Did Jesus Really Declare All Foods Clean? Questions From My Son Series, Part 2

Did Jesus really declare all foods clean?

In continuing our series of questions we look at did Jesus really declare all foods clean.  From my son Andy (Part 1 herePart 2 here and Part 3 here),  who is seeking the truth found in the scriptures, but not through the eyes of church doctrine we visit the next subject.  This second batch of questions in the series shifts topics and is phrased like this:

“Secondly, can you explain Mark 9:7 to me I believe that is it about when Yeshua is speaking to the Pharisees and is telling them it’s not what goes in your mouth that defiles you it’s what comes out of it then he (Yeshua) declared all food clean.”

 Getting around Isla Contradora.

Andy getting around Isla Contradora with Linda in tote.

This is a very good question that requires a much deeper understanding and more time to research than the average church goers want to spend.  Most church attendees want the message on a time table, not exceed 45 minutes, and then wonder where are we going to ‘pig’ out for brunch?  Gaining a relationship with the Creator in truth is far too demanding.

Mark 9:7 or Mark 7:19?

First thing I noticed is that the scripture reference does not match the quoted scripture.  So looking at the reference we find:

Then a cloud enveloped them; and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mar 9:7 CJB)

This actually is rather funny when you understand that this refers to an event where the Father, Yehovah, says this is the promised Messiah and you must listen to him.  Okay, I don’t need to be told twice, so I will listen.  Haha!

Actually, I believe the scripture quote is from Mark 7:19:

because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (Mar 7:19 NAS)

So we will work from this scripture instead of the previous of Mark 7:9.

Can you explain Mark 7:19 to me?

So we will work from this scripture instead of the previous of Mark 7:9.  Taking this into context requires reading from Mark 7 starting at verse 1 through verse 23:

Mark 7:1 And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” 14 And after He called the multitude to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” 17 And when leaving the multitude, He had entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) 20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mar 7:1-23 NAS)

This is a rather strong case for the Pharisees and Sadducees wanting to capture and Kill Yeshua (Jesus) because he challenges their authority directly and in front of the people.

Interesting enough, another author writes about this same event.  This is also found in Matthew chapter 15.  Looking at verses 1 to 20 we find the event again:

 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 “But you say, ‘Whoever shall say to his father or mother, “Anything of mine you might have been helped by has been given to God,” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And thus you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'” 10 And after He called the multitude to Him, He said to them, “Hear, and understand. 11 “Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” 15 And Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And He said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? 18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” (Mat 15:1-20 NAS)

When we compare the two versions, we do see some slight differences.  Most of the discrepancies are slight wording except one where Mark inserts an opinionated statement in verse 19 appropriately placed in parentheses.  We also see there are two encounters discussed.

The first encounter is between Jesus (Yeshua) and the Pharisees and Scribes over accusations against the disciples of Yeshua.  The second is a private encounter where the disciples get to ask for clarification in private of what was spoken towards the Pharisees and Scribes.

Digesting the first encounter

Jesus was ministering in Gennesaret, a city on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee.  The leaders of the Jews sent representatives some 97 miles north of Jerusalem to questions Yeshua.  They are terrified because the people are learning much truths from Yeshua and the attendance is down at their Synagogues because of the masses going out to listen to Him teach.

The complaint brought against the disciples is that they are not following the rules, commands and traditions of the elders, otherwise known as the Jews.  The Jews created additional commands and rituals that were never part of the commands given to Moses.

Specifically they say that the disciples are not washing their hands according to the rules and regulations established by the elders including a prayer stating that Yehovah commanded them to wash their hands a certain way.  This is known as a ‘ritual cleansing’ of the food.  This is a complete lie and also a violation of the commandments of Yehovah who said “do not add to or take away from these commands”.

Yeshua answers them with a question asking to the point of why do your traditions violate the commands of God.  Interesting in the Matthew account that the disciples pointed out that the Pharisees and Scribes were offended at being corrected.

Chewing on the private questions of the disciples.

Privately, Peter asks Jesus (Yeshua) to explain the parable to them.  This leads us to the questioned statement where supposedly Jesus declared pig and lobster clean.

