Mark 7:1-4 1And there gathered to him the Pharisees and some of the scribes coming from Jerusalem. 2And when they saw some of his disciples ate food with defiled hands, that is with unwashed ones, 3–for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands rigorously with a fist, observing the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash, and there are many other traditions they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.
The story takes a significant turn with this chapter. Mark returns to the controversies of chapter 3. As narrator and recorder, he carefully and craftily laid out to the reader proof of Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus did things no one else could do–only God, the Creator. Some people had come to see and believe this. But there was a group that refused to believe and even became hostile towards Jesus. The controversy of this section opens the way for the inclusion of Gentiles.
The problem people came from the religious capital of Jerusalem. Mark introduces them with a hint of an official delegation from those who were in power. Word had reached the capital. Earlier encounters of the Pharisees and scribes with Jesus had not stopped him from continuing in his ministry. No doubt, word had reached the party elite in Jerusalem, who had become worried about the rogue prophet in Galilee who was stirring up trouble and threatening the status quo. The representatives from the capital were likely the most knowledgeable and discriminating. They came looking for trouble, watching carefully for Jesus and his disciples to do anything wrong.
As they watched, they caught the disciples in the act: eating without washing their hands. They associated unwashed hands with ceremonial, and, thus, spiritual uncleanness. Mark gives an explanation and background information in verses 3-4 in preparation for the controversy that will develop in the following verses. “Super religious” Jews, like the Pharisees, would not eat unless they washed their hands in a certain way. They washed their hands before meals, between courses, and after meals; each washing had to be done in a certain way with water kept in special jars. Eating vessels touched by something unclean also had to be washed. Not following the rules was not impolite or dirty in a healthy sense, but unclean before God.
The Pharisees must have learned from their “elders” that they should not eat unless they washed their hands, which is a common teaching that many mothers teach their children, especially boys who go out and play in the dirt. Nowadays, people use hand sanitizer. The Pharisees had taken this common sense health practice and made it into a pious exercise that only elevated their own self-importance. They extended their washing to everything related to eating. There must have been a sense of hygiene at some point in the past, but the value of washing to be healthy had been replaced by pride. Many good things in life can become sources of pride that actually can keep us away from experiencing the power of God. The Pharisees and scribes who confronted Jesus missed out on the miracles that others were experiencing.
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