I have a question. What do you find yourself thinking most often?  “Oh, there you are!” or “Here I am!”.

The Pharisees were full of themselves and felt it their duty to question Jesus regarding the disciples. They were the religious elite and broke the backs of the people, taking God's laws and adding more to them. When it came to handwashing, it was another performance to be seen by others.

In Mark 7:1-4, the Pharisees observed that some of the disciples were eating without upholding the handwashing ritual. Verse 5 says this; And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

I doubt they were expecting the response from Jesus they were given in verses 5-8. And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the  commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

Jesus was telling them what Isaiah 29:13 said. They would have been acutely aware, since they were the upper religious echelon and they knew the Old Testament written in the Torah and memorized it all. They knew what God commanded, they committed it to memory, they were highly respected and in the spotlight within Jewish culture. Everyone was watching and they loved the position of power and performance.

This was the root issue Jesus was pointing out to them. They were all about showing others how perfect they were. Their lives consisted of looking out the window of culture to observe others who did not reflect  their perfection. Not only did they look at others through their high and mighty windows, they stood in the window to be seen. The temple. The marketplace. The seats of honor. “Here I am! Look at what I do. Admire my perfection. Adore my adherence to the law. See how I take it to a higher level?

Look at me! Jesus flipped their scripted performance-based lives and in essence, said, “Oh, there you are”. The lame. The sick. The outcast and poor. The widow, the orphan, the sheep without a shepherd. He saw them. He loved them. He healed and restored them. Not in front of a window to be seen. Jesus came to seek and to save. He did not come to make a scene and be seen. He came to do the will of His Father, not please the religious elite.

I know Jesus did not look in the mirror to admire himself, but he has given me a very special mirror through Scripture. A mirror reflecting who God says I am. A mirror where His truth can reveal my sin and wash away the shame I have felt. His mirror is the only one that is able to show me what is in my heart. No window can. 

In the 1990’s on my way to JFK International Airport, I was seated next to two Orthodox Jewish men. In the front of the plane, another Jewish man got up from his seat, stood in the aisle and began to wrap his arm seven times with the tellifin, a leather strap. My Jewish friend (we had some amazing conversation) commented that the man standing was doing so to be seen.

Windows and mirrors are everywhere. As I am writing this, I glance out my kitchen window to think, to look at a bird who landed on the feeder and to distract myself from my task.

So, I will end with the same questions I asked at the beginning. What do you think most often? “Oh, there you are” or “Here I am”. Scripture is a mirror with God's truth reflected, and the only way I can truly see myself. The same is true for all of us. No window can show me what needs to be seen.

Please share any personal experiences you have had with either one.

"Stop the blame game. Stop!

Stop looking out the window and look in the mirror!"

 Eric Thomas