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Gospel Reading - The Tradition of the Elders

¹One day some Jewish religious leaders arrived from Jerusalem to investigate him, ²and noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the usual Jewish rituals before eating. ³(For the Jews, especially the Pharisees, will never eat until they have sprinkled their arms to the elbows,^a as required by their ancient traditions. ⁴So when they come home from the market, they must always sprinkle themselves in this way before touching any food. This is but one of many examples of laws and regulations they have clung to for centuries, and still follow, such as their ceremony of cleansing for pots, pans, and dishes.)

⁵So the religious leaders asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the washing ceremony.”

^6-7Jesus replied, “You bunch of hypocrites! Isaiah the prophet described you very well when he said, ‘These people speak very prettily about the Lord but they have no love for him at all. Their worship is a farce, for they claim that God commands the people to obey their petty rules.’ How right Isaiah was! ⁸For you ignore God’s specific orders and substitute your own traditions.