“So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples follow our age-old tradition” They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people hone Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands form God.’
For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.” (vv 5-8, NLT)
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” He said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and His disciples asked Him what He meant by the parable He had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” He asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your mouth cannot defile you? For food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes to the sewer.’ (By saying this,He declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
And then He added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things from from within; they are what defile you.” (vv 14-20, NLT)