One has the impression that many of the regulations of the Law had their origin in very sensible precautions. The Pharisees and the scribes were shocked because the disciples of Jesus ate without first washing their hands. Most of us, I am sure, have been asked by our mothers if we had washed our hands before approaching the dinner table. Similarly, the washing of cups and dishes before eating seems a very sensible thing to do. Why then does Jesus call them hypocrites? It is because they have raised a hygienic precaution to the level of a divine commandment and measured a person's religious virtue by their observance. They have reduced the service and love of God to purely mechanical actions. It is, in the words of Scripture, 'mere lip service'. At the same time, the real service of God is being neglected or the words of the law are twisted to avoid doing acts which are genuinely good.

So Jesus uses the example of people pretending to set aside money for God's service so that they will not have to use it to support their elderly parents. It is like people using loopholes in the law to avoid paying their fair share of taxes towards the support of the community. It is legal but is it morally right and good? In other ways too we can be more worried about observing abstinence on Friday than abstaining from saying or doing hurtful things to those around us.