Did your mother ask you before sitting down for dinner, “Did you wash your hands, young man?” Mine did. Often with a sense of drudgery, I turned around, headed back to the sink, and heard the words, “Use soap!” Honestly, at that age, I did not see the point. My hands were destined to be dirty soon again anyway; why bother! Since then, I have learned to respect having clean hands before eating. I get it!
Scripture metaphorically uses a person’s hands as a picture of innocence or guilt. Consider Pilate’s words during the trial of our Lord. The chief priests and elders desirous to see Jesus put to death brought Him to Pilate, the governor. After questioning the Lord and finding no transgressions worthy of death, Pilate desired to find a way to release Jesus. He sought a prisoner exchange of sorts with the Jews; release Jesus and keep Barabbas, a notorious criminal. Even Pilate’s wife warned him to release Jesus. Finally, seeing the angry mob would be satisfied with nothing short of a crucified Jesus, Scripture says, “he (Pilate) took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” (Matthew 27:24)
Consider these passages that mention our hands and their cleanliness or lack thereof. In Genesis 20:5, when Abimelech thought to approach Sarah, Abraham’s wife but was told by Sarah and Abraham that she was his sister. He responded to the Lord and said, “Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” David sang in his song of deliverance in 2 Samuel 22:21, “The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.” and 2 Samuel 22:25, And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.
Further, the Bible declares in Psalm 18:20, The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. and Job 17:9, Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
Lest we think the Bible is only teaching us to wash our hands for physical hygiene, consider our Lord as he ate with a Pharisee in Luke 11:37-38, While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Take that mom, Jesus did not wash His hands! (I bet Mary would have something to say as well!) But wait, there is more; neither did his disciples wash their hands, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” (Matthew 15:2)
Listen, I am all for washing our hands before we eat, but neither the Bible nor Jesus is overly concerned with washing your hands strictly for physical hygiene purposes. God is, however, concerned with our spiritual hygiene! Note Jesus’ words to the Pharisee in Luke 11:39, And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”
As a believer in the risen Christ, it should be far more of a concern to come before our Lord in worship with unclean hands than to sit down for a meal with unwashed hands! When a congregation lifts its hands in worship to the Lord, are they clean hands? In other words, have we confessed our sins and spiritually cleaned up to be presentable at the Lord’s table, or did we just walk in and lift our dirty hands to the Lord?
Consider an example of dirty hands in the Bible. Isaiah 1:15, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” The prophet Isaiah pleads with Israel to hear the word of the Lord that when they spread their hands in worship, their hands are bloody. God’s response to this is to hide his eyes and close his ears. God doesn’t accept dirty hands any more than Mom did. He pleads in Isaiah 1:16–18, Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
How can we have clean hands before our Lord?
We must be continual confessors of our transgressions before the Lord. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9–10) Unconfessed sin not only can impact our worship and fellowship with the Lord, but it can also have a physical and emotional impact on us. Consider Psalm 32:3-4, For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah. The psalmist goes on in verse 5, I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Confessing Christians have clean hands!
According to Proverbs, concealing and sweeping our sin under the proverbial rug has consequences. Proverbs 28:13, Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
The next time before lifting our hands before the Lord publicly or privately, pause and ask yourself if you have clean hands. If not, confess. Don’t go to God’s table with dirty hands!
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