Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
The question comes from scribes and Pharisees who accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders because they eat bread without first washing their hands. The dispute is over eating without that preliminary washing, with the religious leaders challenging the disciples for not observing the elders' rule before meals. The washing demanded was a ceremonial purification and a rabbinical human requirement, a human ceremonial rule and invention rather than a commandment or precept given by God. It belonged to human tradition, not to a command of God.
Neglect of that washing was treated as a grave sin, and those who did not follow the detailed rules were condemned. Human tradition and even minute details were treated as more sacred and more important than God's law, commandments and precepts. Human rules were thus exalted above God's commandments. Such rules distracted people from the greater and great principles of the law.
Concern with human traditions and outward religious practices exalted tradition even while its defenders proclaimed the law and displayed devotion, yet they remained spiritually blind to the Messiah. The elders' tradition stands for lifeless formalism, for human commandments taught in place of God's truth. Reliance on such human inventions rather than on God's commandments reveals a selfish, unconverted religion.
The charge illustrates how human traditions and sayings can be treated as authoritative and used to challenge obedience to God. Christ's teaching exposes such practices when they conflict with Scripture.
The question comes from scribes and Pharisees who accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders because they eat bread without first washing their hands. The dispute is over eating without that preliminary washing, with the religious leaders challenging the disciples for not observing the elders' rule before meals. The washing demanded was a ceremonial purification and a rabbinical human requirement, a human ceremonial rule and invention rather than a commandment or precept given by God. It belonged to human tradition, not to a command of God.
Neglect of that washing was treated as a grave sin, and those who did not follow the detailed rules were condemned. Human tradition and even minute details were treated as more sacred and more important than God's law, commandments and precepts. Human rules were thus exalted above God's commandments. Such rules distracted people from the greater and great principles of the law.
Concern with human traditions and outward religious practices exalted tradition even while its defenders proclaimed the law and displayed devotion, yet they remained spiritually blind to the Messiah. The elders' tradition stands for lifeless formalism, for human commandments taught in place of God's truth. Reliance on such human inventions rather than on God's commandments reveals a selfish, unconverted religion.
The charge illustrates how human traditions and sayings can be treated as authoritative and used to challenge obedience to God. Christ's teaching exposes such practices when they conflict with Scripture.