Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God

 Good Sunday morning. The Pharisees are fussing at Jesus again – big surprise. Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. Now of course they're not talking about the way we wash our hands. This is a ceremonial dipping of the hands into water. Also, it is a tradition, not part of the law of Moses. Jesus wanted to know why did they transgress the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition. If someone used the word corban in a religious vow, he could formally dedicate to God his earnings that otherwise would have gone for the support of his parents. That money did not however have to go for religious purposes. It was a means of circumventing the responsibility of children toward their parents. They did not honor their father or their mother. Jesus said they invalidated the word of God for the sake of their tradition. Getting back to the not ceremonially washing their hands before eating, Jesus said “ not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts etc. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man. All denominations and churches have traditions. Many of them are good things; sometimes however they are just man's way of defining how someone is to live righteously, and are based on their interpretation of the word of God. Father thank You that the reader follows Your Word and not the tradition of men. He/she only does what You want him/her to do.