Daily Good News – 21 February

Feb 21, 2015 1860

“A Pharisee invited Jesus to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised” (Luke 11:37-38).

The hand-washing that the Pharisees practiced before eating had nothing to do with hygiene; rather it was a ritual that they believed signified spiritual cleansing. As Pilate demonstrated, when he condemned Jesus to crucifixion, hand-washing could be quite empty at bestand hypocritical at worst. Jesus refused to indulge in suchempty traditions because he came to give internal cleansing rather than external cleansing.

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