Matthew 15:1-20

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, “Why do your followers not obey the rules given to us by the great people who lived before us? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those rules you have? God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ And God also said, ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ You teach that person not to honor his father. You teach that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow the rules you have. You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you: ‘These people show honor to me with words. But their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules they have memorized.’” Isaiah 29:13 Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. It is not what a person puts into his mouth that makes him unclean. It is what comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean.” Then his followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are angry because of what you said?” Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. Stay away from the Pharisees. They are blind leaders. And if a blind man leads another blind man, then both men will fall into a ditch.” Peter said, “Explain the story to us.” Jesus said, “You still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then that food goes out of the body. But what a person says with his mouth comes from the way he thinks. And these are the things that make him unclean. Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, lying, and saying bad things against other people. These things make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.”