Telling God to Wash His Hands

Imagine men trying to tell God the difference between right and wrong. Christ had to deal with that in Luke 11:37-52 as He was challenged about washing His hands before a meal. It is not a bad idea to wash your hands before you eat, but let us not forget that Jesus is God, and God makes the rules. Some have argued that Jesus simply excused Himself from the law of God because He is God, but Mark 7:3 makes it clear that the hand washing was based on the traditions of the elders rather than the law of God. So Christ was not ignoring His own laws, He was ignoring man‘s law.
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The Pharisees where the ones who were upset about the hand washing. They were known for being zealous over the law. Now following God’s standards of right and wrong is a good thing. The problem was that they had replaced God’s rules with man’s rules and became so focused on following the manmade standard that they missed what God had commanded. Thus Christ says in Luke 11:42, “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
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Things like washing hands before a meal are good. In fact, my mom used to command it, and living on a farm where we got dirty outside, it was a good idea. Although it was something we should have done, it was not needed to obey God’s law. Giving mint and rue and herbs was good too, but it was not required by the law of God.
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What really made the scenario in Luke 11 repulsive, was that man was rebuking God using a manmade standard of right and wrong. That problem was not isolated to those of 2000 years ago. We face it today as well. Man still wants to make up his own rules and exclude God’s rules. This is a problem shared by the nonreligious and religious alike. The nonreligious still have a standard of right and wrong but they exclude God from that standard. Too often the religious elevate their traditions above God’s Word.
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After rebuking the Pharisees, Jesus as well rebuked the scribes. They were the ones who studied the scriptures. Again a good thing- a thing commanded by God. The problem was that as they studied scripture, they redefined it through their interpretations in such a way that it was hardly recognizable. No wonder they were in conflict with Christ.
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Many looked to the oral traditions of the scribes as being more authoritative than God’s word because it was the interpretation of God’s word. We often see the same approach in churches today. We need to decide- will we believe God and His word as it is written, or man’s distorted definition of what God’s word is saying.
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I must be honest. There are debates over certain passages of scripture. That is one of the reasons why we have so many denominations. But the problem is not solved when we ignore God’s word or even minimize God’s word by elevating the standards of man or even the decrees of the church above the Word of God. What it comes down to is that we must look at what God’s word actually says and not twist it no matter what our preconceived notions may be. You see, we as men have no right to tell God what His word should say.