Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13–26 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all of their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teacher; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments on this passage that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  So, therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments that the warnings in this passage (and several verses that will follow in tomorrow's reading) are especially important to Orthodox Christians. Certainly they apply to many other Christian denominations as well.  It notes that the Church has maintained the ancient practice of tithing ("these you ought to have done"); sacred vessels ("you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish"); holy rites; and following the tradition handed down from fathers of the Church.  These practices, it says, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  Regarding "strain out of gnat and swallow a camel," my study Bible explains that the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.  

 

The scrupulosity of the Pharisees is well-illustrated in Christ's scathing criticism that they "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel."   It shows for us a clear emphasis on the details of observed piety, while the inner life and the fruits of the love of God are neglected.  In another memorable phrasing, Jesus says, "For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith."  As my study Bible comments, we always run the risk of placing all our emphasis on externals and forget the power of faith, that inner life of the love of God.  Once again, we return to our reading from Tuesday, in which Jesus, in response to the Pharisees' questioning, set out the first two great commandments, upon which "hang all the Law and the Prophets."  The first commanded a total love of God, with all the heart, and soul, and mind.  The second was like it, to love neighbor as oneself.  The second flows from the first.  With their emphasis on external piety and position, on their appearance and place and rank with others, they have forgotten to first "cleanse the inside of the cup" so that the outside may be clean also.  This is once again a reference to the inner life, and the pure hearts Jesus asks us to work for, as our first work of faith (Matthew 5:8).  That is, heart and soul and mind dedicated to love of God.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the inner life, and our care for it, so that the love of God can produce its fruits and grow in us throughout our lives.  But a hypocritical focus on externals is what He condemns here in the practice of the Pharisees.  As my study Bible points out, all of these things and the traditions of the Church are meant as expressions of our faith, working to help us to shore up that faith within us, and to practice our faith and make it strong, to help us to express that love of God.  But it is a hypocritical focus only on the externals that is the source of the problem here, that is emphasized in Jesus' pronouncement of "woe" to these leaders.  Jesus calls them "blind guides" for they can't see what's in front of their eyes, nor can they sense what they lack in terms of their own faith and the fruits of the love of God.  Again, as my study Bible says, these warnings are not just for Christ's particular place and time, but they are always words in effect for all of us, so that we focus on our lives and the practice of our faith.  In modern times, our lives are seemingly governed by image and images, which are fantastically expanded and distorted through social media.  We need more than ever an understanding of what it is to cultivate a purity in heart and an internal, wholistic love of God which bears fruit in the growth of the soul and in love -- and not simply a reliance on slogans, movements, fashion, or to be seen by others.  As the celebration of Christ's Nativity approaches, let's remember where all the meaning comes from, and focus on cleansing the inside of the cup as He asks.    

 

 

 

 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'   Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

- Matthew 23:13-26

In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is Holy Week.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and engaged in confrontation, questioning, and testing by the leadership, with His own challenging responses.  (See the readings from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.)   In yesterday's reading, Jesus began what is known to be His last public sermon, in which He gives a sweeping indictment of the practices of the leadership, particularly the scribes and Pharisees.  Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation."  In this final public sermon, Jesus names the hypocrisy in the practices of the scribes and Pharisees.  We should read it like a final warning, a caution, an effort of mercy on Christ's part.  In these first verses, Jesus declares woe in response to the neglect of salvation -- the salvation of their followers and their flock.  True salvation and illumination happens in the love of God, but we can see where the focus is here:  the pretense of long prayers, the greed of "devouring" widows' houses.   Such leaders with this focus cannot lead their flock to the kingdom they fail to enter.   The widows are among the poor and powerless, the vulnerable.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  How can those with the focus Jesus' names bring their proselytes to the kingdom?  My study bible says that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who don't love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  They must be held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  Every word in Christ's final sermon must be equally applied to those in His Church.  His words here warn of a kind of slippery slope:  things don't stay the same but become worse with successive orders of bad leadership.  There is a parallel to His teaching in chapter 12, also contained in a passage criticizing the leadership -- in that case, for their demand from Him for a sign.  He taught, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation" (12:43-45).

