Hypocritcal Pharisees and Lawyers

Unsurprisingly, given the presence of some former lawyers in the Blackfriars community, today’s gospel generally causes a few wry smiles when it is preached and a few glances in the direction of the lawyers.

As one of the former lawyers, this gospel is not, unfortunately, an invitation to give myself a pat on the back and be pleased with myself that I’m not one of the lawyers anymore. In fact, it’s exactly this sort of attitude – thank God I’m not like them – from one of the lawyers that invites a verbal dressing-down from Jesus.

Jesus has just told the Pharisees, by referring to them as unmarked tombs, that they are causes of defilement and an obstruction to others in their worship of God. One lawyer speaks up and seems to smugly imply that Jesus has insulted the lawyers by mistake and surely must have intended that his comments should apply to the Pharisees alone.

If he is hoping for a neat legal distinction from Jesus absolving the lawyers, he is to be sorely disappointed. Jesus, in no uncertain terms, accuses the lawyers of hypocrisy. They are imposing burdens on others which they are not prepared to take on themselves. Concern with the law is getting in the way of justice and love.

When we look at the overall context of today’s gospel passage we see that Jesus is rebuking an excessive concern for outward gestures that does not contribute to any interior conversion. The law is to be at the service of the love of God. We should keep God’s commandments because we love Him (John 14:15), but keeping them is not conclusive proof of that love. It is possible to be law-abiding, yet unloving. Love of God all too easily becomes displaced by love of law, which can be a mask for love of oneself for keeping the law. This is the antithesis of Christianity. Pope Benedict tells us that: ‘Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction’ (Deus Caritas Est, 1).

Think of the pettiness: the Pharisees and the lawyers encounter God in the person of Jesus and rather than being open to a new dimension in their lives they chastise Him for not washing His hands, a law of their own creation. However, lest I start to think again, ‘thank you, God, that I am not like these others’ (Luke 18:11), perhaps I would do well to reflect on whether my mind ever wanders at Mass from the Lord to the behaviour of others? Much better to join my thoughts with those of the priest as he washes his hands after the preparation of the gifts: “Lord wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin”. With this internal disposition I can truly be free to love in a way that no grime under another’s finger nails is going to stop!

Today’s Gospel is Luke 11:42-46; the readings of the day can be found here: http://universalis.com/20151014/mass.htm

Picture above from the film of To Kill a Mockingbird.