Mark 7:17-23 17And when he had entered the house away from the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, “So are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19because it does not enter him into the heart but the stomach, and is expelled into the toilet, making all foods clean?
As often happened, the disciples did not fully understand Jesus’ parable, so he explained its meaning in more detail. The setting was small and intimate, with the crowd outside and just those closest to Jesus inside. No further information is given about the location, which is not important for understanding the message. The disciples could not grasp this new revolutionary teaching. Understanding comes through faith, and they were still struggling with their faith.
Jesus explains the basic principle on two levels: the physical level and the spiritual level. He uses the physical body as an illustration of the deeper spiritual truth. Jesus basically demolishes the idea that certain foods are ceremonially clean or unclean. Food is simply to nourish the body. Mark makes that point clear in verse 19 with an editorial comment. Kosher food was a significant controversy in the early church Acts 10–11, 15; Romans 14–15; Galatians 2:11–17; Colossians 2:20–22; 1 Timothy 4:4–5).
Obviously, some food will be healthier for us, but that food does not necessarily have a spiritual impact on us. Certain foods and beverages will raise cholesterol, cause heart disease, liver disease, or many other physical problems. Food can become a spiritual issue, as is evidenced throughout the Bible. Kosher foods were intended to guide the people spiritually and ethically. The spiritual impact of food and drink has to do with how these might separate us from God or cause relational problems with others. The heart represents the part of our being where we make decisions, our consciousness or awareness. We might think of it as our minds and thinking. What we see, hear, and do will go into our minds and influence our spiritual health.
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