Gospel of 25 August 2020
Tuesday of Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 23:23-26
Clean the inside of the cup first, so that the outside may become clean
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’
Reflexion
Today, our Lord launches a no-holds-barred attack on the Pharisees, something that you would most likely hear at a political rally when the speaker rails against his opponent. But the issue has nothing to do with partisan politics. In fact, theologically, our Lord had more in common with the Pharisees than He did with the other Jewish factions that existed during His time.
Were the Pharisees as a whole “enemies” of Jesus? A point needs to be made. Not all the Pharisees or even most became antagonistic toward the Lord. Some invited Him to dine with them and others listened to His teachings, and some were counted among His followers, like Nicodemus.
So what is the real reason behind this scathing “attack”?
Let’s try to understand the Pharisees’ agenda. They did not emphasise changing the individual. Though that might have been their goal, they aimed at reforming the community as a whole. They would have certainly subscribed to the adage “it takes a whole village,” so their main concern was reforming the community, which they believed would eventually mould the individual. Tithes and offerings, Sabbath observance, ritual purity, and eating restrictions made up the heart of the Pharisees' social agenda. On the face of it, nothing wrong with wanting social reform.
So why did our Lord take issue with them? In a word: hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, which is derived from a Greek word for “acting,” is basically an outward sanctimonious show of holiness or devotion. One can look good, pious, religious and even sincere on the outside, but it’s all fake. In short, it is saying but not doing, preaching but not practising, finding fault when it is convenient and giving excuses when it is not.
The problem of the Pharisees wasn’t their meticulous observance of the law. It is common to state that our Lord condemned them for legalism, a slavish compliance with the Law. But the truth of the matter is that our Lord was actually charging them with a lack of integrity. They seemed to apply two standards, a more rigid standard for others and a less rigid standard for themselves.
I guess the disease of hypocrisy continues to afflict our society, not just our leaders or our enemies, but if we are willing to hold up a mirror to ourselves, we will realise that many of us also struggle with the same malady. More than ever, people today want and need authenticity, integrity and personal holiness. And the way we can have this is when we are prepared to confront our own hypocrisy, our double standards, and our penchant for cherry-picking what suits us instead of what can save us and the world. Yes, if we want to change the village or the world, let’s start with ourselves.