The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t careful with ritual washings before meals … Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact: These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they are worshipping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, ditching God’s command and taking up the latest fads.” (Mark 7: 1 – 2, 6 – 8) 

Ignorance of the law does not mean we are free from keeping it. It is our responsibility to know what the laws are. Ignorance is no defence. Maybe that’s why there are so many lawyers.

Reading legal documents is not easy for the untrained person. From a single will to a house closing, a lawyer’s job is to make sure nothing is left out and everything is said exactly the way it needs to be said.

Consequently too many of us nonlawyers are afraid of the law. Standing before an “officer of the law” frightens us. And going to court is even less appealing. Ironically, we live in a society where the amount of litigation is increasing all the time. So often our goal becomes to “settle out of court” and avoid the whole process.

This is in direct contradiction to the way the chosen people of Israel looked upon the law. They loved it precisely because God was to be found in the law, and the law set them apart as God’s chosen people. To keep the law, to keep the covenant made with God, was the highest way of sharing your love for God. Jesus breaks this law. He challenges those who were noted for keeping the law, the Pharisees, and calls them hypocrites. The letter of the law is not as important as what is in our hearts. This is the new law of love that we as God’s newly chosen people must live by. It’s harder and won’t get easier.