Discussing Food With My Nephew (Part 1 of 3)

I think it is true, as some have observed, that food offers the most frequent opportunity to discuss the Jewish Roots movement with our fellow believers.  Such was the case last Saturday night with my nephew at a family dinner in Dallas.  Without sinking into too much detail, it is safe to say my nephew was not overwhelmed with my explanation as to why I do not eat pork.  When I returned home, I thought it best to address some of the misunderstandings in the principle passages used to argue the abolishment of the dietary commandments and email my nephew, which I did.  Having gone through the exercise, I thought I would post on the Dusty Disciples....

While most believers are under the impression that the dietary commandments contained in the Law have been repealed, this position is not supported by scripture.  The Gentile believer was never under the dietary restrictions commonly referred to by the term “kosher”, while the Jewish believer was not released from the greater obligation to the commandments by the Jerusalem council of Acts 15.  The confusion and false impression that the dietary commandments have been repealed is principally based on three passages taken out of context in scripture.  The first occurs in an account from the gospel of Mark, 

"The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?...After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying them, “Listen to Me, all of you and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him: but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man…When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)” (Mark 7:5&14-19, NASB) 

In any study of scripture, it is always essential to place a verse in the greater context of the biblical passage.  To quote the late biblical scholar Dr. Dwight Pryor, “A text without a context is just a pretext to say anything you want.”  The old saying, “You can make the Bible say anything”, is only possible when an individual verse is removed from the associated context.

In the passage above, Jesus was responding to the Pharisaic halakic (legal) observance that hand washing was required before meals to prevent the contamination of “clean” foods, (Mark 7:1-7).  Stated as a question, can permissible “clean” foods defined by the Law (Deut 14:3-20), be disqualified because they come in contact with unclean hands?  The question is a subset of the broader discussion on the cleanliness laws, given by God to separate and sanctify the Jewish people, teaching them to “distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,” (Lev 10:10-11).  Only in a clean condition can a person enter the temple and approach the LORD Who dwells above the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant.  The bulk of the cleanliness laws are found in the Book of Leviticus where the temple priesthood is repeatedly told, “Be holy for I am holy,” (Lev 11:44).

Although believers are quick to dismiss the cleanliness laws as old and outdated, they establish the unchanging principle that a holy God must be approached in a holy condition, as testified by the words of David, “Who may stand in His holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,” (Psa 24:4).  Even King David alluded to “clean hands” as a prerequisite for approaching a holy God, so the Pharisaic position was not without merit.  The apostles also spoke to the principles behind the cleanliness laws, “let us cleanse ourselves…perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1), and “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy,” (Acts 10:15). 

While most people would agree that washing our hands before eating is a good practice, the practice was never stated in scripture as a specific commandment, except for priests working in the temple.  A food defined as “clean” by the Law, remained “clean” even when eaten with dirty hands.  The context of the passage is not about permissible foods, as is frequently assumed, but whether or not permissible foods can be disqualified by unclean hands.  The focus of the passage is confused by the introduction of the statement, “Thus He declared all foods clean.”  This latter sentence is not only inconsistent with the context, but also not in the original Greek, as demonstrated by the parenthesis around the words.  While I generally like the NASB translation, you will not find this sentence in the ESV, KJV, or YLT.  Most scholars have concluded that this sentence was a later addition inserted by an early translator, who was making an editorial comment that was not consistent with the context of the passage.

Jesus concluded this gospel discussion with a teaching moment, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.” (Mark 7:20).  In these words, Jesus alluded to the well-known story of Mariam, who spoke against her brother Moses and became leprous, an unclean condition, (Num 12).  In other words, Mariam sinned by speaking against Moses and became unclean.  Her unclean condition is demonstrated by the leprosy she received.  This becomes an example for all believers to guard what comes out of our mouths; be “slow to speak and slow to anger,” (James 1:19). (to be continued...)

- Back Home Again - Scott