I am not the biggest fan of karaoke. Perhaps that is why I chuckle every time a karaoke host says, “Come on up! You don’t have to be a good singer; you just have to think you are!” But did you know that karaoke literally means ‘empty orchestra’? This piece of trivia popped into my head when I read a translation of the Greek which lies behind the phrase, ‘…in vain do they worship me,” which is literally, and rather hauntingly, “Their worship of me is empty” (Mark 7:6). So focused on ritual purity are the religious authorities, that they overlook moral purity. In this respect, their hearts lead them astray – which the text repeats twice, for effect (vs. 6 and 21). In so doing, the Pharisees and scribes reveal their hypocrisy (vs. 6). And, rather interestingly, this hypocrisy is described in a very particular way by Jesus – they are hypokritēs – which literally means someone playing a part in a drama, or playing make believe.
The overarching meaning of Jesus’ teaching is revealed in the concluding verses of this week’s text (vs. 14, 15, 21-23). It is not the external things of life that defile a person. And it is worth noting that the word ‘defile’ (koinos) literally means ‘common,’ or in this context (as one translator puts it) “Anything that was ritually impure or unworthy of God’s presence” (emphasis added). Now, the external is not unimportant in this context – after all, the Twelve Vices named by Jesus (vs. 21-22) are decidedly second-table vices. In other words, this is a list of offences against one’s neighbor, rather than first-table offenses against God. (The ‘tables’ here refer to those of the Ten Commandments.) Rather, Jesus speaks of the origins of defilement – the human heart. However, this is not the heart as source of love. Instead, kardia is, as another scholar puts it, “The totality of cognition, emotion and will… The locus of understanding… and the center of both positive and negative emotions and desires.” This ‘totality’ and ‘center’ are at the heart (pun intended) of defilement. The washing of hands and what we put into our mouths – despite what our moms and doctors told/tell us! – is neither here nor there. “All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (vs. 23).
