Prophets Faithfull to God's CovenantCourageous Prophets of Change
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) Isiah: Offering Hope for the FutureMark 7:1-8
The MessageThe Source of Your Pollution7 1-4 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans). 5 The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples brush off the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?” 6-8 Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact: These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.” For ReflectionHearing and surveillance with an eye toward counter-punching are not listening at all. But in their attempts to undermine Jesus, the truth of their hypocrisy emerged. The religious rituals of Jesus' time and our time are not done for their own sake. Performed rotely, unanimated by faith, these practices became empty religious signs, hedges to the Divine Law, making it hard for one to discern an ordinance of God in the rubbish of superstition and tradition. PrayPray and contemplate the meaning of your religious rituals. Pray so that you maintain the divine meaning in your faith practice.
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