Mark 7:3 Commentary and Bible Study

Normally before eating, and even during eating, someone would take a jug and each person who was going to participate would take their hands, first of all with the fingers pointed down, and then with the fingers pointed up, and pour water over the hands and then rub the hands ceremonially. That was done, not in accordance with the law of Moses; it wasn’t in the Bible. Yes, the priests had to wash their hands before they ate the food that had been offered. There were washings of various articles that were used in the worship of God at the altar, certain items of furniture, certain utensils. There were also provisions in the Jewish era under Moses for bodily washings in connection with certain illnesses, so that a person could be purified before returning to worship in the temple. But all these washings were symbolic. They provided only a ceremonial cleansing which did not grant salvation. To be truly cleansed from sin, we must be washed in the blood of Christ. Our consciences must be washed as the Spirit applies Christ’s finished work on Calvary to our souls. The types and shadows of the ceremonial law were incapable of doing this, but nevertheless, they were of tremendous value as teaching aids, showing the people what Christ would do in the future. They taught the people that before you go into the temple, or before the priests handle the sacred objects of worship, they had to be cleansed. God is holy and these symbols taught the people something about the unapproachability of God without cleansing from sin. But for the Pharisees ceremonial cleansing was everything. The idea of all the hand washings of the Pharisees was to avoid contamination. You may have been wandering about in the marketplace, and you may have accidentally just rubbed against or touched a Gentile, and so you felt that the uncleanness of the Gentile had been transmitted to you. On this basis everybody had to wash and wash constantly, and you had to wash just about everything. Of course, that wasn’t required by God. What is in the Old Testament is certain cleansing of worship utensils in the temple, not your ordinary domestic bits and pieces and furnishings. When the Pharisees saw the disciples they found fault. Now it is evident from Christ’s condemnation of this, that he didn’t follow their traditions, nor did his disciples. They of course were copying him in not doing these things, but it was the disciples who were spotted. The Pharisees didn’t respond reasonably. They didn’t say, ‘This man is remarkable. He does miracles which we have never seen before, in fact, miracles like this have never taken place in all the history of our people. These are extraordinary things and his teaching and his knowledge of the word is extraordinary. He is clearly a godly man and a prophet. We should ask him, Is it right or wrong to wash hands in the way that we do?’ But no, there is no reasonable enquiry. Instantly he is to be condemned and his disciples are criticised for doing criminal and wrong things. Their attitude is entirely unreasonable.