since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
English Standard Version (ESV)
What’s often missed is that the phrase "purging all foods" wasn't Jesus's spoken word, but Mark's interpretation added to explain the implication of Jesus's teaching. This detail highlights how radical Jesus's message was – that the very concept of "clean" and "unclean" foods, central to Jewish law, was being overturned.
since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus is directly confronting the Pharisees' legalistic rules about clean and unclean foods, which had become more about tradition than true righteousness. He tells the crowds that true defilement doesn't come from what goes into a person's mouth, but from what comes out of their heart. The disciples, still grappling with these radical ideas, ask for clarification, prompting Jesus' explanation here about the physical process of digestion.
Jesus flips the script on what 'unclean' really means. It's not about what goes in, but what comes out. Have you ever stopped to think about why?
Jesus is drawing a sharp distinction between physical and spiritual defilement. The Pharisees were obsessed with external rules about food and washing, believing these made them clean or unclean. But Jesus cuts through all that with a powerful truth:
Inner Purity Matters Most
He explains that food, after being eaten, passes through the body and is expelled. It never actually reaches the 'heart,' which in Hebrew thought was the center of a person's being – their mind, will, and emotions.
The Real Problem is Internal
True defilement, Jesus says, originates from within the heart. It's our wicked thoughts, our desires, our intentions that actually make us unclean. External rituals can't fix an impure heart, but the things that come from the heart reveal its true state.
Jesus declared 'all foods clean.' This wasn't just a dietary suggestion; it was a seismic shift in understanding God's relationship with His people.
The context here is Jesus responding to the Pharisees' strict rules about clean and unclean foods, which were based on their interpretation of the Old Testament Law. These rules were meant to set Israel apart, but they had become a system of outward observance that missed the deeper point.
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Beyond Levitical Law
By explaining that food passes through the body without affecting the 'heart' (the core of a person's being), Jesus was essentially saying that these physical distinctions of clean and unclean foods were no longer the ultimate standard. He was pointing towards a new reality where spiritual purity, originating from the heart, was paramount.
The Dawn of a New Era
The parenthetical note in Mark, 'Thus he declared all foods clean,' is crucial. It signals that Jesus was inaugurating a new covenant era. This teaching laid the groundwork for later revelations, like Peter's vision in Acts 10, where God explicitly states, 'What God has made clean, do not call common.' It was a radical redefinition, shifting the focus from outward ritual to inward transformation.
Understand the original words
kardia · Greek Noun
The figurative center of a person's being, encompassing the seat of intellect, will, emotions, and moral decision-making. It is the core from which the entire direction of a person's life flows.
katharizōn · Greek Adjective
Being ritually pure, unpolluted, or fit for God's use. It refers to the state of being acceptable according to God's standard of holiness.
Jesus' declaration that all foods are clean directly confronted the deeply ingrained Rabbinic purity laws of his day, a revolutionary idea that would take time, including Peter's vision and the Council of Jerusalem, to be fully understood and accepted by the early church.
c. 200 BC - AD 70
Development of Rabbinic Purity Laws
During the Second Temple period and after its destruction, Jewish rabbis meticulously developed and codified extensive laws regarding ritual purity, including detailed regulations about clean and unclean foods and practices.
c. AD 30-33
Jesus' Ministry and Teachings
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee and Judea, teaching about the Kingdom of God and often challenging established religious traditions, including the Pharisees' emphasis on external purity laws.
c. AD 30-33— this verse
Jesus Declares All Foods Clean
In response to a dispute with Pharisees about eating with unwashed hands, Jesus teaches that true defilement comes from within the heart, not from external things like food, effectively challenging the basis of food purity laws.
c. AD 40s-50s
Peter's Vision in Joppa
The apostle Peter has a vision of a great sheet filled with all kinds of animals, which God declares clean, foreshadowing the inclusion of Gentiles into the early church and the broader implications of Jesus' teaching on purity.
c. AD 49
Council of Jerusalem
The early church grappled with the implications of Jesus' teachings on purity laws for Gentile believers, culminating in a decision that they did not need to follow Jewish dietary laws.
c. AD 60s
Writing of the Gospels
The Gospels of Mark and Matthew were written, preserving Jesus' teachings, including his controversial statements on food purity and inner defilement.
This passage directly echoes the implication of Mark 7:19, stating 'What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common,' highlighting Peter's realization of the broader spiritual implications of Jesus' teaching on clean and unclean.
Romans 14:14Paul addresses similar dietary concerns, affirming Jesus' teaching here by stating 'I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it is unclean,' reinforcing the idea that external food doesn't defile.
Matthew 15:11This parallel passage in Matthew states, 'It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man,' which is the direct teaching Jesus is clarifying with the explanation about the digestive process in Mark.
1 Corinthians 6:13This verse speaks to the body being for the Lord, not for sexual immorality, and also mentions 'food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food—and God will destroy both one and the other.' This echoes Jesus' point that physical consumption and elimination are natural processes, not sources of spiritual defilement.
Colossians 2:20-23Paul critiques 'rules and regulations' about food and drink, calling them 'human commands and teachings,' which directly aligns with Jesus' challenge to the Pharisees' man-made distinctions about clean and unclean foods, emphasizing inner purity over outward observance.
vincentMark 7:19: "Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?"
Draught (ἀφεδρῶνα)Liddell and Scott give only one definition - a privy, cloaca; and derive from ἕδρα, seat, breech, fundament. Compare English stool. The word does not refer to a part of the body.Purging all meats (καθαρίζων πάντα τὰ βρώματα)According to the A. V. these words are in apposition with draught: the draught which makes pure the whole of the food, since…
bengelMark 7:19: "Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?"
Mark 7:19 . Καθάριζον ) not polluting, but purging , whilst the wholesome nutriment remains, and the mere refuse so purged away goes out.
What’s often missed is that the phrase "purging all foods" wasn't Jesus's spoken word, but Mark's interpretation added to explain the implication of Jesus's teaching. This detail highlights how radical Jesus's message was – that the very concept of "clean" and "unclean" foods, central to Jewish law, was being overturned.
Jesus is directly confronting the Pharisees' legalistic rules about clean and unclean foods, which had become more about tradition than true righteousness. He tells the crowds that true defilement doesn't come from what goes into a person's mouth, but from what comes out of their heart. The disciples, still grappling with these radical ideas, ask for clarification, prompting Jesus' explanation here about the physical process of digestion.
Jesus is directly confronting the Pharisees' legalistic rules about clean and unclean foods, which had become more about tradition than true righteousness. He tells the crowds that true defilement doesn't come from what goes into a person's mouth, but from what comes out of their heart. The disciples, still grappling with these radical ideas, ask for clarification, prompting Jesus' explanation here about the physical process of digestion.
"since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)" — What’s often missed is that the phrase "purging all foods" wasn't Jesus's spoken word, but Mark's interpretation added to explain the implication of Jesus's teaching. This detail highlights how rad…
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Last reviewed October 2026