Mark 7 - Clean and Unclean

Clean and Unclean

See also: Ministry of Jesus#Ritual cleanliness and Discourse on Defilement

Some Pharisees come from Jerusalem to see Jesus and see some of his disciples eating without washing their hands. Mark then explains to his audience the Jewish custom of washing before dinner, indicating a non-Jewish audience. They ask Jesus why they are not obeying the custom and Jesus replies with a quote from Isaiah 29:13 and tells them "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." (8). He rebukes them for letting a man who makes an offering to God, i.e. money to the priests, no longer help his parents, in violation of the fifth commandment. That this was done is not found in other sources of the period, although "...rabbinic Jewish texts suggest that vows may be broken in such circumstances." (Miller 29)

He calls people to listen to him and explains that "Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" (15) Later his disciples (students) tell him they didn't understand him and he scolds them for being "dull". He explains to them that food can't make you unclean but "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" (20-23) meaning intention of the "heart" is more important than ritual. What foods you eat will not matter to God. According to Kilgallen "...ultimately what is at stake here is knowledge of the divine will: Who knows best what God wants human beings to do." (135) This view is contrasted to the controversy, such as at the Council of Jerusalem, within the Early Church over just how much Mosaic law one must obey. Mark uses this story as evidence for his view in the Pauline direction, making scholars question how much of it is actually Jesus's own teaching and how much of it is Mark trying to win Gentile converts. If the author really is Saint Mark then this would indicate that his group, Peter's circle, had come around in the Pauline direction. The saying, not the explanation, however is also found in the Gospel of Thomas saying 14.