God’s Law and Human Traditions^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They came from Jerusalem and asked him, ² “Why do your followers not obey the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those traditions you have? ⁴ God said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.’^[a] And God also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.’^{[b] 5} But you teach that a person can say to their father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ ⁶ You are teaching them not to respect their father. So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have. ⁷ You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke for God about you:

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. ¹¹ It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong.^[c] It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.”

¹² Then the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are upset about what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain to us what you said earlier to the people.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? ¹⁷ Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. ¹⁸ But the bad things people say with their mouth come from the way they think. And that’s what can make people wrong. ¹⁹ All these bad things begin in the mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and insulting people. ²⁰ These are the things that make people wrong. Eating without washing their hands will never make people unacceptable to God.”