NOTES for Mar 7:1-13
We remember how Matthew the Evangelist quotes the Lord Jesus' words that "heaven and earth will pass away sooner than one stroke of the law" (Matt. 5:18). What, then, is the opposition between Christ and the Pharisees? It seems that for the Pharisees the law is a set of commandments by doing which a person can please God, draw closer to Him, and fulfill His will for humanity. This is the approach of any religious consciousness for which the essence of God's relationship with a person consists in performing certain actions that God commands people to carry out. A familiar approach, is it not? What does Christ say about the law? In His interpretation, love for parents is higher than an offering to the temple, and purity of heart is more important than purity of hands. This is what the Law of Moses is directed toward. Therefore, in order to live according to God's law, one must be more attentive to the heart and to relationships with God and people than to the fulfillment of laws or rules.