1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews, don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

6 He answered 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.

7 But they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” 9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.' 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is to say, given to God”;’ 12 then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

Mark 7:1-13 - World English Bible

• Mark 7:6: from Isaiah 29:13.
• Mark 7:10a: from Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16.
• Mark 7:10b: from Exodus 21:17 and Leviticus 20:9.

Mark 7 presented Jesus commenting on a minor point of ritual cleanliness: washing hands before eating. Scholars do not know the origin of this practice (along with the washing of pots, pan or utensils). While Jews at the time of Jesus did perform a ritual bath (called a "Mikveh"), the other washings were unknown; some scholars speculate that Jews in the Diaspora washed their hands and cooking dishes to reinforce the notion of kosher that originated in the ritual bath. Meticulous washing created a break between the mundane activities of daily life and meal time when they communed with God (like a meal in the Temple after a communion sacrifice). Washing provided a way to separate life into secular and sacred spheres.

The rural followers of Jesus were not as scrupulous as their urban critics: the Pharisees and the scribes. These city dwellers challenged the country boys to follow the Law in their detailed fashion. The Lord returned criticism; their myoptic focus on detail missed the larger picture of the Law; indeed, such a small view could break the Law. He presented exhibit A: setting aside the Fourth Commandment for the principle of Corban, a donation to the Temple that was free from the financial obligation to support one's parents. Corban lie at the heart of a greater debate: what was more important, keeping the God's Law or worshiping him in the Temple? Jesus argued the acts of mercy proscribed in the Torah trumped ritual sacrifice. (Note Jesus forced the Pharisees to side with their enemies, the Sadducees, on this point.) As a corollary to the argument he made, if the Pharisees allowed this major exception to the Law, wouldn't they make others? As he stated in 7:13, they made "void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down." In this, he implied that the Pharisees were not only wrong, their method of interpretation was illegitimate. In essence, they were heterodox.

Passages like Mark 7:1-13 defined the difference between the Judaism of the Pharisees and that of the early Church. While the controversy could be seen as a caricature (many Pharisees would have agreed with Jesus on the point of Corban), the minute detail to Law still tints the world view of many orthodox Jews today. We must not, however, assume that focus takes away any sense of compassion and mercy. Rabbinical Judaism has much to teach us about God's Law, his will and his expectations for an ethical life.

Are you too scrupulous or obsessive about your spiritual life? Have those behaviors hindered acts of mercy?