Something to think about for today’s reading (which is actually 1-23, not 1-25): It’s easy for us to criticize the Pharisees and other teachers for their seeming obsession with things like washing their hands. But we should also remember that many faithful Jews were trying to find ways to differentiate themselves from the general culture. From scholar Pheme Perkins: “The Israelite community needed to remember that it was different from the nations in order to preserve its faith in God as the true creator, ruler, and judge of the world. Otherwise, the gods of the more powerful nations that conquered Israel would seem to be the appropriate objects of worship.
Jesus reminded his listeners, however, that these laws were not the object of worship. Our hearts (and lips and hands and feet) should be offered to God.