Smoodock's Blog

Immediately after he spoke with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus called the people to him and told them that nothing eaten can defile a man, because the natural function of the body disposes of everything we eat. Rather, it was things that entered the heart that defiled him, because when those things come out of the man they come out in the form of sinful behavior (Mark 7:14-16). Those are the things that defile all men.

Some scholars try to tell us that this is where Jesus made all unclean foods (cp. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14) clean, but this couldn’t be true. If he did, why was it so difficult for Peter to understand, when Jesus actually did make all foods clean (Acts 10:14-16)?[1] So, if Jesus spoke against the word of God in Mark 7:15, 18-19 not only would he give the scribes and Pharisees the evidence they needed to condemn him, but he would have contradicted his own argument against the scribes and Pharisees.[2] We need to keep Jesus’ words in the context of Mark’s argument. The scribes and Pharisees argued: “Bread eaten with unwashed hands was as if it had been filth.”[3] It is this that Jesus denied, saying it cannot defile a man, because bodily functions eliminate it completely. Rather, it was the spiritual food or doctrine that defiled him, because, as I said above, when it comes out of the man, it does so in the form of sinful behavior.

Upon saying these things, Jesus left the multitudes and returned to his home in Capernaum, and there his disciples asked him to explain the parable (Mark 7:17). Matthew elaborates on Mark’s testimony, saying Jesus’ disciples also told him that the Pharisees were offended in his teaching, saying nothing one eats defiles the man. Nevertheless, Jesus told his disciples that they didn’t need to be concerned about such things, because the Pharisees were not a group raised up by God. Nothing that has its source in the labor of men has eternal value. Only the Lord gives everlasting life or everlasting value to anything. It is the ultimate fate of blind leaders (i.e., those who don’t consider the word of God of any value) to lead those who follow them into destruction (Matthew 15:12-14).

According to Mark, Jesus seems surprised that the disciples didn’t understand his parable, and that he had to point out the differences between what goes into the heart from what goes into the stomach. It is evident from nature alone that, if a man eats food with dirty hands, such a thing cannot defile him. To be defiled is a spiritual matter, not a physical one. The food a man eats is digested, and it is, afterward, expelled from his body, and gives him strength to labor in whatever work he is pleased to do. How can such a thing benefit him according to righteousness or defile him according to unrighteousness? Eating with unwashed hands in and of itself is powerless to defile him.

On the other hand, the heart is another matter, indeed (Isaiah 29:13)! Whatever enters the heart is a matter that one thinks about, considers its benefits and its drawbacks. It is digested spiritually, and comes out of him in the form of behavior. Dwelling upon the word of God (Psalm 119: 97-103) would come out of him in the form of righteous behavior, while dwelling upon evil would come out of him in the form of sinful behavior (2Chronicles 12:14; Jeremiah 7:24; 16:12). In fact, Jesus mentions six evil thoughts, that when they are nurtured come out of a man’s heart in the form of six evil works. Evil thoughts, such as covetousness, deceit, sensuality, envy, pride, and wickedness or malice produce sinful behavior like adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, foolishness or recklessness, and slander. All such things come from within a man’s heart and defile him (Mark 7:18-23).

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[1] The metaphor of all kinds of animals in Peter’s vision pointing to unclean gentiles being made clean (Acts 10:28), doesn’t work unless the unclean food of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 were made ceremonially clean also.

[2] See my previous study: The Origin and Effect of Jewish Tradition.

[3] Edersheim: Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; Book 3; chapter 31; page 338. See also Babylonian Talmud; Sotah 4b “Whoever eats bread without previously washing the hands is as though he had intercourse with a harlot…”