Reflection On Mark 7: 1-13

The washing of hands, which the disciples omitted, had nothing to do with the cleaning for hygienic reasons, but with ritual washing and ceremonial cleanness, which every Jew was supposed to make sure before eating. For Jews, apart from the Moses’ law and the Pentateuch, the legal experts or scribes of 4^th and 5^th centuries B.C had issued thousands of little rules and regulations, governing every possible action and every possible situation in life. It was called to Oral law, for they were codified and written down only in the 3^rd century A.D. according to it, eating bread without washing hands was no better than eating excrement. A writer tells of a Rabbi, who was imprisoned by the Romans. All the water was given to him was used for washing hands and he nearly perished of thirst, for no water was ever left for drinking, After all the ritual washing. Most of those laws would appear very funny today. For the scribes and Pharisees these rules and regulations formed the essence of religion and for Jesus religion meant loving God and people, hence the tussle. Adhering to external religion and misunderstanding it as true religion is a common mistake among devotees. Traditions and rituals are subject to change. They are not the essential.

Another way of stating the premise is: it’s more important to live by the spirit of the law than by its letter. We belong today to a Church which is very tradition-centered. In fact, we often try to ‘prove’ the correctness of some practice by appealing to tradition saying that such a custom us unchangeable because it goes for back in tradition. Many of the Jewish people today, particularly the Orthodox, still observe the ancient kosher laws in their diets. This applies to both what they eat and how it is prepared. The Lord teaches it’s not the food for the stomach which is important but the food for the mind. Our traditions are fine and necessary but not all are to be observed in the same manner. The distinction must always be made between those of human institution and those revealed by God. If the Spirit of God is moving the Church in a way that goes counter to some ancient traditions we need to follow the Spirit.

Question to ponder:

How often I am dependent on law?

What grasps a message on laws whether it important or unimportant?

Do you follow the same as ancestors did?