Jesus’ Commentary On Handwashing Mark 7:1-23

Handwashing has been a hot topic the last six months; especially doing it the proper way as to prevent the spread of COVID. If you look up the CDC recommendation you’ll find that as you’re to lather up your hands for 20 seconds and if can’t count to 20 you can sing Happy Birthday through twice. But do they mean the regular tune or the Beatles’ version?

Washing our hands rigorously may protect us from germs and viruses, but it will not protect from spiritual impurity that reeks all sorts of havoc in our lives and infects others. Clean hands do not mean clean hearts. Not everyone in the pages of the got that straight.

Would you like to know what says when asked about handwashing? He actually says quite a bit. But most of His comments have to do with our hearts, not our hands.

I want to put up one of Solomon’s proverbs before we read Mark 7 and consider Jesus’ commentary on handwashing. Here it is: “Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23.

Part of parenting is to teach our children to wash their hands before eating, after using the restroom, after picking up what the dog left behind in the back yard, after touching anything gross. Part of parenting is also to teach our children to watch over their heart. Watch out for the yucky things that come and go in and out of it and who is able to make it clean.

Handwashing and heart watching. This is one of those passages that warns us about what happens when we care more about washing our hands than watching over our hearts. It’s an alarm to not value religious traditions over Scripture or judge those who follow Christ by a list of man-made dos and don’ts. It is a siren about the nature and depravity of the human heart.

And it is our Lord Jesus who is sounding the siren. Here is how it begins in verses 1-8. Remember, keep in mind Proverbs 4:23 as we read through Mark 7:1-23.

The and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from , 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots). 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. 7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 Neglecting the commandment of , you hold to the tradition of men.”

There are a handful of words in the passage that invite our attention: Heart, hypocrites, impure and defile, cleansed, and this word that’s used three times here: Tradition.

The word makes me think of the musical, Fiddler on the Roof. In the opening scene, Tevye, the central character, says, “Without our traditions, our lives would be a shaky as a fiddler on the roof.” Traditions tend to bring stability, whether they’re holiday, vacation or even meal time traditions. They foster routine, and we like routine. But beware of religious traditions. They tend to turn our relationship with God into following man-made rules and routine rituals.

The Pharisees and the scribes (these are the big-wigs from Jerusalem) may have known the Mosaic Law, but they lived according to the specific traditions (rules and routines) of how it applied to the Jewish people passed down to them by rabbis for the last few hundred years.

These oral traditions surrounding the (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). Many were eventually written down in the 2nd century after Christ walked this earth in a book called the Mishnah. It is these oral applications of the Law that define the phrase: traditions. And just so you know, they are immense in number.

For the Pharisees, these oral traditions became more important than what was written in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Now, the strange thing in particular about their handwashing traditions is that there is not one reference in the Mosaic Law about washing your hands before you sit down to dine.

When I taught the book of Mark to the 7th-8th grade boys, we talked about eating with unwashed hands and how that applied to us. I encouraged them to read this entire section of Mark 7, understand the context, and then make sure to do what their moms told them; kind of like we do with what the CDC guidelines tell us. ;)

The Pharisees were not germophobes or overtly concerned about passing along viruses. They were fastidious in their attention to washing their hands the proper way to prevent themselves from becoming spiritually dirty so they could not worship at the temple. To them, clean hands set the table for a clean heart and purified conscience before God.

On top of that, they were the self-appointed judges and jury members of whether a person was unclean or unfit to worship at the temple based on how they washed their hands. They truly felt they had the right to call the shots in spiritual matters. Unwashed hands according to their practices, meant impure hands; unclean in the sense of spiritually defiled.

So, their question to Jesus in verse 5 about the disciples ignoring the religious tradition of handwashing is one of accusation and attack. The Pharisees did this same sort of questioning back in when Jesus’ disciples weren’t following their fasting traditions or their Sabbath rules. The Pharisees judged others by how their traditions were kept or violated. If you didn’t wash your hands right, you were impure before the Lord.

It’s interesting that the words impure and defile come from the same Greek word which basically means common. Common can be used in a good way to describe Christian fellowship. Look at what we have in common, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Our differences in certain doctrines (especially eschatology and ecclesiology) can never undo the common bond we have in Christ. But here the word common carries a negative sense: It stands for what is common, as opposed to what is holy or set apart to serve the Lord. When we studied Leviticus a few years back, we read how God called the Jewish people to be holy, distinct, separate from what was common in the world (Leviticus 19:2). They were to be His holy people.

What the Pharisees did, was like building a barb wire fence around the Torah to make sure there were no questions about how the laws, statutes and commandments were kept. And then they honored their barb wire fence far more than what was inside it.

This type of behavior is not unique to the 1st century Pharisees. It still occurs in individual Christians and churches. We know from 1 Peter 1, that as Christians, we too are called to be God’s holy people. So, to be God holy people, some Christians begin to define the externals of what God’s holiness looks like in our behavior.

And they take Bible passages like, “Do not get drunk with wine,” and say, “That means you may not drink any alcohol.” What they’ve done is replaced a Biblical warning, with a man- made prohibition. And that’s a just one example of a very minor bit of legalistic barb wire where Christians elevate an application or rule over what the Word of God says.

Churches have a lot of traditions. That’s not bad in and of itself. We have had a traditional adult Sunday school core curriculum at CVBC for about 50 years. It includes an Old Testament Walkthrough, the book of Romans, and a class called Church Distinctives. Another CVBC tradition is to take communion every Sunday.

But a dilemma will always arise when we take our traditions and elevate them above what is written in the Bible. This can happen to any church at any time, but the historic churches teeter and fall off into this same icky septic tank of spiritual disease as the Pharisees did when religious man-made rules and traditions are valued over Scripture. Such traditions prompted Martin Luther to tack 95 reasons denouncing sale of indulgences on the door of the Wittenberg church in 1517.

When we favor our man-made lists of religious rules and routines, let’s call them “handwashing” traditions, we fall down the sewer pipe of self-righteousness. We begin to judge who is spiritual and who isn’t by whether they keep our “handwashing” lists, which at times involves what is or isn’t Christian music; what is or isn’t a legitimate reason for missing church; what is or isn’t kosher in terms of movies, TV, or books; what is or isn’t appropriate to wear, where or where we shouldn’t educate our children.

When this happens, we sidle up to the Pharisees whom Jesus calls hypocrites. This is not the only place He does that, but it is the first occurrence where He uses this unmistakably blatant term right to their face. A hypocrite honors God with what they say, but their heart is far from Him. What they do is not motivated by any type of sincere love for the Lord.

The Greek word for hypocrite was used to describe an actor on a stage, playing a role. Off stage it was and still is used to describe someone who says one thing but does the opposite. And yes, Christians can be hypocrites when they act like these Pharisees and value their man-made traditions instead of watching over the matters of the heart.

Look at the example Jesus gives of their hypocrisy in the next verses (Mark 7:9-13) and how they trashed God’s command to honor their parents for the sake of a very pretentious or showy tradition.

He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks of father or mother, is to be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

Somehow, the Pharisees came up with a caveat, a very righteous sounding excuse to not help their aging parents financially – by vowing, dedicating, gifting the money to the Lord. “Mom, Dad, I’d really like to help you, but I set all my savings aside for the Lord’s work.” Doesn’t that sounds noble? Jesus didn’t think so.

He knew what was in their hearts and knew it was a scam. The essence of their tradition had nothing to do with righteousness, but with selfishness and greed. Jesus says that this is just one example. Religious hypocrites can be so caught up with examining what the hands of others do, that they never examine the vile nature of their own hearts. Let’s look at verses 6-8 again.

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. 7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

The Pharisees ask Jesus a rather interrogating question, and Jesus gives them a rather insulting answer. By the way, I recently told my three-year old grandson, Calvin, that when his uncle Campbell asks him a puzzling question, to shrug his shoulders, look up, and stick out the corner of his tongue (as if to say, “I have no idea”). I should have known that Calvin would do that with just about everyone and every question he is now asked. I can only imagine what will happen when he gets to kindergarten and his teacher asks the first question. It may be followed by a second question. “Who taught you to do that?”

Back to the Pharisees’ question. Nothing puzzles Jesus. He always has the answer we need to hear. “You hypocrites. You honor me with your words, but your hearts are far from Me.” Jesus quotes :13 and applies it to the most outwardly religious group of Jewish people. He says they honor God with their words, but not with their hearts. Heart: That may be the most important or vital word in Jesus’ commentary on washing hands.

Throughout the Bible, the word heart is used to refer to the core or essence of our being; where our thoughts, desires, and values originate. That is why Solomon wrote what he did in Proverbs 4. “Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.”

God wants us to love Him with all of our heart, the essence of our being; our thoughts, our motives, our priorities, our preferences, our passions. He wants us to fill our hearts with the good and lovely things. And yet we’re told something horrific in Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

Jesus says the very same thing as He continues His commentary on hand washing. Look at what He tells the crowds of people who’ve been following His every move in 7:14-23.

After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) 20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, , adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, , slander, pride and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

His initial answer to the Pharisees now turns into a lesson for everyone “It’s not about dirty hands. It is about dirty hearts.” Handwashing is nowhere near as vital to our wellbeing as heart watching. His disciples pull Him aside and ask Him what He means. Matthew tells us they remark that the Pharisees took offence at what Jesus told them. “Do You know the Pharisees were offended by what You said?” Duh. Jesus doesn’t peddle soft-soap.

Ever the patient teacher, Jesus lays it out. The things that go into our pie holes, and then travel down into our stomachs, and then out – whether our hands are washed or not – don’t defile us spiritually. What pollutes us are the evil things that come out from our heart. No wonder Solomon tells us to watch over our hearts with all diligence.

What makes us spiritually impure, unclean, unfit to give God the worship He deserves, has nothing to do with the food that enters our body, although some may eat things that really mess up the digestive and elimination process.

The ultimate source of spiritual defilement, “common” to every human being, is internal, not external. Before God, all of us are unclean, impure in our hearts. And like the prophet Jeremiah, Jesus identifies the common fount of all our defilement. It is our heart from which evil thoughts and acts spring. And He is definitive!

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.

That is the bullseye of His commentary on the particulars of religious hand washing before meals. It is a rebuttal of man’s attempt to self-cleanse himself in any way that makes them pure and brings him into a right relationship with God or that fits him/her for heaven. Here’s what we are told through the New Testament: Spiritual defilement cannot be solved by any form of self-effort. Only Jesus can cleanse our hearts of unrighteousness and enable us to worship God as His holy people.

That is true in any and every facet of our relationship to God. The apostle John says it so simply: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. The hymn writer asked and answered this question well, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Eternal life is not a reward for keeping man-made rules or traditions. It is a gift to all who’ve looked in faith to Christ Jesus to forgive their sins and cleanse their hearts (Acts 15:9).

Even those who live by faith need spiritual cleansing because we still sin. Jesus said this in John 13 when He washed the disciples’ feet. After David sinned with Bathsheba he wrote these words in Psalm 51 “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The Lord Jesus has the spiritual soap and water necessary to clean our hearts. It is His sacrificial blood.

Speaking of church traditions, I used to sing Psalm 51 every Sunday at church as a kid at the beginning of our service. Acknowledging our sins, transgressions, iniquities, and trespasses against God and others is not just to occur when we meet together on Sunday morning and take the Lord’s Table. It is to take place in the timing of when it happens.

This truth about the heart and its need for Jesus’ cleansing has a context. The Pharisees turned matters of faith into a list of external rules, and passed judgment upon the disciples because they did not follow their religious traditions. And here’s the siren Jesus sounds: When we elevate man-made traditions above God’s word we minimize the importance of examining our hearts before God. Such behavior fosters a religious hypocrisy.

It’s the disciples that get Jesus’ complete commentary on handwashing, because even though they trust in Him as the Christ, He does not want them picking up the habits of the Pharisees. And that’s the alarm bell for all of us who profess faith in the Lord Jesus. You don’t have to be a 1st century Pharisee to be a religious nitpicker and to judge others and find fault with them based on any number of denominational dos or don’t or theological pet projects. You don’t have to be a 1st century Pharisee to begin to pay more attention to church things, then the issues of your own heart before God.

Here is Proverbs 4:23 one more time. “Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.” Handwashing and heart watching. This is one of those passages that warns us about what happens when we care more about washing our hands than watching over our hearts.

This COVID pandemic has brought the topic handwashing to center stage and caused us to focus on external so that we might stay healthy and help others do so. That’s not a bad thing to do. But let’s one up-it in a big way and do something even better, far more important according to what our Lord says in Mark 7. As Christians, let’s make sure we pay extra attention to the internal, to what is inside this skin, this layer of epidermis. Let’s make sure to watch over our heart with all diligence.