands before eating. Think of the germs that were washed away by that simple action. We do the same today. How many times have you already washed or sanitized your hands today…or in the last twenty-four hours? God gave Moses…and us…laws for our safety. Handwashing is just one of them.

Jesus pointed out in this discussion with the Pharisees that handwashing was a legalistic ritual; that they were only wanting to honor God with their words—not with their hearts. Jesus was referring to Isaiah’s words.

And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear." Isaiah 29:13-14

Is your worship a farce? Do you honor God with words, but not your heart, just to follow the tradition of your church or group of friends?

This is not where I thought this blog was going when I sat down to write today. Handwashing is important…but apply that spiritually. When was the last time you washed your spirit and cleansed your heart? We are told to pray continually. What is your unceasing prayer?

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. - Psalm 19:8-14

Is tradition and ritual important to you or do you want to please the Lord?

Verse of Salvation ~ I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands. Psalm 119:166 NIV

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.

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