Day 22: Jesus shows both Jews and Gentiles are unclean
Have you ever read a comic book? If you have, you’ll know that sometimes a bubble like a little cloud over someone’s head shows you what they’re thinking. Imagine you had a bubble over your head all the time, where people could read what you were thinking. Wouldn’t that be terrible? They’d see not just your nice thoughts but also your mean or shameful ones. In our passage today, Jesus explains that it’s not the food that goes into our bodies that makes us unclean, but the thoughts and actions that come out of our hearts.
What does Jesus say to the crowd in verse 15?
We saw yesterday that the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were defiling themselves by eating without first washing their hands in the right way. But in verses 18–19, Jesus explains why the things we eat can’t make us unclean before God. What does Jesus say in verse 19 about where food goes and where it doesn’t go?
What comment does Mark make at the end of verse 19?
Under the Old Testament law, some kinds of food are seen as unclean. For example, God’s people are not allowed to eat pigs or camels because they are in the category of unclean animals (see Leviticus 11:1–8). This was one of the ways in which God’s people are set apart from other peoples.
Why do you think Jesus had the right to say that all foods were now okay for God’s people to eat?
How do you think Jesus’ Jewish hearers might have felt about Jesus breaking down this big dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles?
In verse 20, what does Jesus say does make us unclean?
According to verse 21, where do our evil thoughts come from?
In verse 21, Jesus lists a lot of different kinds of sin. Write the example of sin that Jesus gives in the space below. Look at the definitions if there are some words you don’t know.
Sexual immorality: Any kind of sexual behavior outside of marriage
Theft: Stealing
Murder: Killing someone
Adultery: Cheating on your husband or wife with someone else
Greed: Taking more than you need
Malice: Nastiness
Deceit: Lying
Lewdness: Inappropriate behavior
Envy: Resenting what other people have
Slander: Saying nasty things about someone
Arrogance: Being full of pride
Folly: Not being stupid, but arrogantly rejecting God
If someone could see the thought bubble over your head between now and this time tomorrow, which of the sins Jesus lists do you think they’d notice?
People sometimes claim that Jesus never teaches about same-sex sexual relationships. But the word translated “sexual immorality” means any sexual relationship outside of marriage. In the Roman Empire, just like in our culture today, lots of sexual relationships outside of marriage were seen as okay, including same-sex sexual relationships. But Jesus makes it clear here that sex only belongs in marriage, and we’ll see in chapter 10 that Jesus defines marriage as one man and one woman made “one flesh” for life.
How does verse 23 help us to see that even the sins that don’t seem as bad to us make us unclean before God?
Ask Jesus to help you see the sinful things that come out of your heart and say you’re sorry for them. Thank Jesus that when He died on the cross, He took all our sins away so we can be completely forgiven and clean before God. Praise Jesus that He knows all the thoughts in your thought bubble and that He still loves you more than you can possibly imagine!