Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother’; and, Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Comment: It seems fairly obvious that this group of Pharisees and Scribes came to where Jesus was having a wonderful Ministry, spoiling for an argument, because He wasn’t ‘their man’. They, I suspect, couldn’t find much wrong with what Jesus was doing (in ch 6 it appears as if it was mainly in that area a healing ministry). So they picked on Jesus’ disciples for not obeying their traditions! Washing before you eat is a good idea but it wasn’t Mosaic Law, rather just a ‘tradition of the elders‘. (Some would say that I’m being a bit crude using this language), But it seems to me as if Jesus ‘went for the jugular’! 1. Jesus argued that they were the object of Isaiah’s prophecy when Isaiah was blunt about mixing tradition and worship. His disciples were hungry and they did the normal and natural thing which the Law did not forbid! 2. Without waiting for a response Jesus said, in effect, ‘But while we’re talking about traditions let’s consider where your tradition breaks a very significant Mosaic Law. “You say that your earthly goods are marked for God and refuse to use them to help your struggling parents when the Law clearly says ‘Honor your father and your mother’. You hypocrites!” He added, “And this is not an isolated incident!”
Proverbs 20: 11 Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. – Hypocrisy is so easy to practice but fairly easily discerned and destructive!
Prayer: Father forgive me if in the past I have lived hypocritically and help me to avoid it in the future.
As I read it! 