The Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
Gospel's Commentary
Today we see that in Jesus’s times men already acted in the same way as they do today: they invented a religion according to their needs; a religion of many “to dos” and little divinity! God had never asked Moses to tell the people to wash their hands and arms to the elbow, or to purify cups, jars and so on, among so many other unbearable burdens to carry. They were the ones that invented all that!
-Jesus wants us to wash our heart. If we have a clean heart we will “discover” what the wants of our neighbor are, and then we can go and help him out.