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

 

 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 when evening came, the boat of the disciples, whom Jesus had sent on their way without Him, 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 on this passage that the issue here is not the observation of Jewish customs or traditions, which Jesus most certainly never prohibits (Matthew 5:17-19; 23:23).   At issue is the setting of human traditions which are effectively contrary to the tradition of God.  The tradition of the elders is a body of interpretations of the Law. For the Pharisees and the scribes this became as authoritative as the Law.  In fact, it often superseded it, which is the point of the example Christ cites here.  According to this tradition, one could make an offering (called Corban) which could be promised to God in a way that personal property or earnings could still be used for oneself -- but not for anybody else, including elderly and dependent parents.  My study Bible comments that secondary traditions such as this obscure the primary tradition of the Law, which is contained in the commandments of God.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13.

 

 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 comments here that food cannot defile a person because it is created by God and is therefore pure.  Evil things are not from God, and these things Jesus names are what defile a person.

Today's reading is extremely pertinent to a Lenten perspective.  As it is traditional that during Lent we are to focus inwardly, and to work on practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, we see that Christ's teaching to His disciples directly impacts such practice.  Jesus first has a confrontation with the Pharisees and the scribes in which they criticize His disciples.  They don't follow the ceremonial washing as taught in the tradition of the elders.  The ritual washing seems to reflect a concern with eating anything deemed unclean or common in a spiritual sense.  But Jesus responds by calling out their hypocrisy, and quoting Isaiah the prophet to them in this regard.  This seems to be a very direct attack by Jesus, on a subject which gets its most full treatment in His final indictment of the religious leadership in Matthew 23.  He first uses the example of a religious gift or offering which would consist of promising one's goods to be given to the temple after death.  However, such a promise meant one could continue using property, but would be restrained from sharing it with others, such as needy parents -- and thus convening the command of the Law to honor father and mother (Exodus 20:12).  But when Jesus speaks to the multitude (which He called to Himself), His focus shifts.  This time, He is not directly rebutting the criticism of the Pharisees and scribes directed at His disciples, but He is now preaching to the crowd, teaching them an important principle of spiritual life, and our connection to God and community.  What defiles, Jesus says, is not the things that come from the outside.  Instead, Jesus says, it is "the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man."  As is often the case, such as with His parables, Jesus explains this "riddle" privately to His disciples.  It is the things of the heart which can defile us, not the foods which our body eliminates.  Jesus teaches them, "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."  That all of these evil things Jesus names come from within should give us all pause, because Lent is the time when our focus goes more strongly toward the inward things of the heart.  These are things which are not only good, such as compassion or the action of grace or the Holy Spirit, or even the faith we need in our lives.  But there are also things stored in the heart which can defile us, and that is what Jesus is talking about here.  Throughout His ministry, and especially in teaching directed at those who would be His disciples, Jesus asks us to focus on what is within, and to repent and change the things that need changing.  Repentance itself is a word that means to change in the Greek; it literally means "change of mind."  But this isn't simply an intellectual choice, which Jesus makes clear here.  This is a matter of the heart, an interior condition that may be deep within us, and which we probably need a particular level of awareness to discern about ourselves.  It's easy to be blind to our own flaws, as Jesus teaches when He asks, "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" in Matthew 7:1-5.  As we can read in that passage, this concept is directly linked to hypocrisy.  This also is related to the things of the heart He speaks of in today's passage.  Twice in Matthew's Gospel, He likens this process of changing one's own interior to a sense in which one must remove a hand, or foot, or eye.  When preaching against adultery, He says, "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  In Matthew 18, he warns the disciples about their own tendencies which would cause them to mislead the "little ones" in the Church:  "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. . . . If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:6-9).   When we read these passages, we should consider that an eye looks in a covetous way, a hand reaches where it should not go, a foot trespasses.  The evil eye which Jesus speaks of in today's reading is associated with the way we see others, how we look or glimpse -- and in particular is associated with the harmful effects of envy and their tendency to malevolence.  This sense is one which can manifest the desire to take away or destroy the blessings of others.  Let us focus, then, on the inward things Jesus speaks about, and consider the heart.  For our prayer is meant not only to be a part of the mind, but in the historical teachings on prayer (especially in the Orthodox tradition), we're asked to pray with the "mind in the heart."  In this way, our prayers are meant to illuminate this interior place Christ asks us to focus on, so that we may cast off what truly defiles, and put our focus where it belongs.