Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. Mark 7:15 NABRE
The Jews had many rules around ritual purity, feeling in order to be approached by the Sacred, they must be pure. Feeling that purity is affected by what is put in the body or what touches the body they followed many rituals to keep things clean and food pure. But as the Pharisees challenged Jesus about what His disciples were eating, Jesus declares all food is clean. Jesus is setting aside the Hebrew system on ritual purity including the kosher laws that created a strict distinction between foods that could and could not be eaten by God’s people. Ritual purity had a value of pointing beyond itself to purity of heart, the true basis for covenant relationship with God. Jesus says no foods, even those legally unclean, can defile a person, since they merely enter the body and pass through, nothing external can separate us from God. The key in Jesus’ statement is the heart, it is the source of emotions such as love, grief, anxiety, joy and in biblical terms it is the source of thought, will and conscience. Jesus is declaring the ceremonial distinction between clean and unclean is incapable of bringing about purity of heart, the purity that God truly desires.
Jesus declares the only uncleanliness we should be concerned with is sin, the evil thoughts and actions that originate from deep within the heart. Sin is what separates us from God and Jesus elaborates some of the sins with a list of twelve sinful thoughts and deeds; unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. Jesus declares all evil comes from within and defiles, it is moral failure. Purity is a matter of a clean heart.
Do you protect your heart? What are your sins?
Jesus declares the only uncleanliness we should be concerned with is sin, the evil thoughts and actions that originate from deep within the heart. Sin is what separates us from God. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #pure #heart #Mark #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways