As I was reading the above passage from Matthew Chapter 15, I was struck by the attitude which Jesus showed toward the Pharisees. I thought: 'that doesn't sound very merciful or kind of him to tell his disciples to just leave the Pharisees alone and like blind men let them fall into a pit.' Now Jesus had just been verbally attacked by the Pharisees and they were constantly trying to discredit him, so we might think that he was upset and just reacting out of fear or anger because they had challenged him, charging that he and his followers were transgressing the law of God as it had been transformed into one of the traditions of the Hebrew people. 

But this is Jesus, not just some ordinary person. He has come into the world as the redeemer, to save sinners. So why is he reacting as if these Pharisees are of no account? Wasn't it He who said that we should love our enemies? This hard attitude seems very inconsistent with our image of a concerned and loving Lord. Jesus was upset and he was concerned. He wasn't afraid for his own well being or reputation. He was concerned because over many centuries the Hebrew people, to whom God had given His Word, had changed the truth in it to suit their own purposes. They had lost all insight into the inner spiritual meaning that lay within the commandments and rituals He had given them through Moses and the Prophets. He had the benefit of Divine Wisdom to guide Him in his response to the people who were challenging Him. He knew that it was of no use to argue with them or try to convince them that they were wrong while they were in the spiritual state they were currently experiencing. That is why He refers to them as being blind guides. In other instances Jesus showed great compassion for the blind and healed them, but those people wanted to see. In the case of the Pharisees Jesus knew that their attitudes were fixed and that they did not want to see either where they had gone astray or that they were wrong. To heal them would have been to go against their own will and that the Lord will not do. We can only be healed spiritually by the Lord when it is our desire to be healed. He will not breach our freedom of choice. 

The Pharisees had charged that the disciples of Jesus were breaking the tradition of the elders of the church by not washing their hands before they eat. Jesus responded to them by saying, "And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother let him be put to death.' But you say that 'whoever tells his father or mother, "Anything of mine you might have been helped by has been given to God," then that person need not honor his father or mother. So for the sake of your tradition you have invalidated the word of God." The washing of hands is an external practice, and from what we know about good hygiene, has a lot of practical benefits. So Jesus tries to get the disciples to understand that the problems he is facing are not external ones but internal ones. When people change the inner lessons that are in the Word and concentrate only on the outer, natural or literal, sense they lose contact with the real, valuable, elements of their religion. He uses the example of exemption from the commandment to honor our parents, because it was one that the Jewish leaders had put a lot of emphasis on in order to get out of their personal obligations to their parents, and also to get people to give more to the church by giving less support to their parents. 

The Lord's teachings and his repeal of certain rituals that only meet the needs of our worldly nature, show that He was teaching to the inner spiritual person. His teaching about washing shows that "washing" is the cleansing of our soul and not our skin. The Lord taught this and other things that have to do with the spiritual part of our nature because He alone opens the inner parts of the human mind and makes them spiritual. We must open our natural mind and allow Him to enter. In summary the teachings are simply to believe in Him, and to avoid bad acts because they are evil, and also to do good acts because they are from the Lord. 

The reason why the Lord alone opens our inner mind and why He also puts it into the outer worldly part of us, is because we think and act on the worldly plane. We could not notice anything spiritual and take it into our life unless God had taken on a natural state Himself, as Jesus Christ, and made it possible to relate to Him on a natural level. 

Jesus ended His teaching by stating that it is not what one takes into his mouth that defiles one, referring to eating with dirty fingers, but that it is what comes out of ones mouth. What we say and how we act is an expression of where we are at spiritually and if that is dirty and false then that is what defiles us and shows that we are involved in evil. We should keep this thought in mind particularly when we find ourselves using foul language or acting uncharitably towards our neighbors. To close I would like to share with you a portion of a reading from the book The Heavenly Doctrine, which deals with the subject of selfishness, which was the same issue that Jesus was dealing with in respect to the Pharisees:

 65. Self-love is wishing well to oneself alone and not to others except on one's own account, not even to the church, one's country, any human community or fellow citizen. It also includes doing good to them solely for the sake of one's own reputation, honours and glory. If such a person does not see these ends in the good he does for others, he says in his heart 'What does it matter? Why am I doing this? What's in it for me?' and so he stops doing it. This shows plainly that a person in a state of self-love does not love the church, his country, his community or his fellow citizen, nor any good, but himself alone. 

66. A person is in a state of self-love when in his thoughts and actions he pays no regard to his neighbour, and so not to the general public, much less the Lord, but only to himself and his own people. As a result, this is when all his actions are for the sake of himself and his people, and if he does anything for the general public and his neighbour, this is only for the sake of appearances. 

67. I say, for the sake of himself and his people, because one who loves himself also loves the people who belong to him, in particular his children and grandchildren, and in general all who act in concert with him, and whom he calls his own. Loving these two groups of people is also loving oneself, for one looks upon them as if part of one, and oneself as part of them. Among those called his own are also included all who praise, honour and pay respect to him. 

68. A person is in a state of self-love, if he despises his neighbour as compared with himself, if he treats him as an enemy, unless he shows him favour, stands in awe of him and pays him respect. He is even more in a state of self-love, if as a result he hates and persecutes his neighbour; even more so, if as a result he is fired with a desire for vengeance on him and longs for his ruin. Such people end up by loving to inflict violence. 

75. The evils exhibited by those in a state of self-love are, generally speaking, contempt for others, envy, unfriendliness to those who do not favour them, resulting in hostility, various kinds of hatred, vindictiveness, tricks, deceit, lack of pity, and cruelty. Where such evils exist, there is also contempt for the Deity and for the things of God, the truths and kinds of good the church teaches. If they do pay respect to them, it is only with the lips and not the heart. Since such evils arise from this source, so too do the like falsities, for evils are the source of falsities. 

76. The love of the world, however, is wanting to direct to oneself by any device other people's wealth, setting one's heart on being rich, and allowing the world to withdraw one and lead one away from spiritual love, that is, love towards the neighbour, and so away from heaven. 

Those in a state of love of the world are those who desire to direct to themselves other people's goods by various devices, especially by trickery and deceit, paying no heed to the good of the neighbour. Those who are in that state covet others' goods, and so far as they are not afraid of laws and losing their reputation for the sake of gain, they take them away from them, or rather loot them. 

77. But the love of the world is not as fully opposed to heavenly love as is self-love, seeing that it does not have such great evils concealed in it. This is a love of many kinds. It is the love of wealth, as the means of advancement to honours. It is the love of honours and rank with the aim of procuring wealth. It is the love of wealth for various purposes which give delight in the world. It is the love of wealth merely for the sake of wealth - that is the love of misers; and so on. 

The end which wealth has in view is called its purpose. It is the end in view or purpose which gives a love its quality. For a love is such as is its end in view; other things serve it as means. 

80. For a person to know his evils, he must know their sources; and unless he knows his evils, he cannot know the kinds of good he has, so he cannot know what sort of person he is. That is why those two sources of evils have been discussed here.

May God bless you in your spiritual quest. Amen.

 

 

Artwork: In His Constant Care
is courtesy of Greg Olsen and is
used with his permission.

Music: Heart to Heart
© 2001 Bruce DeBoer

Floating and Color Scroll Bar
Scripts Courtesy of

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