Mark 7:1-5

¹ Now after the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ² they saw that some of his disciples were eating with ordinary hands, that is, without ceremonially washing them. ³ (Because the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they vigorously wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴ and they do not eat anything from the market unless they immerse it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the immersion of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with ordinary hands?”

not like us

The Pharisees and the scribes were convinced they had found the formula for pleasing God. Their routines felt safe, their traditions felt holy, and their discipline made them feel set apart. Then along came the followers of an unconventional Rabbi—men and women who didn’t fit the mold, didn’t keep the expected rituals, and didn’t seem troubled by the boundaries the religious experts guarded so fiercely. To the Pharisees, this kind of devotion looked careless, even irreverent. They could not imagine a life with God that wasn’t built on their definitions of purity and godliness.

We still meet people every day who don’t share our assumptions or follow our rhythms. They don’t see the world the way we do, and they feel no obligation to adopt our habits. And sometimes, if we’re honest, they expose the fact that we Christians can cling to practices Jesus never required. Yet the witness we offer the world is not found in rigid rituals or inherited expectations. It is found in the quiet, confident freedom Christ gives—the freedom to not be ruled by the pressures, fears, or standards that shape everyone else. When we live unburdened by the need to fit in or keep up, our lives become a signpost pointing toward a different kind of kingdom.

But that freedom must never harden into superiority. If we begin to look down on those who are still shaped by the world’s expectations, we slip into the very posture that blinded the Pharisees. The moment we start measuring others by our standards, we lose sight of grace. The gospel frees us not only from the world’s demands but also from the impulse to judge those who are still caught in them.

Lord, teach us to walk in the spacious freedom of the gospel—freedom that shines, freedom that invites, freedom that makes people wonder what kind of Savior could produce such peace.