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'   Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  Jesus alludes to the practice developed of swearing by the gold of the temple and of the gifts on the altar.  But there is a failure to recognize who it is who gives value to the gold and the gifts.  There is a failure to understand God in the temple, God on the altar.  Their own blindness to the first great commandment to love God determines the rest of the mistaken practices here, the failure to know God and thereby that from which all value comes.   The lack of understanding of gifts and value is clearly tied spiritually and psychologically to the focus on greed and the failure to grasp the kingdom, the "pretense" of long prayer for show.  There is a lack of awareness of the presence of God, and this permeates all things.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"  Jesus again refers to particular practices and the hypocritical ways in which they are done.  Tithing is an ancient practice still done in the Church (Jesus says, "These you ought to have done . . ."), but they have neglected what was more important at the same time.  Herbs like mint and anise and cummin would be weighed for a tithe, but the weightier matters of the law are justice and mercy and faith.  My study bible says that practices such as tithing "can be deep expressions of faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation."  To "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" references  the practice of attaching strainers to the mouth of vessels in order to avoid accidentally swallowing an unclean substance.  Camel here is (obviously) used for its figurative sense as something tremendously large, just as it is in the expression, "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" (19:24).  They are scrupulous about the gnat, and blind to the camel:   a good image of the weightier matters they have neglected and left undone.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  Scrupulous attention to ceremonial cleanliness here is made an analogy to the care for appearances more than the heart.  To cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may be clean also, is to take care of the matters of the heart, of faith and righteousness, mercy and justice.  They are failing to cleanse the extortion and self-indulgence that keep them and those they would lead away from God.  See also this reading, in which the scribes and Pharisees criticized Jesus' disciples for failing to practice ceremonial washing, and Jesus' teaching response to them in a public sermon. 

Hypocrisy, in Jesus' teaching here (and we remember this is a public sermon, His final public discourse) is a certain failure to practice the weightier matters of God, the things that mustn't be neglected.  Hypocrite comes from an ancient word that means "actor."  It is literally "beneath the mask" such as actors in ancient plays would wear as keys to the character they portrayed.  When piety is only used as mask, we are neglecting real salvation, inviting trouble.  It is the things of the heart -- which Jesus always emphasizes -- that determine where our salvation is.  That's not to say that practices and traditions are wrong.  Jesus does not say that (for example, He says of tithing practices above, "these you ought to have done").  But when they are used to neglect the weightier matters of the heart, they become a mask.  This strikes to the core of true repentance, which is an affair of the heart, the innermost depth of who we are.  Interestingly, Origen writes a commentary on this passage in which he states that all of these "good practices" in and of themselves do not bring us salvation.  We may congratulate ourselves on our good deeds, our tithing, almsgiving, fasting, psalms and prayers, but merely of ourselves as achievements these things don't give salvation.  He likens the heart to the altar  of which Jesus speaks which confers the true measure and value of the gift.  Origen writes of a person whose heart is truly in his practice that "his heart is the altar that sanctifies his offering which is the heart of the world. The heart and the conscience of such a man 'do not feel remorse but have trust in God,' because his own heart has been rightly formed. He does not rely on his gifts as such or the words of his prayers or of his psalms—although they may seem well composed and chosen from the Scriptures—but on the heart rightly formed."  A heart consecrated and devoted in love of God produces the gifts of great value.  But without such a heart the gifts bear little worth, and do not confer the hope of heaven, wherein lies "throne of God" which Jesus names above.  In these practices, Jesus teaches us, it is where the heart is that conveys their true depth, and value, and meaning.  Hypocrisy prevents such an event of truth to pass, even when one practices the most "noble" or "holy" or traditions.  Why is it important that we love first God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength?  Because this is what confers value and wisdom in all the rest, and gives us insight and enlightenment into true works of love for others.  It is what prevents hypocrisy, living for show, with a focus on whether or not others approve of us, making such opinions weightier than the opinion of God.  That first love is what confers value upon all the rest, and gives us the tools to truly practice faith and help others with our love and with wisdom.  Let us not neglect the weightier matters of the heart in all things.

