Clean Dirty Hands

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 

Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with ceremonially unclean, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands with their fist, holding the tradition of the elders. 

And coming from the marketplace, unless they bathe, they do not eat. And there are many other things which they have received by tradition, like the washing of cups and pitchers, copper vessels and couches.

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat bread with unwashed hands?" 

And answering He said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 

And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 

Well do you set aside the commandment of God, so that you may keep your tradition.

For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother';
But you say, 'If a man says to his father or to his mother, "Whatever you might be profited by me is Corban"--' (that is, a gift),

then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or for his mother, 

thus nullifying the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. Mark 7:1-13; 

You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean. 

It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body." By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat. 

Then Jesus said: What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. 

Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, 

unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. 

All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God. Mark 7:18-23 CEV.

Traditions

when they, the Pharisees, saw some of His (Christ's) disciples eat bread with ceremonially unclean, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  It seems that finding fault was their most obvious talent.

When we think of the words unwashed hands we think of dirty hands and, of course, we would wash before we eat.  This, however, is not what the Pharisees were referring to.

For these ceremonial washings, special stone vessels of water were kept, because ordinary water might be unclean. To wash your hands in a special way, you started by taking at least enough of this water to fill one and one-half egg shells. Then, you poured the water over your hands, starting at the fingers and running down towards your wrist. Guzik.  

they wash their hands with their fist, Then you cleansed each palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand into it. Then you poured water over your hands again, this time from the wrist towards the fingers. Guzik.

holding the tradition of the elders.  They were overwhelmed with traditions and this is what bothered Christ about their religion.  Christ came to dispel cold religion and traditions.  He said I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10.  

It is probably natural to think that the opposite of enjoying the abundant life Christ gives is being totally irreligious.  However, isn't a religion weighed down by rules and traditions much more binding than no religion at all?  Not being bound by religious rules is more in line with Christ's attitude of freedom.

Of course, just because we reject religious, man-made, rules we do not reject the need for decency, honesty and obeying the laws laid down at the first church council meeting.  We looked at these in an earlier post:

1. to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols
2. and from blood, do not drink blood,
3. and from things strangled, do not eat meat with the blood still in it,
4. and from fornication. Acts 15:28-29; Acts 21:25.

Cancel the Traditions, Already!

Ceremonially, they wash their cups, pitchers, copper vessels and couches and coming from the marketplace, unless they bathe, they do not eat.  We must not forget that this has nothing to do with making anything cleaner; these are just religious traditions.

Here are a few interesting side notes concerning the couches.

1. These couches were not used for sleeping on.  They were the couches that, in Roman times, were used for leaning on while eating.
2. These couches were too large to be completely submerged in water in any container that would normally be in a home.  Yet the word for wash, in this case, is the same word that is used for baptize.  They baptize their couches!

People who insist that baptism is valid only for those who have been completely immersed in water should have a problem with this verse.  If a couch can be baptised, and considered to be clean, without being completely immersed in water, why can't a Christian?

Christ could see right through their facade and said Isaiah was right when, speaking for Jehovah, he said This people honors Me with their lips.  You know all the right religious words to say; you know what kind of things to do to make people think you are really spiritual but your heart is far from Me.

Christ continued by saying, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men ... Well do you set aside the commandment of God, so that you may keep your tradition.  Here are a few quotes from Jewish teachers:

• He who expounds the Scriptures in opposition to the tradition has no share in the world to come  
• It is a greater offense to teach anything contrary to the voice of the Rabbis than to contradict Scripture itself. 
• If the scribes say our right hand is our left, and our left hand is our right, we are to believe them. 
• There is more in the words of the scribes than the words of the law. Guzik.

Example One

Christ then gives an example of what the Jews, His peers, had done. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; this does not mean only to speak nicely to them, it also means to help them with whatever they need help with.

But you say, 'If a man says to his father or to his mother, "Whatever you might be profited by me is Corban"--' (that is, a gift).  In modern English it could sound like this: Your parents cannot fulfil their mortgage payment and they ask you for help but you say to them, Oh, I would love so much to help you but all the money in my bank account has been promised to God so I'm sorry I cannot help you.  Christ does not accept that vow as a good reason to break one of the ten commandments!

then you no longer allow (once you have made that vow to God you cannot undo it no matter how much your parents need your help and in that way, you have nullified) the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down.

Example Two

Christ gave His listeners another example.  He said You Jews are so fussy about what you eat and how it has been prepared You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean.  It simply passes through the body and becomes waste.

Then Jesus said: What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean.
Out of your heart come:

evil thoughts, 

vulgar deeds, 

stealing, 

murder,
unfaithfulness in marriage, 
greed, 

meanness, 

deceit, 

indecency, 

envy, 

insults, 

pride, 

foolishness.  

All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.