God's Law and Rules that People Make

7 ¹Some Pharisees* and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. ²The Pharisees and teachers of the law saw that some of Jesus' followers ate food with hands that were not clean. ("Not clean" means that they did not wash their hands [in the way the Pharisees said people must].) ³The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in this special way. They do this to follow the teaching given to them by their great people that lived before them. ⁴And when the Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules from their people that lived before them. They follow rules like the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots. ⁵The Pharisees* and teachers of the law said to Jesus, "Your followers don't follow the rules given to us by our great people that lived before us. Your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why do they do this?" ⁶Jesus answered, "You are all hypocrites.* Isaiah was right when he spoke about you. Isaiah wrote, 'These people say they honor me, but they don't really make me an important part of their lives. ⁷Their worship of me is for nothing. The things they teach are only rules that people have made.' Isaiah 29:13

⁸You have stopped following the commands of God. Now you follow the teachings of men." ⁹Then Jesus said to them: "You think you are smart! You ignore the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! ¹⁰Moses said, 'You must honor (respect) your father and mother.'* Then Moses also said, 'Any person that says bad things to his father or mother must be killed.'* ¹¹But you teach that a person can say to his father or mother, 'I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it to help you. I will give it to God.' ¹²You are telling that person that he does not have to do anything for his father or mother. ¹³So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow those rules you teach people. And you do many things like that." ¹⁴Jesus called the people to him again. He said, "Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying. ¹⁵There is nothing a person puts into his body that makes him wrong. A person is made wrong by the things that come from him." ¹⁶* ¹⁷Then Jesus left the people and went into the house. The followers asked Jesus about this story. ¹⁸Jesus said, "You still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that nothing that enters a person from the outside can make him wrong. ¹⁹Food does not go into a person's mind. Food goes into the stomach. Then that food goes out of the body." (When Jesus said this, he meant that there is no food that is wrong for people to eat.) ²⁰And Jesus said, "The things that come from a person are the things that make that person wrong. ²¹All these bad things begin inside a person, in the mind: bad thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, ²²adultery,* selfishness, doing bad things to people, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, saying bad things about people, proud boasting, and foolish living. ²³All these evil things come from inside a person. These things make a person wrong."

Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. hypocrites Bad people that act like they are good. 'You must honor ... mother' Quote from Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16. 'Any person ... killed' Quote from Ex. 21:17. Verse 16 Some Greek copies add verse 16: "You people that hear me, listen!" adultery Breaking a marriage promise by sexual sin.