Mark 7:14-23

Mark 7:14-23

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,

“Hear me, all of you, and understand.

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;

but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

When he got home away from the crowd

his disciples questioned him about the parable.

He said to them,

“Are even you likewise without understanding?

Do you not realize that everything

that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,

since it enters not the heart but the stomach

and passes out into the latrine?”

(Thus he declared all foods clean.)

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.

From within the man, from his heart,

come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,

adultery, greed, malice, deceit,

licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, the coming of your Son has overcome all the barriers that separate people. We are able to be united in Christ as brothers and sisters and as your children. I long for the blessing of the eternal life of heaven.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Three Purposes of the Old Dietary Restrictions: Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel takes place immediately after the Pharisees from Jerusalem challenged him about his seeming lack of observance of their traditions. The Law of Moses provided strict dietary rules that had several purposes. First, they were a protection against foods that could be dangerous if not cooked or prepared properly. Second, they had a penitential dimension. The People of Israel had to make a sacrifice by not eating certain foods, like shellfish, pork, and certain cuts of beef. Third, the dietary laws protected the People of Israel from contact and table fellowship with the Gentile (pagan) nations. But a day was coming when the over 25 dietary restrictions, contained in the Law of Moses, would be rescinded. This was because the blessing given first to the children of Israel would be extended to the Gentiles. The cultural and social barrier between Israel and the Gentiles would no longer be necessary.

2. True Defilement: The conflict with the Pharisees about their traditions takes place between two bread miracles – one for 5,000 in the territory of Israel and one for the 4,000 in Gentile territory. Mark uses this to indicate that a transition would be happening – a transition between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Pharisees sought Old Covenant righteousness by increasing the number of rules and restrictions and adding their traditions to the Law of Moses. They thought that they could be defiled by the food they ate or by their interactions with public sinners or Gentiles. True defilement comes not from the food we eat but from within the human heart. Interestingly, Jesus waits until he is alone with his disciples before explaining the meaning of his parable to the crowds about food and defilement. It marks a radical social and cultural shift for the people of God, and it will take time for this radical teaching about the dietary laws of the Old Covenant to be assimilated.

3. True Righteousness: Jesus brought the Old Covenant to fulfillment in the New and taught that true righteousness is primarily a divine gift and not a human achievement. The Old Law gave knowledge of right and wrong, but didn’t empower the people of God to do what is good and avoid what is evil. This profoundly changes in the New Covenant. We are empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit to live true righteousness. Practices in the New Covenant, such as fasting and abstinence from certain foods on Fridays, sanctify us when they are empowered by divine grace. Such practices are of little or no value when they are not accompanied by charity and grace.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, the New Adam, bring about your righteousness in me. Fill me with your grace so that I may do good works and imitate your holiness of life.

Living the Word of God: How am I living the righteousness of the New Covenant? Am I empowered by God’s grace to do good works of charity and mercy? Or do my works look like the works of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) or the works of the flesh (unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly)?