This coming Sunday is the 22nd Sunday. 14 He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”…. 21 From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Notice that the Pharisee’s attempt to discredit Jesus as an authoritative teacher failed. Jesus summons the crowd and their response indicates that Jesus’ opponents have failed in their attempt. Jesus resumes his role as authoritative teacher (cf. 1:27).

Jesus asserts that nothing one eats or drinks can defile a person (v. 15a). Instead of concern with external categories, Jesus insists that impurity comes from within. “Hellenistic Jewish writers explained Jewish rules concerning clean and unclean animals in moralizing terms. Animals that Jews are not permitted to eat exhibit undesirable moral traits. The original challenge did not concern food that is either impure or non-kosher but ritual washing associated with meals. Jesus’ reply, which refers to what is “taken into” and “comes out” of a person, shifts to rules that governed the behavior of all Jews. Readers have seen that Jesus was not concerned with being defiled by contact with persons like the leper (1:41) and the hemorrhaging woman (5:30–34). He could even command the leper to carry out the purification rites required by the Law (1:44).” [Perkins, 607]

The first half, “what goes in cannot defile,” is justified by an anatomical observation. Food travels through the digestive tract into the latrine; it never comes near a person’s heart (vv. 18–19). The second half, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile,” uses a catalog of vices to depict the inner corruption of the heart. The vices include actions proscribed in the Ten Commandments (theft, murder, adultery, avarice or envy, deceit). Consequently, Jesus continues to uphold the commandment of God, which his opponents undermine.

Rejection of kosher rules and other purification rituals takes away the observable outward markers that separate Jews from their Gentile neighbors. A Jewish teacher might insist that the moral virtues in Jesus’ list are just as important as kosher rules and that both are central to Jewish identity. External rules remind Jews that they are different from other nations. Mark’s generalization makes a claim about the Christian community as a whole. External practices do not distinguish its members from their non-Christian neighbors. This claim has important implications for the next episode, in which Jesus enters Gentile territory and heals the child of a Gentile woman.

Image credit: The Pharisees Question Jesus | James Tissot | Brooklyn Museum | PD-US