WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION?

During the earthly ministry of our Blessed Lord Jesus, he himself encountered different sets of groups with unique charism and apostulate base on matters of faith and reason. More so, on issues of religiosity and that of what constitutes a true religion. For instance in the Gospel account of St Mark 7:1-8,14-15, 21-23; we hear the encounter of Jesus with the Pharisees and some of the scribes. Apart from the Pharisees and the scribes, Jesus also encountered Sadducees and Zealots (just to mention a few of the groups he encountered during His earthly ministry).

Who are these groups and what is their creed? The Pharisee party was a mass spiritual movement of those who believed that their faithfulness to covenant laws would hasten the coming of the Messiah; who would come in heavenly power and might to flush out the Romans and to establish the kingdom of God in Israel. On the other, the Scribes can be compared to the modern day lawyers.

While the Sadducee party was a middle class and aristocrats who were reconciled to the idea of Roman rule and cooperated with the Romans on account of the economic and social gains they derived from it. Unlike the Sadducees, the Zealots were a militant and a resistance movement that upheld the ideas of shaking off the yoke of Roman political domination.

Their movement is called “intifada” in Hebrew. The Zealots by all means necessary involves violence and bloodshed. In fact, they were more “kakristocracal”.  In their own perfectives, they were freedom fighters, but in the eyes of Romans; they were terrorists. Thus, excluding the Scribes, the three models could be named as: collusion in the case of the Sadducees, passive in the case of the Pharisees, and active resistance in the case of the Zealots.

More so, the Pharisees and the scribes are those who set norms in words and pragmatically. They do observe and teach the regulations of respectability, making their etiquette beyond reproaches. But they are very judgmental of those who do not conform to them. They do not take time to understand them and in the process go against basic virtues of compassion, love, mercy and forgiveness.

In the Gospel of Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23; we hear about the encounter of Jesus our Blessed Lord with the Pharisees and some of the scribes as to what constitutes a true religion.  The above Gospel passage gives us clear disputes between Jesus with the Pharisees and the scribes when the disciples of Jesus eat without performing the ritual of washings. For them the disciples were breaking down the law.

At the time of Jesus and even before his coming, when Judaism talks about breaking the “LAW”, it connotes two phases: The “ORAL LAW” or the “WRITTEN LAW”. The oldest and the most vital for them is the “written law” and it is base on the “Torah”. It is the first five books of the Holy Scripture believed to have been written by Moses. Scripture scholars aver that some of the laws are specific, others are concrete, and some are general making them norms rather than law.

More so, history has it that the scribes (who are term as legal experts) felt the general norms were too vague and must be spelled out pragmatically. Hence, they proceeded to spell them out. As the result, it gave rise to the “ORAL LAWS”, also known as “ORAL TRADITION”.  As to the practice of washing of hands: It was according to the written law, requiring all priests to wash their hands before entering the sanctuary temple. It driving force was to wash away un-cleanliness of ritual so that worship is performed worthily and sacredly. The idea of washing hands and that of washing before meals therefore came in line with the above.

This idea is very noble for even at time of Jesus, it was observed just like those of the Torah. It effect has we can was to pervade religion among the Jews’ day to day activities. Nonetheless, in following that people gradually began to click more into external religious acts. For them external religious rituals are the-same with being religious and it was the ultimate of serving God rather than compassion, forgiveness, love, mercy and righteousness. Thus, we can crystal-see that Jesus was not against religious rituals rather he was against pretense, face-values and hypocrisy.

And what can we drive as moral lessons from this? This is clearly telling us that true religion is never necessary attached to external actions. Going to Church daily, fasting, praying daily, paying tithes, offertory collections, praying the Divine Office often, A.M.C, praying the Holy Rosary daily, or bazaar support are never in themselves righteousness or can they gain  us to life eternal as they are in themselves. For one can do them faithfully but in wrong motivates. It is like an athlete running faster but in a wrong track.

One can do all external religious rituals in an ungodly driving force. Our Blessed Lord is never against external religious rituals. This is so because every society and organization needs laws, customs and traditions; just as Jesus always taught. However, they ought to be constantly godly in conformity with Divine Law. Thus, Jesus is saying what necessary counts is the love in our hearts that motivates us to do what we do. Basically love of God and love of neighbor.

No wonder Jesus cites the prophet Isaiah in Mark 7:1-8,14-15, 21-23: “These people honor with their words but never from their hears; for their hearts s far away from me”. What counts are the things that come from within, these are the things that make us un-clean.

Hence, the Gospel passage of Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 is never an abstract teaching but we must emerge from the interplay of its substantial forces has linked with 1Corinthians 13:2-8;14:1: “I may have the gift of inspired preaching. I may have the faith to move mountains but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have but if I have no love, it does me no good”. “Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love never gives up for it is eternal. It is love therefore that you must strive for”.

Hence, “do not deceive yourselves by just listening to God’s word. Pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of the orphans and widows and to keep oneself from being corrupted” (James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27) with works of darkness.

By: Ibrahim Ujulu Medugu