Who is God like? Jesus rebukes Pharisees for their hypocritical behavior. Before meals, they wash their hands. It was their tradition (Mk 7:5) to wash away uncleanness they might have been exposed to while meeting gentiles and sinners. The washing ritual could not wash their inner uncleanness and darkness, but they thought that their fake outward appearance could hide their true inner self. God looks at the inner person, not the outward appearance. V. 40 God knows people’s hearts in details because he created their inner person as well as their outside appearance. We only care about how others see us, but God looks at both inner and outer man, wanting them to be in agreement. If we do not realize that God looks on our inner person, we will use all possible means to build our outer image.
What lesson is God teaching me? Vv. 39-41 If we have a clean inner self, then everything else is clean. To remove inner greed and wickedness and to have true compassion is to have a clean heart. We have to realize that our religious zeal without a true heart can be used to cover our avarice. V. 42 Outwardly, the Pharisees tried to keep every tiny detail of the law, but they gave up the spirit of the law and their zeal was used as the standard to compare themselves with others and to define sin. If we give the tithe, keep the Sabbath, abstain from drinking and smoking, but ignore caring for others with love, not taking the side of the oppressed, we are the same Pharisees.
