|
“Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him [the Lord Jesus], Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?” (Mark 7:5).
“There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man” (Mark 7:15).
It is certainly a good thing to wash our hands before eating, especially after we have been to town, or to the store, etc. But the Jewish leaders were using this tradition as if it were part of the law of Moses, while at the same time they were using other traditions that actually went against the law of Moses.
The Lord Jesus did not say that it was wrong to wash your hands before eating, but He pointed out that it was not what we eat that defiles us, but what we say and do. It is our wicked hearts that defile us by our sins, and not what we eat.
It was true that in the Old Testament the Israelites were not to eat certain birds and animals, for they were unclean according to the law, but all of this had a typical meaning. The Lord Jesus always kept the law, but He pointed out that real sin came from the heart, and not from what we eat.
|
