Mark 7:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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,

NIV: "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?

NASB: And He *said to them, 'Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him,

CSB: He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him?

NLT: Don’t you understand either?' he asked. 'Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?

KJV: And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

NKJV: So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,

James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." Jesus has given a puzzling statement about what makes a person clean or unclean, and the disciples naturally ask for an explanation. The problem is that the disciples' misunderstanding isn't because they lack wisdom but because they have so stubbornly held to their own perceptions of who Jesus is that they miss what He's saying.

"Without understanding" comes from the Greek root word asynetos which means "senseless or unintelligent." Jesus isn't asking the disciples if they're having difficulty weaving all the threads together into a new a complicated theology. He's asking, in deliberately shocking fashion, "are you stupid?"

This isn't the difficulty of a learning disability or the confusion of someone faced with a difficult topic. This is the foolishness of people who have hardened their hearts to the truth (Mark 6:52; 8:17–21). Jesus is frustrated because as much as the disciples love to hear Him teach, and even obey His orders, they don't understand what He is saying if it contradicts their pre-conceived ideas. The Law does not provide a way for us to save ourselves; it exposes the fact that we cannot save ourselves. Adding rules to the Law, as the scribes and Pharisees do, not only doesn't save, it takes authority away from the Law.

God gave food laws to the Israelites as a sign that they are set apart from the pagan nations around them. Non-kosher food is called unclean, but those who eat it are not called unclean. People are declared unclean because of what they touched or associated with (Leviticus 5:3) or what came out of their bodies (Leviticus 13:3; 15:18), not what goes into their bodies. In fact, the Old Testament doesn't even give a punishment for eating unclean food.

Mark 7:14–23 contains Jesus' rebuttal to the Pharisees' beliefs about cleanness (Mark 7:1–5), by condemning their habit of rejecting God's law for their own tradition (Mark 7:6–13). Here, He goes into more detail about what actually makes someone unclean. After, He will live out His teaching of love over tradition by healing a Gentile girl then remaining in a Gentile area to heal and feed four thousand (Mark 7:31–8:10). A parallel description can be found in Matthew 15:10–20.

Jesus counters another traditional error from the scribes and Pharisees, explaining that food in and of itself does not make a person unclean. Rather, it is the intent of the heart that matters to God. He specifically condemns traditions which effectively undo the original intent of God's commands. Jesus heals the daughter of a persistent Gentile woman, and a man suffering from deafness and a speech impediment.

After showing His authority over demons, death, and physics, Jesus asserts His superiority over manmade traditions. For generations, Jewish religious leaders have added to the Law in an attempt to keep the nation holy. Such traditions, however, serve to make the leaders look good but unnecessarily burden the people. Jesus argues in word and action that any law that dismisses love is either misinterpreted or manmade.

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes both Jesus' servanthood and His role as the promised Messiah: the Son of God. This is done through a concise, action-packed style. Mark provides relatively few details, instead focusing on actions and simple statements. This relates to the Gospel's authorship, which is believed to be based on the memories of the apostle Peter. These include many of Jesus' miracles, in contrast to other Gospels which include many more of Jesus' teachings and parables. Mark also makes frequent mention of Jesus' ministry being misunderstood by others.