Episode Details

Our beloved Lord Jesus Christ clarifies with the Pharisees and Scribes about what truly defiles a man. Defilement is sourced from outside man, and that is the reason we need to wash vessels and hands. Hence, they criticized the Lord's disciples because they did not follow the tradition of the elders. Our Lord continued calling them out because they, under the guise of concern for their traditions, were actually not concerned about truly worshiping and loving God. Hence, Jesus says that "This people honor me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me." He clarified with them that their doctrines were only human regulations. Thus, God's commandments were relegated to the back seat! It should be the other way around. More importance is to be given to the commandments than to these human traditions or regulations. The pharisees and scribes were more demanding in following their own interpretations of the Law. They unnecessarily multiplied them to overburden the conscience of the ordinary Jew.