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

 

 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 pitchers 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, after Jesus had sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee, when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He 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 pitchers 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 comments that the issue here is not the observation of Jewish customs or traditions, which Jesus most certainly doesn't prohibit (Matthew 5:17-19, 23:23).  The real issue here is setting human tradition contrary to the tradition of God, as Jesus explains ("For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do").  The tradition of the elders is a body of interpretations of the Law, which for the Pharisees and the scribes was just as authoritative as the Law, and, my study Bible says, often superseded it.  According to this tradition, offerings (called Corban) could be promised to God in a way that property or earnings could still be used for oneself -- but not for others, including one's parents.  These types of secondary traditions obscure the primary tradition of the Law, my study Bible comments, which is contained in the commandments of God.

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 explains that food cannot defile a person because it is created by God, and is therefore pure.  Evil things ("evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness") are not from God, and these are what defile a person.

What is evil?  How do we know what evil is?  My study Bible explains Jesus' teachings in today's reading by saying that food is created by God, and therefore cannot be evil in and of itself.  Jesus says that evil things, or things which defile a person, come out of a person -- out of the heart.  What this does is shift our attention from external forms of "contamination" to a sense of ourselves as needing protection and vigilance for our hearts.  This is frequently called "guarding the heart."  It consists of watching our own thoughts, what we nurture within ourselves, the things we harbor, the habits we keep, even our automatic responses to things that provoke.  Human beings have all kinds of temptations and thought patterns which are sparked by or in some sense simply absorbed from the world we're born into.  Since sin is a part of our environment, so then is its influence -- and all the things Jesus names as evil here are a part of our environment.  We "learn" them the same way we learn to speak as children; in that sense, they are all around us.  But Jesus makes it clear that we are responsible for what we choose to keep and protect, to harbor and to allow to grow within ourselves.  We're responsible for what we nurture and dwell upon and cultivate and thereby grow in our hearts.  It's sort of like the seeds in the parable of the Sower, but in the inverse:  Christ as the Sower sows good seeds, and it's up to us to nurture those good things in our hearts and allow them to grow, and to protect them from the things that are harmful to them.   The "evil things" that Christ names in today's reading are those things that harm and destroy and compete with the seeds that Christ seeks to plant in us.  Jesus names them as "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."   An evil eye, one should understand, is generally known as envy, a malevolent lust for what doesn't belong to us but to someone else.  If we look closely at these "evil things" which Jesus names, we see that they all have a selfish component to them.  He's not talking about things done in self-defense or to protect others, but things which are a means to a selfish end, and often using others as though they were just material things to manipulate for our own desires.  But Jesus makes clear that we aren't merely victims or slaves to passing thoughts, but people with the capacity for self-awareness, and we are called to this awareness and to the work of guarding the heart.  We may all have weaknesses, but we are all expected to put in the effort to be aware of them and to seek to develop strength instead.  In Jesus' teaching there is the assumption that we all have agency; moreover, we all have spiritual help in this effort.  The work of psychology in modern form is all about using this agency, our own capacity for understanding ourselves and saying "no" to the things that aren't good for us and lead to harmful behavior.  In this modern context, therapy is meant to be engaged with effort and positive results; our weaknesses or existing bad habits are not an excuse to simply indulge in them.  Christ gives us a focus; we're not simply at the mercy of forces that batter us, and complete control and manipulation of what's around us is not the answer either to our spiritual questions.  Our real integrity is elsewhere.  Let us remember to focus on the place the heart, to keep and guard what is good, and to be on guard to cast out what defiles.