1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”

10 He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. 11 That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

12 Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?”

13 But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14 - World English Bible

Jesus introduced a principle into the interpretation of the Law that clearly drew a line between the early Church and Pharisaical Judaism. While the Pharisees took a holistic view of kosher, he laid down a principle that divided ritual kosher from moral kosher. In the case of food, what one consumed (ritual kosher) did not compare to the evil one spoke (moral kosher). Any sin of food did not stand up against gossip, slander, insult, etc. This makes sense to us, but, to the Pharisees, any violation of the Law, no matter how small, broke the entire Law. So, they were offended by the disciples who didn't wash their hands before a meal, to ritually rid themselves of the social “pollution” caused by interaction with Gentiles (whether such hand washing was an actual ruling from the Pharisees or was just a custom is open to scholarly debate).

Jesus harshly rebuked the Pharisees. If God didn't “plant” a particular rule of the Pharisees (it was not in the Law), it would be “uprooted” at the end of time; in other words, the ruling was not only worthless, divine will would reject it, along with its authors. Without the guidance of the divine “light,” the Pharisees could not see. If they, as leaders, were blind, so were their followers. Both would fall into a pit (a metaphor for damnation?). Implicitly, he encouraged his followers to look to God and not to their own knowledge and skill (like some of the Pharisees) for guidance.

Have you prayed to God today for moral guidance?