Mark 7:18-19

Mark 7:18-19

[18] And  he saith  unto them,  so  without understanding  also?  not  perceive,  that  whatsoever thing  from without  entereth  into  the man,  it cannot  defile  him;  [19] Because  it entereth  not  into  his  heart,  but  into  the belly,  and  goeth out  into  the draught,  purging  all  meats? 

What does Mark 7:18-19 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The disciples had heard and seen enough to have been able to understand Jesus" meaning. Their "hardness of heart" is a prominent theme in Mark 6:31 to Mark 8:26 (cf. Mark 6:52; Mark 8:14-21).
Mark interpreted the significance of Jesus" teaching for his Gentile readers. Mark meant that Christians need not observe the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law (cf. Romans 14:14; Galatians 2:11-17; Colossians 2:20-22). This was a freedom that Jewish Christians struggled with for many years during the infancy of the church (cf. Acts 10; Acts 11; Acts 15). Later revelation clarified that Jesus terminated the entire Mosaic Law as a code ( Romans 10:4; et al.).
"This statement [1] clearly has its eye on a situation such as developed in the Pauline mission churches in which questions of clean and unclean foods (cf. Acts 10:9-16; Acts 11:5-10 and see Romans 14:13 ff.) and idol-meats became live issues (as we know from 1 Corinthians 8:10). This chapter in Mark 7 is perhaps the most obvious declaration of Mark"s purpose as a Christian living in the Graeco-Roman world who wishes to publicize the charter of Gentile freedom by recording in the plainest terms Jesus" detachment from Jewish ceremonial and to spell out in clear tones the application of this to his readers." [2]
If Peter did influence Mark"s writing, it is interesting that the disciple who struggled with unwillingness to abandon the dietary laws should have spoken out so strongly for their termination. Mark apparently got the material for his Gospel mainly from Peter"s sermons, as mentioned earlier. Thus it appears that Peter finally learned this lesson.
"These ceremonial regulations in the law had a function as symbolically teaching the reality and importance of moral purity. They demanded an external separation which pointed to the need for an inner heart condition of separation unto God. But these external regulations in themselves did not convey the purity of heart to which they pointed. They were the shadow and not the substance ( Hebrews 10:1). When they found their fulfillment in Christ, these ceremonial foreshadowings became obsolete." [3]