Every Monday morning the fourth-grade boys gathered in the back of the classroom. We made fists, extended the middle knuckle, and took turns hitting each other on the arm. We were distributing cootie vaccinations as an act of self-preservation.

We were convinced girls had cooties, although we had no clue as to what cooties were. The knuckle sandwich on our biceps left a slight bruise, guaranteeing us safety on the playground, should we inadvertently bump into a young female cootie-carrier.

This reminds me of the Pharisees in the New Testament. They often clashed with Jesus for associating with “sinners.” In Luke 5:30 they asked, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (See also Luke 7:39; 15:1-2). The Pharisees saw themselves as better than others, going to extreme degrees to follow the 613 laws in the Pentateuch, even creating additional laws for others to follow. In the process, these pompous legalists “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23).

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