During the first part of the COVID pandemic, before anyone really knew very much about how the disease is transmitted, we were asked to sanitize frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs. People with especially sensitive immune systems would go so far as to wipe down groceries that had been delivered before taking them inside.

And as we all spend more screen time, we’ve become increasingly aware of the many dangerous ideas present not only in movies and TV shows, but in social media. And the sad truth is that addiction to pornography is rising even faster than the increasing number of people who misuse opioids: the world’s largest porn website reports that such videos are viewed by 64 million people every day. So it’s no wonder that Christians are increasingly wary not only of the physical but of the spiritual uncleanness in the world around us.

The Pharisees in today’s passage also believed in cleanliness, but primarily in a ritual way. And to be fair to them, the Law of Moses said this was important: Leviticus chapter 11 even spells out in exhaustive detail the different kinds of animals that God’s Old Testament people were not supposed to eat. In fact, even touching the carcass of one of these animals would make a person ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 11:8).

But in today’s passage, Jesus explains the reason for such ceremonial laws: they were supposed to be an object lesson to teach God’s people the importance of avoiding the sin that leads to death. And the sad truth is that none of us needs to look outside ourselves to find things that make our souls unclean. For the true source of sin lies inside all of our hearts: “evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22).

So while we should take reasonable precautions against disease, and while it’s a good idea to stay away from sketchy websites, our first concern needs to be with the problem we find in the mirror, the sinful desires that lie within us all. And only the One Who declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19) can wash us from the inside out with His own blood. So may we fix our eyes firmly on Him, praying that He would not only save us from the consequences of our sin, but also give us new hearts that would desire Him more than any of the unclean things in the world around us.

Mark 7:14-23 (NASB)

14 And after He called the multitude to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
15 there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
16 “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”
17 And when leaving the multitude, He had entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.
18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him;
19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”