So Fresh And So Clean Part 1

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

 

The next correction that Jesus brings to the Pharisaic definition of righteousness is aimed at redefining what it meant for someone to be pure. We have mentioned (though more or less in passing) on multiple occasions, the importance that the Pharisees had placed upon certain external aspects of their religion, such as the Temple and the sacrificial system, circumcision, Sabbath(s), and the food and cleanliness laws. We have stated their relentless endeavors to grasp these important aspects of their religious practice in order that they might manifest a clear distinction, and separation from the Gentile nations, but this was not the only reason for which they found it necessary to protect these important aspects of their belief system. Along with (and related to) the idea of separation, these symbolic features of the Jewish religion were deeply intertwined with the concept of purity, or cleanliness; they were those things that marked them out as the special people of God, and were His gracious provision which enabled them to maintain a relationship with Him.

The Pharisees were not wrong at all for holding these essential facets of their religion in high esteem, for they were, after all, given by YHWH, through Moses, and they functioned as symbolic reminders of YHWH’s love for, and mercy toward, His people Israel. It was, after all, in the Temple where YHWH was said to have dwelt; and as a result of His endowment of the sacrificial system, the people were granted the forgiveness of sins. Associated with the sacrificial system were the food and cleanliness laws. There were an assortment of foods that were not to be eaten, along with certain things that could not be touched, places that could not be entered, and even various physical conditions which all rendered a man or woman ritually unclean, and thus prevented them from participating in the Temple worship. These aspects of Torah were so highly regarded by the Pharisees that, over time, an extensive tradition of extra-biblical regulations had developed, on top of what was prescribed by Moses, in order to preserve and protect people from the possibility of accidentally causing themselves to become unclean.

These regulations also extended into what a person was (or was not) permitted to do on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was intended as a day wherein people might be able to rest from their labors; purposed for the protection of the poor and the weak, from the slavery and oppression which their ancestors had experienced while in the land of Egypt. Here also, a tradition of extra-biblical rules developed, which were also designed as a means whereby the people might be protected from the possibility of accidentally breaking the commandment of God. Faithfulness and purity were, in effect, measured by a person’s adherence (or lack thereof) to the tradition of the elders in these matters. Finally, the role of circumcision was possibly the most important marker of all, for this was the sign of the covenant, given by YHWH to Abraham. It was this religious symbol which essentially marked out the pure and clean people of God, from the unclean and uncircumcised Gentiles around them. In summary, for the Pharisaic school, a devotion to these external boundary markers was practically synonymous with the concept of purity, as they had understood it.

As I close (planning to deal with Jesus’ correction in the following post), I would like to briefly examine the expectation of Israel, that blessing which Jesus had promised to the pure in heart, that they will see God. There are basically two lines of thought that converge here (as I see it), those being the Day of Atonement, and the long-awaited hope that YHWH would return to dwell in the Temple that He had departed from (both of which involved, in one manner or another, a seeing of God, which was permitted on the basis of the forgiveness of sins). The former was, in effect, God’s appointed means by which the sins of the people would be forgiven, which was, of course, an indispensable prerequisite to the occurrence of the latter. In order to participate in the activities of the Day of Atonement, a ritualistic purity was required, hence, the necessity to hold steadfastly to the external symbols which marked out the pure from the impure. This desperate clutching also, for the Pharisees, constituted a rejection of the idolatrous worship which had been the cause of God’s departure in the first place. All in all, they believed that adherence to these external symbols, which were the provision of the one true God, would usher in His return to dwell with them.