The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Defiled hands. What does this mean? Well, in Jewish society, it probably started as a sanitary rule to make sure they were not getting sick. It was also tied into their rituals for worshiping God. They operated in a theocracy (God was the sovereign and king) in the early years of the Jewish people's origins under Moses, when much of the law was given.

Maybe a parallel example might be the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb that was required to forgive sins. The lamb and sacrifice were never a lasting, one-time-for-all forgiveness of sins. But they foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. And the purpose was to turn their hearts to God and away from a life of sin. I find an interesting correlation between the animal sacrifices offered and the “clean hands” rules.

The clean hands rules could have also highlighted coming to God in prayer with “clean hands”, a figure of speech that can mean a clear conscience. As Jesus calls out here, the enforcement of endless rules that are impossible to keep all the time. Depending on the life circumstances you find yourself in, rule keeping is many times pointless without a heart after God’s own heart.

Jesus tells us what is of primal importance to God here in this interaction with a Jewish law expert: “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭36‬-‭40‬)

What could the Pharisees have done here if they were loving Jesus and the disciples by applying this above command to themselves? They could have had compassion on them and fed them. (We don’t know the situation, but there might not have been any ceremonial washing stations available to them.) Instead, they judged them as inferior, not measuring up.

So my important takeaway is don’t focus mainly on the “don’ts” in life, especially in how I look at others. Focus on the “dos”. Let love lead in all I do.

Lord, thank you for this rebuke of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. It instructs us today to focus on obedience in your calling and not on conformity to man-made rules. The former actively serves others. The latter leads to pride and self-focus.