To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 2:4-9,15-17; Mk 7:14-23
The text of today continues the
discussion of the earlier text, which was read yesterday (7,1-13). If the
earlier part was a response to Jewish teachers, this part is addressed to the
crowds. Jesus asserts that nothing from outside has the power to make one
unclean. Instead of being concerned with externals, Jesus challenges those who
listen to him to focus on the internal, since uncleanness comes from within.
Mark presents this teaching of Jesus as a parable and so there is a need to
explain it. In his explanation to the disciples, Jesus makes clear that what
goes into a person from outside enters the stomach and not the heart and so
cannot defile. It is what comes from within, that is from the heart that
defiles and makes unclean.
Sin comes from within. While external
circumstances do have an effect on us and influence us, we cannot put the blame
for our actions on these. The actions that we perform are ours and we must
accept responsibility for them.
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