The Tradition of the Elders

In Mark 7, Jesus and his disciples were rebuked by Pharisees and Scribes for eating without proper washing of the hands. Washing of the hands before eating had nothing to do with germs as we understand it today, but had to do with laws of purity and holiness which according to tradition were handed down from Moses.

The Pharisees in Jerusalem believed that Moses received 2 sets of laws; the oral traditions which were memorized and passed down from generation to generation, until they were finally written down 200 years after Jesus, and the second set of laws which were written down and formed into what we call the Bible.

Pharisees from Galilee were not as sold on the oral laws as the Jerusalem Pharisees, and this may explain why Jesus, who was Galilean, had little interest or respect for the oral tradition.

There was a lot of discussion about both forms of Law among the rabbis. Without ceasing, they discussed certain subjects relating to ritual purity. The Mishnah was written down around A.D. 220 in order to remember what the rabbis in Jesus' day were discussing. Here is a small portion of what was said about the washing of hands:

Mishna - Mas. Yadayim Chapter 2
MISHNAH 3. HANDS BECOME UNCLEAN AND ARE MADE CLEAN AS FAR AS THE WRIST. HOW SO? IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER THE HANDS AS FAR AS THE WRIST AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER THE HANDS BEYOND THE WRIST
AND THE LATTER FLOWED BACK TO THE HANDS, THE HANDS NEVERTHELESS BECOME CLEAN.13 IF HE POURED THE FIRST AND THE SECOND WATER OVER THE HANDS BEYOND THE WRIST AND THEY FLOWED BACK TO THE HANDS, THE HANDS REMAIN UNCLEAN.14 IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS AND THEN CHANGED HIS MIND AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER BOTH HIS HANDS, THEY REMAIN UNCLEAN.15 IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER BOTH HIS HANDS AND THEN CHANGED HIS MIND AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS, HIS ONE HAND BECOMES CLEAN. IF HE POURED WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS AND RUBBED IT ON THE OTHER HAND IT REMAINS UNCLEAN. 16IF HE RUBBED IT ON HIS HEAD OR ON THE WALL 17 IT BECOMES CLEAN. WATER MAY BE POURED OVER THE HANDS OF FOUR OR FIVE PERSONS, EACH HAND BEING BY THE SIDE OF THE OTHER, OR BEING ONE ABOVE THE OTHER, PROVIDED THAT THE HANDS ARE HELD LOOSELY SO THAT THE WATER FLOWS BETWEEN THEM.

As you can see, details were very important to the Pharisees of Jerusalem, so when they saw that Jesus and his disciples were eating without any hand washing, they were shocked that Jesus would do that. They looked for anything to fault Jesus, just like we do today to those we don't like; and Jesus made sure they had something to fault him with, using his offence as a stepping stone for discussion about the Oral Law.