Matt 15:10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
Mark 7:18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” ( Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Scripture bomb! Woot!
In the first one Jesus was showing that the Pharisees misrepresented the purpose of the Sabbath and that their traditions invalidated God's Word. vs 9 explains "It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines." Though, even the Apostle's didn't get the meaning of the illustration at first, vs 15.
These scripture in reference to
Matthew 12:34 "Offspring of vipers, how can YOU speak good things, when you are wicked? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
Mark 7:15 "There is nothing from outside a man that passes into him that can defile him; but the things that issue forth out of a man are the things that defile a man." (part of the account you quoted)
Ephesians 4:29 "Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers."
1 Timothy 4:4 "The reason for this is that every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving"
James 3:6 "Well, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by Gehenna".
Secondly, in Mark I think you're picking out that little point about "thus he declared all foods clean".
Basically, the point is that a person does not become spiritually defiled by what he eats, such as by eating food with hands that were not washed according to some religious ritual. Mark 7:1-3 shows that the Pharisees and scribes had taken issue with Jesus because his disciples ate with "defiled hands, that is, unwashed ones" while the religious leaders 'did not eat unless they washed their hands up to the elbows.'
Mark’s comment would reasonably be in line with the historical environment present when Jesus said this. The Mosaic law was still in effect, so certain foods, such as pork, were 'unclean' to God’s servants. That continued to be the case until Jesus death brought to end the Law with its dietary restrictions about clean and unclean food.
Mark logically was talking about food that was "clean" from the standpoint of the then applicable Mosaic law. The tradition laden religious leaders felt that in eating this food they would be made unclean unless first they followed complex cleansing rituals. And they tried to impose on all believers these rituals that were not part of God's law but were man-made traditions. So, when Jesus pointed out the error of the religious leaders thinking, Mark could rightly add an observation as to the emphasis of what Jesus said. Food that the Mosaic law permitted would not defile the eater themselves just because he had not ritualistically washed his hands.
Yeah, it's kind of turning into a peeing match (not my intention). I don't want you to get the wrong impression Tenny, I'm just trying to reason with you based on what the scriptures say.
