Ceremonial Uncleanliness in the 21st Century.

“Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you–be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.” Luke 11:39–41 NLT


Application:
In one of the harshest rebukes Jesus ever issued to anyone in the N.T., He rails against a Pharisee who "was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal." (v. 37) Cleanliness was an O.T. Levitical requirement. The instruction to us here is not to judge ourselves according to ceremony, i.e., outward "churchical" actions, but rather to look into our motives and our hearts in any action, and see if we're neglecting "justice and the love of God." (v 42).


Prayer:
Lord, we open our hearts to You so that we don't live as hypocrites. Amen.