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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Cyril of Alexandria
For Christ, knowing the wickedness of those Pharisees, Himself purposely condescends to be occupied in admonishing them, after the manner of the best physicians, who bring remedies of their own making to those who are dangerously ill. Hence it follows, And he went in and sat down to meat. But what gave occasion for the words of Christ was, that the ignorant Pharisees were offended, that while men thought Him to be a great man and a prophet, He conformed not to their unreasonable customs. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
For example, even now, looking at their senseless custom of washing before eating food, He teaches that the soul must be cleansed by good deeds, since rinsing with water cleanses not the soul but the body. They, foolish ones, thought that through immersion in water and washing of the body, their soul was also cleansed along with the body. Therefore the Lord made use of the excellent example of the cup.
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
For every day before dinner the Pharisees washed themselves with water, as if a daily washing could be a cleansing of the heart. But the Pharisee thought within himself, yet did not give utterance to a word; nevertheless, He heard who perceived the secrets of the heart. Hence it follows, And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
Bede
The Pharisee began to think to himself why he had not washed before the meal. The evangelist Mark revealed the reason for the Pharisee's thought, saying, "For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands frequently, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash" (Mark 7).
Bonaventure
On account of which it is added: But the Pharisee began, pondering within himself, to say, that is, to seek the reason and cause, namely, why he had not been baptized, that is, washed according to the custom of the Jews, before the meal, and thereby to judge him as unclean and a despiser of the traditions of the fathers. Whence similarly the Pharisees are read to have objected to the Lord and his disciples in Matthew chapter fifteen: "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? …
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