Firstly, notice that declaration is only made in Mark and is also shown as an insert into the text.  This is not in Matthew at all, nor even applied. But let’s run with this scripture anyway.  Looking at Mark 7:19:

 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (Mar 7:19 NAS)

Notice the comment is in parenthesis meaning it is commentary from the author.  It is widely believed that the author of the Gospel (or good news) of Mark was John Mark, the same one referred to in Acts:

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark. (Act 12:25 NAS)

John Mark or Mark was a traveling companion to Peter and also an Israelite like the others who started “The Way” movement after the resurrection of Yeshua.  Therefore, Mark was raised and lived his life as a “Jew” practicing the religion of the Jews under the direction of the Rabbis.

Separating the whites and yokes

When we look into the Greek about that statement, (Thus He declared all foods clean), the first thing that stands out is a word missing from the translation.  The Greek word there is <2511> καθαρίζω (katharizo) Meaning to cleanse, make clean or purify.  This is important because this ritual cleansing gets lost deeply in the English translations.

The Jews followed rituals that made the food “ritually” cleaned.  The question was not about food, but about was the food RITUALLY CLEANED as according to the Pharisees commands.   Remember, they were complaining that the disciples were not washing their hands.  What does ‘food’ have to do with ‘washing’ the hands?

In another translation which understands the customs of the land, The Complete Jewish Bible, they translate this verse as:

Mark 7:19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine.” (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.) (Mar 7:19 CJB)

Notice they understood that the Pharisees wanted the disciples of Yeshua to follow THEIR commands and not the commands of Yehovah (God.)  This explains the issue more thoroughly because of the context of the verse.  It also explains why this is NOT in the account written by Matthew.

Food, glorious food?

So is keeping scripture in context and in the context of the culture and people that received the scriptures, we need to look into the word “Food.”

Where in the New Testament is food defined?  Hint… it is not defined in the New Testament.  The word ‘food’ is used 241 times in the bible and only 41 times in the New Testament and not one time is the word defined.

Leviticus chapter 11 defines food for human consumption.  We read from verse 3:

 3 ‘Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. (Lev 11:3 NAS)

And again from verse 9:

 9 ‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: all that have fins and scales, those in the water, in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. (Lev 11:9 NAS)

Thus the definition of the word FOOD is plainly established.  We are at the same time given further clarification in neighboring verses like from verses 4-8, in case you just didn’t understand:

 ‘Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which divide the hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you. 5 ‘Likewise, the rock badger, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you; 6 the rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you; 7 and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you. 8 ‘You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you. (Lev 11:4-8 NAS)

And again from verses 10-12 the sea creatures are clarified:

10 ‘But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers, that do not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, 11 and they shall be abhorrent to you; you may not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses you shall detest. 12 ‘Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales is abhorrent to you. (Lev 11:10-12 NAS)

Notice that a strong message is being related, that you are to detest them lobsters and crabs, those mussels and oysters are abhorrent to you.  I’d say those are pretty powerful words.

Chewing the meat and spitting out the bones.

Thus it seems pretty plain that the word ‘food’ conjures up a completely different idea of Lamb, Beef and Chicken to those who Jesus (Yeshua) was talking to, rather than a pig roast, clam bake or Maine lobster.  These who heard the words fully understood that you did not need to follow the rules and regulations of the Pharisees and Sadducees but that you are to measure what comes out of your mouth.

8 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. (Mat 15:18 NAS)

‘Bacon’ your pardon while answering your question.

In summary and answering the question or ‘Bacon’ing your way to hell…

Did Jesus declare all foods clean?  Yes he did and no he didn’t.  Yeshua said that FOOD as defined by scripture was ritually cleaned not by the washing of the hands as instructed by the Pharisees and Scribes, but by proper handling as described in scripture.

Praying over a piece of bacon does not change it magically into food.  That pig is a pig no matter how you cut, roast or smoke it.  It will never be food nor will any other creature which scripture calls abhorrent.

When you understand that the Messiah had to be sinless in order to take away our sins, then He could not violate the commands.  If pig is now declared food, then the Messiah is changing the commandments of Yehovah and you remain in your sin as well as your belief is in vain.

One Reply to “Did Jesus Really Declare All Foods Clean? Questions From My Son Series, Part 2”

  1. Linda B

    I think people have a hard time with the concept of “clean” and “unclean,” especially when the Bible is involved. The recent popularity “clean eating” is relatively subjective, but if they accept the concept of a biblical-type clean vs. unclean, that would mean that there is an authority besides themselves who determines which is which.
    Linda B recently posted…Is the Vatican on Your Bucket List?My Profile

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge