What does Mark 7:6 mean?

When the Pharisees and scribes push Jesus' disciples to follow manmade tradition, Jesus responds with Scripture. Mark 7:6–7 include a paraphrase of Isaiah 29:13 which reads "And the Lord said: 'Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men…" Isaiah preached this warning to Judah through Jerusalem, its capital. About one hundred years later, Judah was taken into exile in Babylon for those crimes.

The great irony is that while the "traditions of the elders" that the Pharisees and scribes so carefully follow (Mark 7:5) were designed to prevent Israel from again falling into catastrophic spiritual failure, the hearts of those who obey the traditions are no better than the idol worshipers in Isaiah's day. An idol is an idol, be it an image of Baal in a temple or belief that adherence to a manmade law can save you from the wrath of God.

Since the day Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees had been searching for a way to destroy Him (Mark 3:1–6). Here, they try to publicly shame Him, condemning the smallest of His disciple's actions in an attempt to cast doubt on Him, His ministry, and His teaching. Instead of debating, Jesus exposes that their holiness is all talk.