Luk. 11:39-40 ... "The Lord said to him, 'Now you Pharisees clean the cup and the dish; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?'"
These words of Jesus were provoked by His treatment in the house of a certain Pharisee who had asked Him to dine there. Jesus accepted the invitation and was about to start eating when the host "was astonished to see that He did not first wash before dinner." If this had been a matter of sitting down to eat with dirty hands, we too might be shocked. But this was rather a matter of complying with a ritual having strong religious connotations that was of human origin. It is reported that "the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches," (Mrk. 7:3-4). It was not Jesus' desire to offend just for the sake of being offensive, as some people do. Neither did He desire to be an iconoclast just to be reactionary toward social conventions and institutions, as modern reactionaries have so claimed. To the contrary, Jesus was not about to legitimize a practice through His participation in it which really amounted to the circumvention of the law of God. In fact, He boldly proclaimed to those present, "You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men," (Mrk. 7:8).
There was, however, another issue here. Jesus also addressed the problem of the dichotomy between external and internal religion. The Pharisees were greatly concerned about the impact their religion had upon the outer person. That is, they made sure their religious practices were high profile. They wanted their deeds to be very visible so that the public would take note of them and praise their obvious piety. Jesus said that "they do all their deeds to be seen by others," (Mat. 23:5). He also said they gave alms with fanfare in public "that they may be praised by others" and prayed on the street corners so "they would be seen by others," (Mat. 6:2,5). Referring to their external religion, Jesus then commented, "Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward." It was the reward of recognition and praise from the public for whom it was designed in the first place.
The person who values the recognition and favor of God must have primary concern for internal religion. His greatest interest must center on the degree to which divine teaching is penetrating his heart and converting it into the spiritual likeness of Jesus Christ. He is far more concerned with the goal of Rom. 12:2, "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect," than he is with the goal of impressing those who behold his "piety." The object of an authentic Christian is to grow "to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," (Eph. 4:13). Jesus' stature is spiritual rather than physical. To attain it, one must give diligent attention to his spirit within. He must devote his energy to perfecting his soul in those qualities which God approves, no matter if people support and approve his efforts or not. The approval by men of an external religion that meets their criteria can bring nothing more than popularity and prestige. But the approval by God of an interval religion which converts one's soul into a Christlike image will bring one eternal life in heaven.
