¹ Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,
² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed.
³ (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;
⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)
⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?"
⁶ And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
⁷ in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
⁸ You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
¹⁴ And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand:
¹⁵ there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."
²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

• For the Jewish people, the Law of Moses or Torah, even today, means two things: the Ten Commandments and the first five books of the Old Testament. What is under discussion here is not the Law but the moral principles or the unwritten rules to which the scribes and Pharisees gave equal force and observed rigorously.
• Mark adds the explanation in (v.3 and 4) for the benefit of Gentile readers unfamiliar with Jewish custom, thus giving evidence about the Gospel's audience and purpose.
• The issue was not hygiene but a ritual, ceremonial cleanness. The Pharisees wished to extend these rules applied to priests to all people, thus making the vision of a priestly people.
• Making explicit what was implicit in the quotation "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me," Jesus accuses the Pharisees and scribes of being "hypocrites," fulfilling the prophesied word of God written in Isaih 29:13.
• (v. 14) Like the opponents and the crowd, the disciples remain speachless, giving no indication that they have really "heard" and "understood" Jesus, resulting in Jesus' strong reaction to their question in v.18: "Then are you also without understanding?"

Jesus demonstrates that the Pharisees and scribes annul God's word with their human traditions.

1. What role do external observances play in our life of faith?
2. What do I like best and least about what comes from within me? How can I control what comes from within?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community