This question addresses the practices of the first century Jewish religion. In these passages, Jesus teaches about fasting, tithing, and rituals of cleanliness. These outward works were equated with a relationship with God. This is true of all religions, still. The idea is that if you do certain things and don’t do other things according to God’s rules, then you win his approval and earn a form of righteousness. But Jesus teaches that Christianity is different. Christianity gets past the outward deeds and goes straight for the heart. For Jesus, it is possible to be religious and far from God. We may take this opportunity to teach on some major world religions and compare them to the Christ following life.