NOTES for Mar 7:1-13
We remember how the Evangelist Matthew records the words of the Lord Jesus that “heaven and earth will sooner pass away than one stroke of the law” (Matt 5:18). What, then, is the point of conflict between Christ and the Pharisees? It seems that, for the Pharisees, the law is a set of commandments whose observance enables a person to please God, draw nearer to Him, and fulfill His will for humanity. This is the approach of any religious consciousness for which the essence of the relationship between God and humanity consists in performing certain actions that God prescribes. A familiar approach, is it not? What, then, does Christ say about the law? In His interpretation, love for one’s parents takes precedence over an offering to the Temple, and purity of heart is more important than cleanliness of hands. This is what the Mosaic law is directed toward. Therefore, to live according to God’s law, we must pay closer attention to the heart and to our relationships with God and other people than to the observance of laws or rules.