Tradition and Commandment

15 Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, ² “Why do Your disciples violate the ^[a]tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat.”

³ He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said, “Listen and understand this: ¹¹ It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.” ¹⁶ And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). ²⁰ These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”