Who is pure before God? In the minds of the Pharisees, the person who is pure is he who observes all the ritual regulations minutely. In the mind of Jesus, the person who is pure is the one whose conscience is pure. What dirties a person is not dust but greed and wickedness. Jesus opposes the exterior religion of the Pharisees to the religion of the heart, which is pleasing to God.
In the entire bible, the heart stands for the deepest core of a person. This is what really matters in the eyes of God. God is not only the maker of the visible creatures outside of us, but also and chiefly, the maker of the human heart, the maker of our consciences. As Jesus himself invites us, we should become more and more attentive to what happens deep down inside us.
When Jesus refused to wash his hands in the Pharisee’s house, Jesus intended to stress this truth, namely, giving, great importance to external purity is a total misunderstanding of God. What matters in the sight of God is interior purity. But what is this interior purity? Interior purity is the fruit of our love for others. Our heart becomes pure through brotherly love, through caring and concern for others. The fundamental option of a person is love.
