We are still so much like the Pharisees. They judged people because they didn't wash their hands before eating. They thought that washing their hands before eating would keep them spiritually clean, as if the physical food that they ate had any impact on their spirituality. Jesus reminded them that physical food is for the body and that it doesn't make a person clean or unclean in a spiritual sense. The spiritual food that they eat and that is evidenced by their heart is what distinguishes between clean and unclean.
The Pharisees didn't understand that God had established a ritual of washing hands and only eating certain meats for hygienic purposes. God understood about germs long before man, and He understood that washing hands could prevent the spread of germs and illness into your body. God also understood that certain foods needed to be prepared a certain way in order to be safe to eat. Since the people really didn't have the technology to safely eat those foods, they were placed off-limits. It didn't make dirty hands or certain kinds of meat unhealthy spiritually; they were simply unhealthy physically.
The Pharisees missed the point of the Law and so they missed the point of what it meant to be clean or unclean. Sometimes we miss the point as well. We judge people as being Christian or not based on whether they smoke or drink or listen to certain kinds of music. Sure, these things are likely unhealthy physically, but they are no different than the forbidden meats from a spiritual perspective. The real question is, what are we doing about it?
Jesus asked the Pharisees why the broke God's law of honoring their father and mother by hiding behind some tradition of giving support to the synagogue. I think He would ask us why we ignoring the Great Commission by pre-judging others and spending all of our time hiding in a church building.
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