Many religions and systems of belief contradict each other. However, one thing about which most religions agree is the need for cleansing. God is pure and we who are impure cannot worship Him or come into His presence unless we have been cleansed. The question is what makes a person “clean” or “unclean”? An even more important question is who determines whether a person is “unclean” or not. Do we decide on the basis of tradition, or is there another standard?
These questions brought Jesus into conflict with the religious leaders of His day. In chapter 7, verses 1 through 13 of the Gospel which bears his name, Mark writes, “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?” He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.””
Mark does not tell us why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law traveled from Jerusalem to observe what Jesus was doing. However, as religious leaders they had a responsibility to guard people against heretical teaching. If their purpose was to evaluate whether Jesus’ teaching was true and correct, what they observed distressed them. How could Jesus’ teaching promote purity when His disciples neglected what the tradition of the elders said was necessary for purity?
Jesus turned the tables on the religious leaders by pointing out that they gave a higher priority to their own traditions than to what God said. To make His point, Jesus quoted two portions of the Law God gave through Moses which make it very clear that people are to honor their parents. In spite of this clear teaching, the religious leaders promoted a tradition which excused people from providing for their parents in their old age. The implication of Jesus’ statement is clear: How could the religious leaders claim that they were serving and making sacrifices to God when they were disobeying what God said? They were hypocrites.
The same problem still exists today. There are many people who claim to worship and serve God. They spend their lives in religious activity. Yet, the truth is that they will not obey what God has clearly said in the Scriptures. We need to ask ourselves whether we obey God’s instructions or whether we follow the traditions of men.
Jesus then addressed the issue of purity which the religious leaders raised. In verses 14 through 23, Mark writes, “He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.””
Contrary to what many people teach Jesus pointed out that it is not what goes into our physical body, but what is in our heart which indicates our spiritual condition. It is true that in the Law of Moses, God forbade the Jewish people from eating certain foods. However, it is very possible for someone to refrain from eating those foods yet be impure. Outward conformity to God’s law is of little value if we are not pure on the inside. Another time Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23:25-26 NIV)
Since it is the things in our heart, not what we eat which makes us “unclean” we can draw the conclusion that no food, in itself, is “unclean”. Whether we eat or refrain from eating does not make us “clean”. Rather, it is our spiritual condition which prompts us to obey what God said about eating or not eating. This is why Mark comments that Jesus declared all foods “clean”.
Like the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, many people have the idea that a person becomes “unclean” from what he does. However, Jesus pointed out that evil actions result from the evil which resides in a person’s heart. It follows that it is not the action which makes someone “unclean” but the inner evil which prompted the action. Nor is action the only symptom or result of inner evil. It is possible for a person to refrain from evil action, yet still be guilty of evil thoughts and desires. In either case, whether we commit an evil act or only think evil thoughts, it is still an expression of evil and it is that inner evil which makes us impure and “unclean.” On another occasion Jesus gave an illustration of this. He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28 NIV)
What about us? Is our righteousness merely outward, or are we clean on the inside?