The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Our point of view is to look at this passage from the perspective of the author and the community they were writing for. Our main question is why did they include this story about Jesus and why did they write it the way that they did. What were they trying to say to each other?
I first notice that the customs of "the Jews" is spelled out as for an audience who is unfamiliar and so is probably mostly gentile. Next, I can imagine that this is a question that diaspora Jews in their wider community might ask them. "Why, if you are followers of the teaching of a Jewish Rabbi, do you not observe the ritual cleaning and purification traditions of the Jewish elders?" This codifies their answer in terms of what they see as one of the main tenants of Jesus teaching and how it is framed as being more faithful to the scriptural tradition of God requiring holiness and purity as part of the covenant, of being God's people.
Jesus's teaching is one of spirit over law, the purity/holiness/cleanliness of the inner life over outer rituals of purity and cleanliness. "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come..." The image of the heart as being the centre of a person’s psychological self, the source of thoughts, emotions, intentions, and behavior, is a powerful and longstanding metaphor found in ancient Egyptian and parts of Greek thought. It was also a familiar one from the Jewish scriptures. The Tanakh uses the heart to represent the source of intentions and action in a number of places. These include:
Genesis 6:5 “Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”1 Samuel 16:7 “The Lord looks at the heart.”Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God…”Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
In this teaching, the writer has Jesus identify with the Prophetic stream of the Tanakh where the Prophets reject outward ritual without an alignment of the peoples' hearts with the principles behind the law and ritual. These principles include, "doing good" in terms of social justice, kindness, compassion, and a lack of malice.
Examples Include:
"What need have I of all your sacrifices? Says the Lord… Bring no more vain offerings… Your new moons and that appointed seasons fill me with loathing… Though you pray at length, I will not listen… Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow." Isaiah 1:11–17
"I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them… Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Amos 5:21–24
"With what shall I approach the Lord, do homage to the God on high? Shall I approach Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of streams of oil?… He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk modestly with your God." Micah 6:6–8
"Thus said the Lord of Hosts: Render true judgments; show kindness and compassion to one another. Do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, or the poor; and do not plot evil against one another in your hearts." Zechariah 7:4–10
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil… for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:4
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him…” Matthew 12:34–35
As well, the Gospel of Mark also has Jesus say: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” Mark 12:30. The authors would not have included this as Jesus's words if they thought that the human heart was only filled with evil and was basically corrupt. If that was the case it would be impossible to love God with all one's heart.
