Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings came from Jerusalem to Jesus. They asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

³ He answered them, “Why do you break the commandment of God because of your traditions? ⁴ For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘I have given to God whatever support you might have received from me,’ ⁶ does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

¹⁰ Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and try to understand! ¹¹ What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make him unclean.^[a] It’s what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?”

¹³ He answered, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said to him, “Explain this illustration to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then into a toilet? ¹⁸ But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. ¹⁹ Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, ⌞other⌟ sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within. ²⁰ These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating without washing one’s hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”