You load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

"But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.   In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."  

- Luke 11:37-52

In yesterday's reading, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But Jesus said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"   Jesus taught the crowds, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

  And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you."  My study bible teaches us, "Washing the hands before eating was an important religious ritual for the Pharisees.  They are concerned about outward cleanliness; Jesus says internal purity is more important."  It also notes, "Deeds of love toward people, such as giving alms, purify the inward man.  External things like food and clothing cannot defile one who is inwardly pure."  It's important to understand that the root of the word for alms in the Greek is one that means "mercy."  The idea of almsgiving should really portray the practice of compassion.  And in the Greek, this verse more literally translates that one should give of things which are "within."  We're reminded of the words of the psalmist:  "You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,  a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise"  (Ps. 51:16-17).   So the focus is on that inside of the cup, what is inside of us -- and how we can practice mercy and compassion through our own internal giving; that is, from the heart.  Thereby the practice of purity - a clean heart - makes all things clean. 

"But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."    My study bible introduces the following verses with this note:  "After their testy attacks against Him, Jesus pronounces a series of denunciations against the Pharisees and scribes."  Here in these particular verses, we find the condemnation of religious practice for show, including tithing - which is in principle is a form of giving to the community.  But what is left undone?  What of the compassion in the heart?  A true practice of kindness?  Yes, tithing is good, but what is left undone? Jesus asks.  The rest of the accusations point out the hypocrisy:  to love the best seats in the synagogue and special greetings in the marketplaces, all forms of honor given for their places in the religious establishment.  But the next phrase takes us to something else He's taught a disciple:  "Let the dead bury their own dead."  What is it to be spiritually dead?  Here, Jesus links it with the failure to understand what inner purity of the heart is, and its rootedness in mercy and justice.

 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.   In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."    A lawyer here is an expert in the Mosaic Law.  So how do these practice the hypocrisy Jesus condemns?  They load men with burdens hard to bear -- but the last thing they will do is practice compassion for them, "even with one of their fingers."  Furthermore, they build the tombs of the prophets, those who warn of practices that avoid the true repentance of the heart, mercy and justice.  It is easy to follow an outward law, while the inside of the cup goes unnoticed and ignored.  The Holy Spirit, Christ Himself, works through prophets and apostles to teach people to turn back, come back to the justice and mercy and love of God.  But a heart focused on the outward appearance, of place in others' eyes only, cannot - it implies - also heed the work of the Spirit and of Christ Himself in their midst.  So these lawyers by their practice and hence teaching take away the key of knowledge - the preparation of the heart for the work of the Spirit; they fail to enter themselves, and hinder others from entering by their example and teaching.

Let's get to the bottom line here:  what is it to clean the inside of the cup?  What is it to practice an internal purity of the heart, to make room for the work of Christ and the Spirit, the work of mercy and justice?  We have many beautiful practices in all of the churches, things designed to help us to know and to worship God, and to love one another.  But when we fail to uphold and honor that work in ourselves, when anything becomes just for show, or appearance, we run the danger of becoming what Jesus reserves His scathing criticism for:  a hypocrite.  Hypocrite, in its original meaning in the Greek, is "actor."  That is, in the ancient plays, one who wears a mask, and plays a part, gives an image.  But what about the inside of the cup?  The place where we really meet God?  Jesus seems to say that if we are truly integrated and participating in God's love with the heart then whatever we give from the heart makes everything clean.  We think of images of Christ touching the ritually unclean to heal -- those possessed with demons, who need cleansing from leprosy, His honoring of the woman with the twelve years bloodflow as she touched the hem of His garment and was healed by her faith.  All of these actions give us at once the image of what it is to reach out from the heart with love and compassion, to do what we can to lift the burdens of others.  Jesus is not tearing down the law, but He's giving us evidence of how hypocrisy works, how we may lose the power of the Spirit and He Himself at work within us and among us -- or worse, actively work against it.  So what does it mean to clean the inside of the cup in order to fill it with God's love?  To give of the heart?