“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

That belief is as old as Judaism. Jewish teachers equated being clean with holiness. It was tradition to wash hands upon waking, scrubbing wrists and raising the arms to let water wash down to elbows.

Those that kept to themselves, the Jews believed, stayed ceremonially clean. However, if one encountered others, they’d have to wash their hands again before coming to God. In this passage, they reprimand Jesus’ disciples for disobeying that tradition.

Meticulous hand washing was a simple, good tradition. It still is, but that’s all it is. It isn’t God’s law. In fact, this manmade rule led Jewish people to judge others, to feel pride, to put more value on people’s bodies than on their hearts. Instead of helping them come to God clean, hand washing was making them dirty!

Today, our churches, our holidays, our lives are full of traditions — manmade rules we’ve included in worship. They’ve been created with good intentions but, like ritual hand washing, can cause all sorts of heart trouble if they’re treated like scripture.

God desires our worship, undefiled. No matter what state our bodies are in, He welcomes us to seek His peace, to wonder at His creation, and to praise Him with sincerity.