15th Sunday after Pentecost
De. 4:1-2, 6-9; Ps. 15; Ja. 1:17-27; Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
On the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Pharisees arrive in Galilee from Jerusalem (Mark 7:1). Jesus’ ministry is likely making waves. Through chapters 5 and 6, Jesus had been traveling back and forth, crossing the sea of Galilee, feeding multitudes, and being active at or around synagogues. Across the lake, he heals the daughter of the local leader (5:35-43). Back at Nazareth, his teaching astonishes those who hear, but he gets rejected (6:1-6). It would not be surprising that elders from the Sanhedrin – the council in Jerusalem, composed of lay aristocracy and religious authorities – had sent envoys to check Jesus out in person. However, the divine interference on behalf of the cries of God’s people struggling with body and spiritual hunger gets lost to them. They seem to be more worried about how the disciples carry themselves, which does not seem to align with the Jerusalem tradition they came from.
In Deuteronomy, Moses proclaims to the nation which was freed from slavery in Egypt that sticking to God’s statutes is paramount for their destiny as God’s beloved people. The Torah – God’s instructions – comes from the heart of God. What comes from such a heart is abounding mercy and love and wisdom that calls for love of God above all things and the neighbor as ourselves.
From the heart of God also come the Word, incarnated in the form of the son. The author of the letter of James, traditionally identified as Jesus’s brother, teaches that the practitioners of the Word act in kind ways towards their siblings in Christ.
The psalmist proclaims:
“O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their friends,
nor heap shame to their neighbors (Psalm 15:1-3, NRSV).”
Bridging Faith 