“Just The Facts Ma’am”

Back in the 1950’s I enjoyed watching the  detective series Dragnet,  starring Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday. Joe was a no nonsense guy, not into “small talk”…… “just the facts ma’am…just the facts.” Joe Friday could really make the guilty guy sweat.

I read that there are 9 tricks to determining if someone is telling the truth…one of them is “look out for fake smiles”. Hmmmmmm, I’d be a goner with that trick. When Judy confronts me with “what happened to those chocolate chip cookies, I put on a smile that’s obviously fake and weakly say, “what cookies”…. guilt written in big letters across my forehead. 

Our Lord Jesus would have been a great detective. He didn’t need 9 tricks to determine what was in the heart of men ….. he just knew. In today’s gospel the Pharisees look to trap Jesus. “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?” (Jesus deflects this amateurish question and responds,) “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.” (Mk. 7:1-13) 

Jesus could read the hearts of the people. He knew what was on their mind. He knew if they were sincere or contriving. He knew if they were proud or humble. You can fake the words, but you can’t fake the heart. Jesus knows what’s on our heart. We can’t fool him with our words…he sees our heart. Humility is key. Jesus never spurns a humble heart. “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner” will always draw out the kindness and tenderness of the Lord. Pride and arrogance will not. 

Yet even the harsh response of the Lord to the Pharisees at the time of Jesus or in our time, is meant to lead the person to repentance. God takes no joy in the death of a sinner. He desires “all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1Tim. 2:4) So when we get caught in our arrogance and pride and lies, let’s confess our sins and ask the Lord to help us and forgive us. In the passage above, the Pharisees could have responded to the Lord catching them in their arrogance and confessed, “Jesus, you are right, we are hypocrites, please help us”… and Jesus would have helped them.

God sees beyond our words. We can’t fake out God. At the time of the Annunciation, Zechariah and Mary said essentially the same words in response to the Angel Gabriel, but Mary’s heart was pure and Zechariah’s was not…. Mary went away in honor, Zech went away with some “homework” that later resulted in honor. 

Lord, help us to have a pure heart that seeks the truth. Help us to not be afraid of the truth… it will always set us free.  And that is very good news.