What comes out of a man, that defiles a man

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitcher and cups, and many other such things you do." 

He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" --' (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

- Mark 7:1-23

Yesterday we read that when evening came, the boat the disciples had taken toward the other shore was in the middle of the sea; and Jesus was alone on the land.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.  

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitcher and cups, and many other such things you do."   He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" --' (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  My study bible says that the issue here is not the observation of Jewish customs or traditions, which certainly are not prohibited by Jesus (Matthew 5:17-19; 23:23).  The issue here is putting human tradition contrary to the tradition of God.  The tradition of the elders is a body of interpretations of the Law.   For the Pharisees and scribes it was as authoritative as the Law, often superseding it.  Jesus' example, that of Corban, were offerings which could be promised to God so that property or earnings might still be used for oneself but not anybody else -- including parents.  My study bible tells us that secondary traditions such as these obscure the primary tradition of the Law, contained in God's commandments.   For Jesus' quotations from the Old Testament, see Isaiah 29:13; Exodus 20:12, 21:17; Deuteronomy 5:16.

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."   My study bible says that food cannot defile a person.  It is created by God and is therefore pure.  Evil things are not from God.  These are what defile a person.

Jesus defines the things that defile a person:  evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  He further proclaims that these things come out of a man, and from within.  It is Jesus who has also warned us about our own blindness to ourselves (Matthew 7:3-5, Luke 6:42).  To defile is to make unclean.  By one definition, it means to "make common."  That is, to take something sacred and to treat it as ordinary -- to take what God has set apart as holy and make it mundane.   We find something akin to it in St. Paul's statement, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  How we hold and carry ourselves, the things we tolerate as expressions of ourselves, either hold ourselves to a particular standard -- the high esteem in which God has placed human beings -- or they defile us.  Jesus shifts entirely the image of defiling to something that is internal, a choice, even a sense of the self and what we consider true to ourselves.  In this we come to understand the notion of person, true image.   God -- Christ -- is the true mirror for who we truly are.  If He, the Creator, claims that in expressing these things we defile ourselves, then we have to take Him at His word if we are to even vaguely understand who we truly are.  We, in this light, betray ourselves with defiling behaviors and habits.  We can take a look at these things that Jesus lists here and see them all as types of betrayal.  They are mostly forms of deceit.  The evil eye, for example, is envy or jealousy.  It is a kind of covetousness, one that suggests that what we see others as having really should be ours.  This kind of thinking is not only belittling the other person as a human beings (reducing them to commodities we want to get), but it also reduces ourselves -- because the hidden thought here is that we as persons are somehow belittled by not having something we think others have got.   Jesus forces us to focus on true identity and the nature of the self with this statement.  He teaches us that the gold standard is really our own integrity, stemming from within us, upon which we must build our lives.  That integrity is intimately connected with the Creator who made us, and who knows us as we truly are.  Jesus' statement conveys the importance of self-knowledge, a kind of self-knowledge that only comes via the reflection in relationship to Creator.  When Simon Peter saw the huge catch of fish which came at Jesus' instruction, He fell down before Him, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:5-8).  And the whole story of Peter's discipleship is one of overcoming his own inner impulses that hid the tremendous strengths that faith and grace would reveal in him.  If we learn one thing from Jesus, it is this tremendous shift to the work of salvation, found right here in these issues of the self, the true person -- and what defiles us.  It is the work of grace to reveal -- and our choice to embrace through faith and courage.