HOLY HYGIENE

Speaking in the Capernaum synagogue, in the presence of numerous officials of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, Jesus spoke out openly against the tradition of ritual hand and body washing. In conclusion, He essentially declared that ritual washing was unnecessary, since “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the tongue and from the heart.” Even Jesus’ apostles were dumbfounded by such a statement. Peter tactfully asked Jesus to explain the meaning of His words, since many might “be offended.” More than that: they might be offended. Jesus’ answer suggested that He was not going to adapt His teaching to traditional Judaism: “Every plant that is not planted by my Father in heaven will be torn up by the roots.”

This phrase of Jesus meant that many representatives of Judaism of that time could not or did not want to know the truth. It was foolish to hope that conservative representatives of ritual religion could somehow improve or understand something in spiritual life. It is impossible to force a person to love the truth, blind teachers and rigid religious people will not become sighted. Everyone in the synagogue understood how Jesus felt about the official rabbinical teaching of that time. He made it clear to everyone that God does not need an emphasis on the performance of rituals at the expense of real perfection. A person is defiled morally and is subject to spiritual decay from within, which occurs because of an evil heart. Words and actions always reflect the contents of the mind (or heart) of a person: “it is from the heart that evil intentions, murder, cohabitation with other people’s wives, debauchery, theft, false testimony, insults come. This is what makes a person unclean, and not what he eats without washing his hands.”

Hearing this, the Sanhedrin representatives must have made their final decision regarding Yeshua: He was to be accused of “atheism,” “undermining the foundations of the faith,” and “blasphemy.” Add to this Jesus’s attitude toward the Jerusalem Temple, which was an absolute shrine for every Jew of that time. The religious people of that time were unable to understand what Jesus taught: that salvation is achieved by pure hearts, and not by hygiene or diet. Interestingly, even the Apostle Peter got rid of his religious fear of ritual “impurity” only after many years: spiritual growth and comprehension of the truth can take years and decades. It was precisely with such fears and prejudices that Jesus fought.

In the 4th century, there lived a young Christian named Mark in Alexandria. His family strictly adhered to the ancient rites, and his mother especially made sure that he washed his hands before each prayer. But one day, a famine began in the city, and Mark secretly distributed bread to the poor, not having time to perform the rituals. His neighbors condemned him: “You have become unclean, because you violate sacred customs!” Then Mark answered: “What is the use of clean hands if the heart remains hardened to the misfortune of others?” People thought about it, because they saw that it was his love and compassion that saved the hungry. So the truth remained in their memory: God is more moved by the heart than by washing with water.

In our time, many people understand salvation as going to church or participating in rituals. Participation in religious life is undoubtedly useful in many ways, as is hygiene or a sensible diet. However, we are again and again confronted with Jesus’ question: “Why do you not do what I say?” The salvation of the soul depends on the purity of the heart, not on the performance of rituals. A person’s daily life is an indicator of salvation, not one Sunday morning once a week. From this point of view, even the rite of communion is only a ritual, like the instruction about “clean and unclean” food or the obligatory ablution. There is no need to reject useful established rituals, Jesus did not seek to abolish them: however, not to see the most important thing behind them is a fatal mistake.