Mark 7:14-23

Nothing Outside Defiles

Mark 7:18 NASB95

And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

This teaching was so shocking to the Jews that even the disciples cold not believe what Jesus was saying. All Jews lived a life of dietary regulation from Leviticus 11. The Lord had laid out for them what clean animals they could eat and unclean animals that they could not eat. It was based on the animals split hoofs and chewing on the cud. Lev. 11:3-4

Leviticus 11:3–4 NASB95

‘Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. ‘Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which divide the hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you.

The reason the Lord set these differences were for symbolic reasons. The split hoof represented a separation of good and evil. An animal that did not have a split hoof represented no difference in good and evil, therefore it was unclean.

The other criteria was chewing of the cud. AN animal that chewed cud would allow the food to enter the stomach but would then regurgitate it so it could fully digest the food. This was symbolic of a person that reads God’s word. They should not just read it, they should meditate on it and live it therefore fully digesting it . This is why an animal that did not chew cud was considered unclean.

Jesus was pointing out that the animal itself was not unclean. They were simply symbols of that which were unclean. The animal did not make the person unclean.

There was such a strong devotion to this law that people were willing to die to keep this law. William Barclay points out: No Jew ever believed that, and orthodox Jews do not believe it even now. Leviticus 11 has a long list of animals that are unclean and may not be used for food. How very seriously this was taken can be seen from many an incident in Maccabaean times. At that time the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, was determined to root out the Jewish faith. One of the things he demanded was that the Jews should eat pork, pig’s flesh; but they died in their hundreds rather than do so. ‘But many in Israel were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die’ (1 Maccabees 1:62–3). Fourth Maccabees (chapter 7) tells the story of a widow and her seven sons. It was demanded that they should eat pig’s flesh. They refused. The first had his tongue cut out and the ends of his limbs cut off; he was then roasted alive in a pan. The second had his hair and the skin of his skull torn off. One by one they were tortured to death while their aged mother looked on and cheered them on; they died rather than eat meat which to them was unclean.

Against this, Jesus made his revolutionary statement that nothing that goes into a person can make that person unclean. He was wiping out at one stroke the laws for which Jews had suffered and died. No wonder the disciples were amazed.

William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark, The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 199.

Jesus in essence was saying that everything was clean to eat. We also see this in Peter’s vision found in Acts 10:10-16

Acts 10:10–16 NASB95

But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

It is not what goes into the stomach that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of a person that makes them unclean.

What Comes Out Makes a Man Unclean

Jesus explains that sin originates in the heart. Sin is what defiles a person Mark 7:21-23

Mark 7:21–23 NASB95

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Let’s take a look at some of the evil that comes from our hearts and dig a little deep to understand why and how they originate.

Evil Thoughts

These are deliberate decisions to violate the law of God. They are contemplated and run through our conscience and chosen acts to violate the Law God gives for us to have peace.

Fornication

The Greek word used here is porneiai. It represents all sexual immoralities. This includes promiscuity, homosexuality, pornography, and prostitution.

Thefts

This means a robber. This is a person that takes something that does not belong to them. This happens when someone wants something they can’t have because they can’t afford it or the owner is not willing to part with it.

Murders

Some think this means to kill someone however Jesus clarifies in Matt. 5:21-22

Matthew 5:21–22 NASB95

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Why is it that we become so angry? James 4:1-3

James 4:1–3 NASB95

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

We get angry with someone when they don’t give us what we want.

Adulteries

This is any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. Most people don’t go out and decide one day that they are going to have an affair. It happens gradually through a series of poor circumstances and choices.

Coveting

The Gospel of Mark The Real Defilement (Mark 7:14–23)

It has been defined as the accursed love of having. It has been defined as ‘the spirit which snatches at that which it is not right to take’, ‘the baneful appetite for that which belongs to others’. It is the spirit which snatches at things, not to hoard them like a miser, but to spend them in lust and luxury. It has been defined as ‘Rapacious appetite for gain, not for its own sake, but for the pleasure of refunding it immediately through all the channels of pride and luxury.’ It is not the desire for money and things; it includes the desire for power, the insatiable lust of the flesh. Plato said, ‘The desire of man is like a sieve or pierced vessel which he ever tries to, and can never fill.’ Pleonexia is that lust for having which is in the heart of the person who sees happiness in things instead of in God.

Deceit

This is trickery. Use Trojan horse example. This is convincing someone of something that is not true or right.

Sensuality

This is desire for wanton pleasure. This person has lost the acknowledgement of shame. They have no boundaries.

Envy

Jealousy. They despise the happiness of others. They desire for them to be miserable.

Pride

Thinking more highly of oneself than they should. This is often a sin that often goes unseen.

Foolishness

The person who plays the fool due to moral folly