GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 7:4
Pig-Pen
In 1954, a new character appeared in the Peanuts comic strip—Pig-Pen. Everywhere Pig-Pen went, he was surrounded by a cloud of dust, but he was comfortable with himself. He famously said, “On a clear day I can smell the sea. That’s because I’m carrying a lot of it around with me.” He is completely different in his appearance from Charlie Brown, Snoopy, bossy and opinionated Lucy, and Linus with his security blanket. No, Pig-Pen is always filthy but totally at peace with it; in fact, he proudly accepts his condition: “I’m a dust magnet… I’m proud of it!”
While Schulz never explained the motivation behind Pig-Pen’s appearance, some writers think Pig-Pen represents Schulz’s critique of the obsession with superficial cleanliness as opposed to internal character. He said, “Pig-Pen was different. He knew who he was, and he was okay with that. I liked that about him.”
Writing for a largely Roman audience, Mark often felt the need to explain to his Latin-speaking audience particular characteristics of Jewish practices, something Matthew didn’t need to do for his Jewish readers (Matt. 15:2). That was the case when Mark wrote about Jesus’ confrontation with a delegation from Jerusalem, who criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to eat without the ceremonial handwashing required by the received tradition. The Pharisees and scribes had a meticulous process for hand washing: “And when they come from the marketplace, unless they wash, they do not eat, and there are many other traditions they hold to, washing cups and vessels and utensils and dining couches.” (Mark 7:4)
Fearing they were surrounded by a Pig-Pen-like cloud of external contamination, these critics ceremonially washed every item in their household, even the couches on which they reclined for their meals. There was certainly nothing innately wrong about external cleanliness; Jesus never criticized cleanliness, but there was no similar striving for inner washing among the Jerusalem delegation, as illustrated by their eagerness to criticize someone who was teaching, healing, and feeding his neighbors.
Pig-Pen is not the ideal role model, but he was not critical, always helpful, and optimistic. That, it seems, is a goal worth striving for, as opposed to the behavior of the Jerusalem delegation, which Mark described.
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