Doers of the Word
Twenty-Second Sunday - Year B
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8; James 1:17-18,21-22,27: Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
Israel was chosen to show to other peoples that there is only one true God (Deut. 4:7) and that His laws are just (Deut. 4:8). The same tasks have been assigned to us, Christians. We were called to be "firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:18). The Father of light, who took Israel from Egypt, has also freed us from the slavery of sin “by the word of truth” (James 1:18) - the Gospel of Christ.
The list of sins presented in today's Gospel (Mark 7:21-22) makes us aware of the state of our health. It does not look good. A temporary cure for the illness of the human spirit was the Law of Moses. A desire to murder is met with the commandment: "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13). The problem of unchastity, adultery, and licentiousness is dealt with (1) "You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14) and (2) "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Deut. 5:21). “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15) and “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17) deal with theft, greed, and envy. The problem of malice and deceit meet with the commandment "you shall not bear false testimony" (Ex. 20:16). Finally, for blasphemy, arrogance, and folly, the Law prescribes faith in God: "You shall have no other gods beside me" (Ex. 20:3); "God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; Job 22:29); "The fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Ps. 14:1).
Unfortunately, the Law only reveals an illness, but it cannot heal. However, it leads us to the Doctor. "The law was our guardian until Christ came" (Gal. 3:24, Rom. 10:4). Being aware that we “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:24) we humbly accept the gospel preached to us, believing that it has the power to save us (James 1:21). The grace of the Gospel empowers us to put the word of God into action (James 1:22).
The psalmist and Saint James both present us with a lifestyle that leads us into entering God’s presence (Ps. 15:1). In the psalm, such a lifestyle is characterized by respect for another human being: no lying, not harming others, not accepting bribes against innocent. For Saint James, true piety means caring for the weakest of society - orphans and widows - and caring for oneself, namely keeping oneself “unstained” from the influence of the world (James 1:27).
“You shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it" (Deut. 4:2). Actually, nowhere in the Law of Moses, there are rules regarding ritual washing of hands before eating or purification of cups and so on (see Mark 7:3-4). This “tradition of the elders” aimed to extend the worship of the Temple to the household. The priests serving in the temple were obliged to wash their hands before approaching the altar (Ex. 30:20; 40:32). To this very day, many Jewish families have silver or ceramic cups made especially for this purpose.
The confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus is not about eating with dirty or clean hands. Ritual purity aimed to create boundaries between Israel and other nations, and among the Israelites between just and sinners, ritually clean and unclean (see Lev. 11-15). Jesus, who in the Gospel of Luke, did not wash his hands before eating (Luke 11:38) breaks that “dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). Christianity embraces all nations, calls everyone to conversion and faith in Christ, and purifies both ritually clean and unclean from sin.
The Promised Land (Deut. 4:1) and the mountain of the Lord (Ps. 15:1) are symbols of everlasting life in the presence of God, the aim of our human pilgrimage through this life. If we want to “enter and occupy that land” (Deut. 4:1), we need to heed and observe the Law of God. Let us stop then adding or subtracting anything to God’s commandments. Instead, let us pray that the grace of the Lord will enable us to become doers of the Word (James 1:22). Amen.