Mark 7:1-16
The Pharisees are jealous of the Lord’s success with the crowds, but they dare not stand up to Him because they fear the crowds, so they find fault with the disciples as they have already done in Mark 2:24. For these hypocrites, outward purity was much more important than their conscience which concerned them less. This religion without holiness suited the natural heart perfectly. The Pharisees were concerned only with obtaining men’s approbation and not God’s.
In contrast, the believer’s aim is, above all, to please the Lord (Galatians 1:10). Because He looks on the heart, that will lead us to careful inward "washing", in other words, to judging our thoughts, motives and intentions in the light of the Word, which shows up even the slightest defilement. The Lord Jesus points out to these Pharisees that their traditions even contradict the divine commandments and especially in one flagrant case — that of the consideration and respect for parents. Let us emphasise the danger of traditions. To do something only "because it has always been done" takes away all exercise and can seriously lead us astray. We must always ask ourselves what the Scripture says.