1 One day the Pharisees gath ered around Jesus and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem.
2 They noticed that some of his dis ciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. 3 Now the Pharisees, and in fact, all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands for they fol low the tradition received from their ancestors. 4 Nor do they eat anything when they come from the market without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe, for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.
5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?”
6 Jesus answered, “You, shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote: This peo ple honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 The worship they offer me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules. 8 You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”
9 And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of dis regarding the commandment of God in order to implant your own tradition. 10 For example, Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and: Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death. 11 But according to you someone could say to his father or mother: ‘I already declared Corban, which means “offered to God,” what you could have expected from me.’ 12 In this case, you no longer let him do anything for a father or mother. 13 So you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”
14 Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from out side can make that person unclean. It is what comes out from within that makes un clean. 16 Let everyone who has ears listen.”
17 When Jesus got home and was away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying 18 and he replied, “So even you are dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean? 19 Since it enters, not the heart but the stomach and is finally passed out.”
Thus Jesus declared that all foods are clean.
20 And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what defiles, 21 for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, 22 adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. 23 All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”
24 When Jesus left that place he went to the border of the Tyrian country. There he entered a house and did not want any one to know he was there, but he could not remain hidden. 25 A woman, whose small daughter had an evil spirit, heard of him and came and fell at his feet. 26 Now this woman was a pagan, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 Jesus told her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she replied, “Sir, even the dogs un der the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.” 29 Then Jesus said to her, “You may go your way; because of such a reply the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And when the wo man went home, she found her child lying in bed and the demon gone.
31 Again Jesus set out; from the country of Tyre he passed through Sidon and skirting the sea of Galilee he came to the territory of Deca polis. 32 There a deaf man who also had difficulty in speaking was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him.
33 Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. 34 Then, looking up to heav en, he groaned and said to him, “Eph phetha,” that is, “Be open ed.”
35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone, but the more he insisted on this, the more they proclaimed it. 37 The people were completely astonished and said, “He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
THE TRADITION AND TRADITIONS
No group, not even the Church, can sustain itself without traditions and customs. Yet even when they are good traditions, they are still made by humans. For example, the way the mass is celebrated, celebrations, novenas etc. All that past popes, bishops, and Christian communities have done can be changed by another pope, bishop or christian community, and because these can be changed, we understand that they are not essential.
What does not change is God's teaching. Where can it be found? In the Bible and in Jesus' teachings. Yet there is a way of understanding Jesus as the apostles did. This is called the Tradition of the Apostles, and the Church, founded by the apostles, guards this tradition, that is, their spirit. Let us not confuse the traditions of Catholics with the Tradition of the Church.
We often make little effort to enter into the spirit and Tradition of the Church, however, clinging instead to antiquated and mediocre traditions. Why are so many Christians today scandalized when the Church frees itself from these antiquated rites? Jesus gives us the reason: they cling to these rites because they are incapable of believing. External religion replaces the authentic faith they do not possess. They hang onto these things because these are all they have, and if they lose that, God no longer has any meaning for them.
CLEAN AND UNCLEAN
An important practice of Judaism was to keep oneself clean: one could not participate in worship without being in a state of ritual purity. This word "purity" did not have the same meaning we give it today. The clean person was one who was not contaminated even inadvertently by things prohibited by Law. For example, pork and rabbit were considered unclean; they could not be eaten. A menstruating woman or a person with hemorrhoids were considered unclean for a certain number of days: no one could even touch them. A leper was considered unclean until cured. If a bug fell in oil, the oil was considered unclean, and would have to be thrown away.
If contaminated even by no fault of his own, the person had to purify himself, usually with water, sometimes paying for sacrifices.
At one time, these laws were useful in encouraging a hygienic lifestyle. They also protected the faith of the Jews who lived among people who did not know God. How could they guard their faith in the one God if they were to live with other nations, befriend them, and even imitate their ways? With so many religious practices to observe, the Jews had to live apart from those who did not share their faith and lifestyle.
Jesus removes off from these rites their sacred value: nothing is unclean in all God's creation; touching the sick, a corpse or a bloodstained object does not offend God. God is not bothered if we eat this or that. Sin is always something which comes from the heart and not something we do unintentionally.
It is true that the Bible teaches these concepts of purity and impurity, but these laws were written many centuries ago and not everything the Bible says is valid for all times. Through the teachings of the Bible God educated his nation, but the laws he gave them from the beginning, when they were barbaric and uneducated, are no longer necessary for a community which has a solid religious foundation.
It is quite legitimate for Christians to adopt a vegetarian way of life, that Christian communities consider abstinence from alcohol and tobacco as a witness to help addicts. But let us not say that this is part of our faith nor let us judge those who do not agree with us. That would otherwise undermine the transcendence of Christian salvation which goes beyond any question of "eating and drinking" (Rom 14:17).
THE PAGANS
The authorities come into conflict with Jesus. He must depart and wander along the border of Galilee, where he is less watched and can easily flee. This incident occurs near Tyre, a province occupied by the Syrians and Phoenicians.
The Jews were never able to understand their election by God as his chosen people without looking down on other nations. Being bearers of the true faith obliged them to avoid contamination with other religions, but actually this increased their inability to understand all that was foreign.
For them the world was divided in two: there were "the people" (Jewish) and "the nations": all the others. Apparently God ignored these others, unless it was to let them feel the weight of his justice. Their minds were totally closed to the question we ask ourselves today: how does God deal with and save all those who have not heard his word? So it was that the Phoenicians (v. 26), (also called Greeks because they spoke Greek rather than Hebrew) lived near but were very distant from the Jews.
Although Jesus came to save all, his Father desired that he not go beyond his own country. Nevertheless, on certain occasions he encountered pagans, and more than once admired their simplicity and faith.
The Gospel has not kept all that Jesus said and did, but we see nothing there that could be a call to "change one's religion" nor a threat for those who take a road other than that of Christianity. Jesus leaves them on the path along which the Father leads them and invites them to thank the one and only God and shows them how near the Father is to them through his Son.
The Jews usually looked down on pagans with marked contempt: they were the sons, the pagans were the dogs. Jesus answered the afflicted woman repeating this well-known scornful saying. He said this to test the woman's faith: would she insist when it appeared that even God would reject her?
They asked Jesus to lay hands upon him (v. 32). This was a way of invoking divine power but Jesus did not have to ask. By his gesture he showed that he had within himself, within his human person, all the health and welfare that we need, and he communicated this to the sick one.
Jesus groaned (see 8:12). Why? Because the man before him is an impressive symbol of those who have eyes and ears but neither see nor hear. The people bring him the deaf-mute, and ask him to heal him, but they themselves remain deaf.
Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone (v. 36). How far Jesus is from the organizers of a "Miracle Crusade"! An unexpected miracle may help us discover the loving presence of God, but as soon as we begin to wait for them, we turn away from the Gospel. The Devil knows this and so tempted Jesus in the desert (Mt 4:6): See the warnings of Deuteronomy to people anxious to see miracles (Dt 13). Faith leans on the word of God, not on miracles (Jn 4:48).