Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.

Do you know who said this and to whom it was said?  The answer may surprise you!

Folks have been led to believe that Jesus opposed the Pharisees for promoting obedience to Father's commandments.  The gospel accounts reveal quite the opposite!

Mark 7 proves this point easily:

7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him. 2 They observed that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. 3 (For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches.[a]) 5 Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean[b]hands?”

Notice that the Pharisees asked Jesus why the disciples didn't live according to "the tradition of the elders".  Someone who is unfamiliar with God's commands might assume that this hand-washing ritual is something Father commanded, but it is not.  It is a man-made tradition. 

Continuing in Mark 7:

6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites,as it is written:
These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
7 They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.[c]
8 Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.”[d]9 He also said to them, “You completely invalidate God’s command in order to maintain[e] your tradition!

Jesus is clearly faulting the Pharisees for disregarding the commands of God while instead keeping the traditions of men.

Jesus goes on to give them another example of them disregarding God's Law:

10 For Moses said:
Honor your father and your mother;[f] and
Whoever speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.[g]
11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban’” (that is, a gift committed to the temple), 12 “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”

Jesus clearly promotes God's commandment.  He rebukes them for revoking God's word with their man-made traditions.

Continuing please keep in mind that the original topic of conversation was about eating with 'dirty' hands.  They were not discussing which animals are clean.

Continuing Mark 7:

14 Summoning the crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:15 Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. [16 If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!]”[h]
17 When He went into the house away from the crowd, the disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated.”[i] (As a result, He made all foods clean.[j]) 20 Then He said, “What comes out of a person—that defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess,[k] blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

Someone who doesn't want to obey God's commandments will take verse 19 and run with it declaring that any animal is good to eat.  However, that isn't the context.  Furthermore, to Jesus and his audience unclean animals such as pigs, catfish, squirrel, vultures, etc were not considered food.  In this blog post it is proven that Peter was appalled at the notion of eating unclean.

Jesus just got out of his mouth that the Pharisees were ignoring the commandments of God in favor of their traditions.  So he most certainly isn't going to then tell them to ignore Father's commandment 5 seconds later.  Additionally, if Jesus were to violate this commandment he would be a sinner and he died for his own sins.

Again, the context of the encounter is regarding the ritual washing of hands.  This process is still practiced in Judaism today.  I've seen it with my own eyes and even by some that claimed to follow Jesus.  More info on the hand washing rituals here.  Again, this is not a commandment of God.

What many don't understand is that the Pharisees had TWO laws.  One was the law given from the Almighty through Moses.   Jesus referred to this as the "Commands of God" in this passage and in Matthew 5:17-19 he simply calls it the "law".   The other law that the Pharisees practiced is called the Talmud.  It is often referred to as the "oral law".  This is what they were referring to when they speak of the "tradition of the elders".   See more here.

In an earlier blog entry here, we saw how Paul was careful to observe the biblical law himself.  It's hypocritical to believe he was teaching his followers to do the opposite.  Many believe that much of the confusion over Paul's meaning results around the two different laws.  Perhaps we'll address that later.

In conclusion, Jesus faulted the Pharisees for disregarding the commands of God while keeping man-made traditions instead.  This is my witness to you as well.  Stop disregarding Father's commandments in favor of the traditions you've been handed down.