Jesus said that demand to wash hands before eating contradicts to God’s commandment.
Bibleist John Painter remarked:
«[I]t is difficult to see how the tradition of hand-washing was
opposed to any commandment of God. It was an addition to the biblical commandments but not obviously opposed to them» (P.107).
Difficult?
Jesus didn’t discuss the tradition. His enemies came to criticise him:
«And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, «Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?» (Mk 7:5).
This was the act of aggression through distortion act of bullying. They’ve distorted reality, because in reality not all disciples ate with unwashed hand: «[T]hey saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed» (Mk 7:2, ESV).
Pharisees were supposed to speak with these «some» disciples only.
They’ve used tradition for bullying. They violated the main commandment:
«[Y]ou shall love your neighbour as yourself» (Leviticus 18:).
Is this simple to see?
Oh, no. It is very hard to see (and feel) that any reproach is a form of miscommunication and sometimes, like in this story, a form of aggression. Is it possible to to positively criticize? Sure. But this is a very hard work and usually it needs some creative and inventive skills.
John Painter. Just James. The Brother of Jesus in History and Traditio.n (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament. University of South Carolina Press, 2004. 439 pp. Lat_112.
Painter, John. Mark’s Gospel. Routledge, 1997. Pp. 254. Lat_113
Painter, John. Quest for the Messiah. T&T Clark, 2001. Lat_114.
Painter, John, David A. deSilva. James and Jude: (A Cultural, Exegetical, Historical, & Theological Bible Commentary on the New Testament) (Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament) Lat_115.
Painter, John. 1, 2, and 3 John. Sacra Pagina, Volume 18. Liturgical Press, 2008. Lat_116.