Notes

DISRUPTIVE HONESTY In order to grasp the wildness of this next vignette, I want you to imagine that you have received an invitation to dine at the home of an influential diplomat. The governor or your ambassador will do. A number of dignitaries will be present—bishops of the church, Supreme Court justices, a prime minister. How would your insides feel as you rang the bell? How self-conscious would you be of your appearance, your manners? Alas, thirty seconds after you walk through the door, there is an awkward moment of tension—a delicate matter about forgetting to return the bow of the Dalai Lama. Your host is speechless; you can see from the look on everyone’s face that you have committed something a step or two beyond an embarrassing faux pas. What would you say? How would you respond? When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him 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. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” (LUKE 11: 37–39) Jesus has just entered this man’s home, having accepted an invitation to dinner. Every guest who has ever passed through those doors has washed their hands before being seated, slavishly observing a custom unbroken for centuries. It is a test of orthodoxy and solidarity. Jesus knows this, knows they are watching his every move. He walks right past the line at the washbasin and makes himself comfortable at the table. The Pharisee apparently is speechless. Jesus reads the look on his face and offers an explanation: “Oh—the washing bit,” he says as he takes a piece of flatbread, breaks a bite off, and chews it. “It completely clouds the issue. Outwardly you look sensational. But inwardly, your heart is full of extortion and evil.” The things Jesus says. Apparently, he’s not concerned about being invited back.