Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel would have shocked many of his fellow Jews. When he teaches that “everything that goes into a person from the outside cannot defile” they would have been shocked since Leviticus 11 gives a whole list of animals that are not to be eaten since they defile and make one unclean. In today’s Gospel we hear: “Thus he declared all foods clean.” The shocking thing here is that Jesus is not just setting aside or abrogating a tradition or custom, he is rejecting a teaching of the Scripture or Torah. Jesus shows his authority as the Son of God to guide us to God’s will even when it seems to go against something we have learned and even carried with us as “revealed truth”.
As Christians, Jesus is our sure and true guide to the interpretation of the Scripture. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus rejects the Torah teaching on retaliation:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ (Exodus 21:24). But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.” (Matthew 5:38-39).
So, as Christians we cannot cite this Scripture teaching (“an eye for an eye…”) as a justification for Capital Punishment since Jesus explicitly rejects this teaching.
While “all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16) not all Scripture has the same weight or authority, and not all Scripture is normative. We as Christians do not follow the Kosher food laws in Leviticus since Jesus has rejected this teaching as we hear in today’s Gospel:
“‘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.)” (Mark 7:18-19).
Jesus teaches it is anger and hatred that comes from within us; that defiles or makes us unclean, not the foods that we eat. Like the disciples in today’s Gospel, you and I are challenged to recognize that at times we lack understanding into God’s will. We need to humbly turn to Jesus and allow him to shock us and open our eyes to a true understanding of God’s will.
Image: “Picnic Food” by avlxyz is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.