Did Jesus declare all foods clean?

[tonychanyt]

Jesus taught publicly in Mark 7:

14 He called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile [G2840] him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Privately, he added some more physiological details:

17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”

Foods affect our digestive system. They do not affect our thinking.

(Thus he declared all foods clean [G2511].)

Did he?

20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Did Jesus declare all foods clean?

The parenthetical statement was not found in the parallel account in Mat 15. Matthew did not seem to think that Jesus declared all foods were ceremonilly clean on that occasion.

are clean
καθαρίζων (katharizōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2511: To cleanse, make clean, literally, ceremonially, or spiritually, according to context. From katharos; to cleanse.

My paraphrase:

(Thus he declared all foods being cleansed.)

Mark added this parenthetical statement. This was consistent with what happened to Peter in Acts 10:

14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common [G2839] or unclean [G169].” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

has made clean.”
ἐκαθάρισεν (ekatharisen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2511: To cleanse, make clean, literally, ceremonially, or spiritually, according to context. From katharos; to cleanse.

Jesus did not publicly declare to the Jews that all foods were ceremonially clean. That's what Matthew understood. He came to fulfill the law and the prophets. By his death on the cross, he cleansed all foods. Christians were not bound by the Jewish ceremonial laws. It was okay for them to eat pork. That's what Mark understood.

Paul left the issue to the individual's conscience in Romans 14:

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean [G2839] in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

 

[Diamond7]

By his death on the cross, he cleansed all foods.

If He cleansed all food then why are people getting sick from eating processed food. Do you really think people are not harming themselves when they eat filthy, vile disgusting processed foods? I had a friend tell me that. He said he eats breakfast at McDonalds all the time. He died from a heart attack which really surprised me. I thought he would be alive a lot longer.

I understand the Ornish diet is strict, and maybe people are willing to take some risk but we should still control what we do.

• Philippians 4:5-8: "Let your moderation be known unto all men"
• Matthew 4:4: God designed humans to desire Him above all else, and all other things should be in moderation
• 1 Timothy 2:9-10: Paul wrote that Christian women should dress modestly with propriety and moderation
  
  
  
  

 

[Teresa W.]

If He cleansed all food then why are people getting sick from eating processed food.

I think he meant food in its natural state, that is, before it's processed. It's God that makes the food and man that does the processing. (exception being poisonous plants, He wouldn't want us to eat those of course.)