For the entire history of our salvation there is a tension between God and Man, between Creator and created. Man constantly tries to control our religion. God always prevails. He is, after all, the Creator. We are his creatures.
We should never forget, God chose us. We did not choose Him. God chose us, and he forms us with His Word and Commandments. Listen again to Moses in the first reading from Deuteronomy.
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, …
In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you,
you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
Observe them carefully, ….”
God gave us the Bible, the Word of God, the collected memory of God’s people, His Self-revelation and man’s response. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the fathers of our faith, chosen by God taught their experiences of God. These experiences were written down.
One of the most amazing phenomena in Human History is the fidelity with which our fathers in faith have guarded this Word, and passed it down from one generation to another. Our Bible is so faithful that it also faithfully records our rebelliousness and our transgressions and lessons for us.
The Word of God that we have received from Him and our Fathers in Faith, we must continuously recognize as God’s Word, God’s Will for us. God forms us. We do not form Him, or change Him, or change His Word.
Our role is to know God and His Word. His Word forms us as His people. Our role is to learn His Word and conform ourselves to His Word. We are the students, the disciples. Under no circumstances may we change His Word, or add to it, or subtract from it. As Moses taught,
In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you,
you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
This message will help us to better understand the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem.
God gave us our religion, when He revealed himself to His chosen patriarchs, like Abraham and Moses and the prophets. We did not create our religion. The true religion is the religion God has revealed and given to us. None of us has authority to change what has been revealed. We cannot modify it. We cannot ignore it.
The religious leaders of the Temple in Jerusalem often permitted modifications and distortions. The leaders often permitted pagan idols and practices in the Temple. God Himself often spoke to the prophets to correct their messages.
By the time of Jesus, Temple worship had drifted again. The leaders, the priests, Pharisees and scribes taught tribal traditions be equivalent to the Ten Commandments. Dietary laws and purifications were exaggerated. The religion they taught was external, with little emphasis upon personal responsibility, charity and care for the poor. The Pharisees observed Jesus disciples,
… that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
—For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
These practices do not come from God’s revealed religion, but from men’s traditions; tribal traditions. Many Muslims still follow these tribal traditions. Men’s tensions over God’s Will and Revelations led to Jesus’ crucifixion.
This tension represents a continuous conflict between God and man. In our own time, we live with the distortions of Protestantism. We have moral confusion regarding marriage, fertility and the dignity of life in the womb. Catholic politicians support abortion and birth control.
Even this month, our nation is embroiled in a moral dilemma regarding Afghanistan. After 20 years of war, loss of life and billions of our tax money spent fighting Arab aggression and terrorism, here we are, back in the same place we were 20 years ago. It is hard to find anything fruitful from the doctrines and sacrifices of the past 20 years in Afghanistan. Both sides claim the other side makes them unclean and defiled.
What is God’s Will? We need to listen to Jesus’ Words in the Gospel.
“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”