During Jesus’ ministry, he and his disciples were accused of many things, from breaking the Sabbath to working with Beelzebul. In Matthew 15, we see another charge laid upon Jesus’ disciples.
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Matthew 15:1-2 (NIV)
One thing I learned as a kid was to wash my hands before eating. After all, God only knew where my hands had been during the day, so having clean hands at the dinner table was required. Through the years, I still endeavor to have clean hands before I eat. Given those circumstances, why wasn’t it a big deal for Jesus’ disciples to not wash their hands before eating? Considering I had to wash my hands as a kid before eating, why not Jesus’ disciples?
The issue with Jesus’ disciples not washing their hands before eating had nothing to do with cleanliness. At least not physical cleanliness. Instead, the Pharisees were concerned about being ceremonially unclean because they might have touched a gentile or been touched by a gentile. Mark gives us more insight.
(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
Mark 7:3-4 (NIV)
If a gentile had touched a cup, pitcher, etc., they would have made it ceremonially unclean. Thus, eating from such a vessel or with unwashed hands would make the Jewish person unclean. At least, according to the elders. Hence, Jesus’ retort.
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
Matthew 15:10-11 (NIV)
Thus, we can see that the issue with washing one’s hands before eating had nothing to do with physical cleanliness but ceremonial cleanliness. Therefore, if you’re wondering if Jesus had something against people washing their hands before eating, you can rest easy knowing that it’s okay for you to wash your hands before you eat—unless, of course, you’re a Pharisee and you’re only doing it because you think you’ll be unclean.
