In Mark 7:19, New International Version, the bible says “19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)”
Is this saying authentic? If so, why did Peter and Paul seems to have such a major dispute over this point?
I think the most interesting thing about this debate is that immediately following Jesus’ death, questions about how to include Gentiles, whether they should be Torah observant and to what extent Jewish followers of Jesus should interact with Gentile believers all means that Jesus did not give any instructions in these matters. Likely because he himself was a Jew and expected Jews to continue to be Jews and Gentiles to continue to be Gentiles. Jesus never indicates that the difference between Jews and Gentiles should be erased. Even when Paul tells Gentile believers that Mosaic Law is insufficient for salvation, he does not appeal to anything Jesus taught. In Acts 15 when James gives instruction to Gentile believers, he makes no appeal to the teachings of Jesus. He just gives basic Jewish instruction for the nations. The lack of instruction also means that Peter in Acts 10 has to be spoken to directly by angels and visions to convince him to eat unclean foods and mingle with Gentiles. Jesus’ earliest followers (disciples and family) remained observant Jews because they had not been taught differently.
The context is a debate about hand-washing, not kosher foods. I don’t see a reason to expand Jesus’ reply to “making all foods clean.” In the Jewish Bible, there is no requirement that laymen wash their hands before eating. It was indeed required for priests who were offering sacrifice, however. The Pharisees were trying to universalize this custom [at least some of them were]. I suspect this was still a matter of debate among Jews generally.
Mark’s text is correctly interpreted by the NIV as including a parenthetical interpretation by the evangelist regarding all foods being declared clean
Robert, from old testament perspective, is “clean and unclean,”
“holy and unholy” and “sacred and unsacred” something built into the cosmos?
sabbath is a holy day ,because according to the Jewish bible, yhwh MADE it holy.
from the priestly writers perspective, food which is identified as unholy would defile the body, heart and soul as disobedience to Yhwh and what he set up in the world?
Jesus was a Jew, all his first disciples were Jews. As such they kept the Law. They went to Synagogue, participated in the Jewish festivals, kept the dietary laws and so on.
Jesus prayed to and worshiped the God of Abraham, he was most certainly a devote Jew. Did Jesus abrogate the dietary laws for his Jewish brothers, no. Neither did he say they should no longer circumcise their male children. This is where the tension came in between Christian Jews and Christian gentiles.
Later the gentiles were freed from the Law which makes sense because they were not Jews. The dietary laws left the room, so to speak, no longer applicable to the thousands of gentiles coming into the Christian congregations. Eventually, even the God of Abraham left the room to make room for a triune god.
But if Jesus fulfilled the Law, as the record says, then Jewish Christians today are not REQUIRED to live by the dietary laws or circumcision but if they so wish no harm done.
Question is, did Jesus abrogate the Ten Commandments? No.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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