This morning’s Gospel reading is Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23:

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. —For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.— So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.

“From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

What is the purpose of the law? Is it to serve the people and the Lord, or is it an end to itself? Much of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels hinges on this question, and it comes up in every interaction that Jesus has with the scribes and Pharisees. In this Gospel reading, the question revolves around ritual purification, but other such challenges would come up about observation of the Sabbath, authority to speak on the law, and much more.

This reminds me of one of the subtexts in a favorite film of mine, The Big Lebowski. Walter Sobchak is in many ways a great example of a Pharisee throughout the film, often technically correct or prescient but so overbearing about it that Walter ends up making everything worse. When Walter asks one of his favorite questions during these episodes — “Am I wrong?” — the Dude gives an accurate reply: “You’re not wrong, Walter. You’re just an [expletive].”

Nowhere is this parallel strongest than in an early bowling sequence. When a competing bowler named Smokey apparently crosses the foul line, Walter correctly assesses the foul and directs the scorer to mark a zero. When both Smokey and the Dude argue against it, Walter gets increasingly agitated until he pulls out a pistol and threatens to shoot Smokey unless the law is enforced. “Has the whole world gone crazy?” Walter asks. “Am I the only one who gives a [expletive] about the rules?”

Was Walter wrong? Technically no, but that’s not the issue. The rules for bowling exist for a reason, but it’s not to enforce them with a death penalty. They exist to serve the bowlers in their enjoyment of competition and to facilitate the social experience as well as the game. By turning the rules into an excuse for terrorizing someone and shutting down any challenge to the claim, Walter has made the rules more important than the people those rules are meant to serve.

In our first reading today from Deuteronomy, Moses explains that the law has a clear purpose. It is not to imprison the Lord’s people, but to facilitate their mission to bring the Word to the whole world. The ancient nation of Israel was meant for evangelization, a nation of priests and prophets to declare the Lord’s love for all. Moses instructs them to “observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations.”

Fifteen hundred years later, the mission had been forgotten but the law remained, and for the Pharisees and the scribes it had become a mission in itself. In some ways, they had turned the law into an idol, worshiping it rather than seeing it as a window to serving the people and the Lord. Jeremiah prophesied about a very similar outcome with the first temple, warning that the Judeans had become arrogant about the Lord’s presence and assumed that they could not be conquered even while defying God in their actions and thoughts.

And of course, as Jesus pointed out repeatedly, the Pharisees and scribes had more corrupt reasons for imposing strict interpretations of the law. That put them into positions of power, abusing the authority given which should have been used to serve people rather than rule over them. That story is as old as time; in fact, it gets told rather bluntly in the story of Susanna and the judges (Daniel 13).

As Walter does with Smokey, the Pharisees use the law and their authority to attempt to silence Jesus and any dissent from their interpretation and power. In other parts of the Gospel, the Pharisees and scribes use the law to set traps for Jesus, hoping to have Him killed in order to preserve their power. The law meant to serve the Lord and bring His people closer to Him instead becomes perverted into an instrument of oppression.

Jesus’ entire mission shows us how this misses the point of the law. God did not write the law into our hearts to oppress us and enslave us; He wrote the law on our hearts to free us from sin and death. Jesus preaches for perspective, reminding His disciples that the Law boils down to two essential commandments: Love the Lord above all else, and love your neighbors as yourselves.

This is all the more important when we remember that we all fall short even of those expectations. We all cross the line and have need of forgiveness and grace from the only true Authority. That is why it is important to recognize our own sinfulness, confess and ask for forgiveness, so that we may recognize ourselves when our fellow bowlers cross the line from time to time, too. We are all entering into a world of pain, but the point isn’t to impose that but to help as many of us get to a world of joy and love with the Lord through Christ’s salvation.

That’s the real “league game” at hand. That’s how we’re supposed to roll, man.

“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature, looking at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.