Did You Wash Your Hands?

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

Every night before dinner we go through the same routine. The boys run off to the bathroom to wash their hands (which have accumulated gobs of germs, dirt, nasty-mucus stuff, probably worm-larvae, and who knows what else!). Aidan does fine washing his hands by himself, but Gavin needs help. He can't roll up his sleeves or put the soap on his hands. When he does have soap on his hands he stares at it and lets it roll off into the water. He hasn't quite gotten the idea that you have to rub the soap around for it to be effective! And, of course, by the end of this nightly routine, water is everywhere...

Did you know that Jesus talked about washing hands in the Gospels? Check it out from Mark 7:1-8:

The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him. They observed that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unclean that is, unwashed—hands. (For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches. Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why don't Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean hands?"

He answered them, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:
    These people honor Me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from Me.
    They worship Me in vain,
    teaching as doctrines the commands of men.
    Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men."

Oh, the Pharisees. Some of our favorite characters in the Bible (for entertainment purposes!). They didn't quite get Jesus. Actually, that's not true. With a few notable exceptions, they didn't get him at all. They were too hung up on their traditions and the way things ought to be done. They had added to the law and had placed heavy yokes upon the people and separated themselves from everyone who wasn't as holy as they were. And they weren't even keeping the laws that they themselves had made up! No wonder John the Baptist and Jesus rightly called them hypocrites, broods of vipers and whitewashed tombs.

Jesus knew their hearts and that the Pharisees were so concerned about appearances they were leading people straight to hell. He could have cared less that the disciples' hands hadn't been washed before they ate.* To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams. You're missing the point, Jesus says to the Pharisees, the POINT is ME! I am the long-awaited Rescuer come to save the world! And I'm standing right in your midst!

How about me? Am I so bogged down in the way things have always been done or the way I feel like they should be done that I'm missing the point? That I'm missing the MAIN THING? Do I give God lip-service, but my heart is far from Him?

Oh God, I pray that my worship of You would be in Spirit and in Truth. That I wouldn't just go through the motions. Teach me how to love You and to honor You and for my life to be lived for Your Praise and nothing else!

*As a parent I do feel like I have to make an addendum and let you know that I agree whole-heartedly that washing your hands before you eat is a good thing and support this practice in your homes. Especially if you're a little boy.