- 1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
- 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
- 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
- Compare: Matthew 15:1-20
Jesus on the Corruption in the Temple
We have seen before that Jesus is willing to overturn traditions if current needs seem more important. In chapter 2, he and his disciples refused to fast when others might and they gathered food on the Sabbath. Here that same tendency is displayed again: his disciples fail to wash their hands before eating and Jesus doesn’t do anything about it.
Questions about ritual purity were very important at the time. For the Jews, it was a primary means by which they maintained communal bonds and preserved their religious or ethnic identity against the assaults of a hostile world. Jesus’ disciples flaunting them like this were thus an assault on the community itself as well.
It is worth noting here that Jesus himself isn’t accused of failing to wash his hands according to tradition. Why not? I’m sure he must have eaten, so either he washed his hands or he didn’t. If he didn’t, it would have been noticed along with the failure of his disciples to wash. This suggests that perhaps he did wash but allowed his disciples not to — which is very strange. No less strange, though, would have been a failure on the part of the Pharisees to complain about Jesus while they complained about his disciples.
Jesus’ initial response is also curious: he accuses the Pharisees of being the hypocrites that were once foretold. But where is the hypocrisy? Jesus complains about people who honor him with words but not with their hearts, but there is no evidence that the Pharisees have ever even tried to honor him in any fashion. The hypocrisy Jesus speaks of simply doesn’t apply here.
Another hypocrisy, however, does: Jesus accuses them of ignoring the law of God in favor of traditions which benefit them. Specifically, he accuses them of allowing children to abandon their parents, despite God’s commands to the contrary, if it means that the children turn over what they owe to their parents to religious leaders as an offering to God.
It certainly sounds like they are ignoring God’s commandments in order to line their pockets, but the truth of the matter is that Jewish rabbis have a long tradition of reinterpreting both traditions and laws in order to help them conform to modern needs. At times Jesus is portrayed as doing the same thing, but at other times he is portrayed as taking a very hard line, not allowing any change in how things are done. Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees is much more complicated than the gospels typically let on.
