Returning again to the poignant, somewhat dark, Israeli TV series, Shtisel, I recall glimpses of the Orthodox Jewish ritual of hand washing before meals, before any eating. A little research revealed that it’s often done as pictured here, with a two-handled cup with which one first pours water (twice or three times) on the dominant hand and then on the other. No soap is used and there is no attempt to scrub hands (as we all learned to do last year). So the purpose is clearly ritual and spiritual rather than hygienic. A blessings is said, the Netilat Yadayim: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.”
In our text for this Sunday, Mark 7:1-23 (I’m leaving in the verses skipped by the lectionary), we find Jesus confronted over His disciples’ failure to perform what must have been the precursor to the Netilat Yadayim ritual. Verse 2 says of some Pharisees and scribes, “they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.” Mark goes on to explain a traditional custom of hand washing, along with washing of food items, cups, and pots. The Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus in verse 5, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
Given our heightened concern about hygiene in pandemic times, it might be tempting for us to side against Jesus on this one. Why, indeed, would He let His disciples do something so unhealthy as eating with dirty hands? If Jesus were on earth today, would He let His followers run around without masks in indoor spaces? Do spiritual matters really take precedence over and even negate concern for basic health measures, as some churches and Christians have vehemently argued against masks and vaccinations this year?
To grasp that our Lord did not disregard public health, we need to step back and realize that what is true of the current Jewish ritual of hand washing (and of the priest’s washing of hands before the Eucharist in Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches) was true of this ancient form. It was not about physical cleanliness. The Jewish and liturgical Christian rituals of washing are performed even if one’s hands were washed with soap and water (or hand sanitizer) moments before. The point of these things is a symbolic desire for cleansing from spiritual defilement, for a pure heart and soul before God.
Thus Jesus is not flying in the face of both common sense and modern medical understanding when He says in verse 15, “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile…” Jesus, along with ancient people in general, knew very well that consumption of various forms of filth would lead to sickness, even death. Jesus was simply pointing out that a particular cleansing ritual does not have the power in and of itself to render pure an impure heart or soul.
So Jesus’ defense of His disciples, in the form of His complaint about the Pharisees’ and scribes’ abuse of tradition in verses 9-13, is directed at the use of ritual to establish spiritual health without an accompanying attention to the condition of the heart. A carefully honored vow has no spiritual value if it is manipulated to avoid keeping a basic commandment like honoring one’s parents.
The lesson on ritual purity versus genuine spiritual cleanliness concludes in verses 21 to 23 with a list of 12 vices, all of which “come out of a person” rather than entering into a person through neglect of ritual. Most of these vices are sins in relationship to others, causing harm or at least damage to the peace which ought to exist between ourselves and those around us. Jesus is teaching us that true purity is a matter of a heart that is in right relationship with God and others.
Thus there is definitely no excuse here in Jesus’ words for disregarding public health and measures against COVID-19 like hand washing, mask wearing, and vaccination. Yet perhaps there is a warning here about engaging in these needed practices in a way that makes our hearts wicked and angry toward those around us who fail to grasp the need. As our reading from James 1 says in verse 20, “your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” I find myself dealing daily with that sort of spiritual struggle whenever I consider how neglect of basic, tested public health measures has led to the current Delta variant surge and overwhelming numbers of unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths, along with the huge social disruptions and disappointments which affect us all.
Let this difficult teaching of Jesus, then, encourage us to wear masks on the outside because of something good on the inside, a genuine, heartfelt love for others which takes such steps as much for them as for ourselves. Let us not engage in mask wearing or vaccination merely because of human tradition (read “political affiliation”), but because we reject the wickedness, pride and folly which causes one to disregard the welfare of our neighbors in the interest of our own supposed welfare and freedom. And when we encounter those who fail to understand our motivations, as the Pharisees and scribes failed to understand Jesus, let us respond as best we can in both truth and love.