“Are All Foods Clean?”

Sunday, August 21, 2022

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5.17)

Statements like this from Jesus have led some Christians to conclude that the Law of Moses is still in effect for God’s people today.  Never mind that Paul tells us Jesus brought Jew and Gentile together “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” (Ep 2.15), or that “the law was our guardian until Christ came” (Ga 3.24).  Never mind that the Jews’ covenant with God ended when one party to the contract—Jesus—died.  Never mind even that God predicted, while the first covenant still stood,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…” (Jeremiah 31.31)

Despite these assurances, one of the quibbles that still comes up is the assertion that the Jews’ dietary code applies to Christians.

Jesus would seem to have settled this argument, when he spoke to his confused disciples about onerous requirements enforced by the Pharisees and scribes.

“Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7.18-19)

However, as straightforward as this sounds, objections still arise.  Where the ESV says, “Thus he declared all foods clean,” the Greek text is more concise; saying, “καθαρίζων πάντα τὰ βρώματα” (katharizōn panta ta brōmata, “purifying all foods”).  But there’s a minuscule difference among the manuscripts.  It hinges on whether the final vowel of the word behind our English “purifying” is a long ō, or a short ŏ.  This tiny difference in sound and appearance is more important than it seems.  If it’s ō, then Mark is adding his own parenthesis, telling us that, by the way, this teaching in effect means all foods are clean.  If it’s ŏ, then Jesus is saying the process of digestion and excretion means all foods end up as the same thing, and in the same place.  This is the path followed by the King James Version and its derivatives, translating the phrase, “purging all meats” (KJV).  If that’s the case, there’s some little room for debate.

Proponents of the dietary code for Christians haste to point out God’s instruction to Noah,

“Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate…” (Genesis 7.2)

This was eons before the Law of Moses, and yet a distinction between clean and unclean animals is already assumed.  But, while this is related to the dietary code in Leviticus 11, it’s not the whole story—before the flood, God hadn’t given man license to eat meat yet, at all (cf. Ge 1.29-30, 9.3)!

Some Christians make the huge mistake of ignoring the Old Testament.  Others make the equally huge mistake of relying too heavily on it, and misunderstanding God’s purpose for preserving it as a gift to us.  In these latter cases, there’s a continual push to mirror some of God’s commandments to the ancient Israelites.  However, that’s not what Christ planned or instructed.  In one vision, he set Peter straight on two points.

…he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” (Acts 10.10-15)

The more important point is that the gospel is for Gentiles, too.  But the vision makes no sense, unless the animals are made clean! Given the opportunity to bind the dietary code on new Gentile converts a few years later, the apostles and elders at Jerusalem instead told them,

“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.” (Acts 15.28-29)

This is about as conclusive as it can be.  The dietary code was one of the defining, visible distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, and if God intended for it to be carried over into the new covenant through Christ, this was the time to make that clear.  But he said nothing of the kind.  Later, when Paul addresses this very point, he says things like,

“One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables” (Ro 14.2).  Or, again, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink” (Co 2.16).  He even warns that some Christians will distort the teaching of Christ, including those who

require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4.3-5)

Of course, anyone who wishes to abide by dietary restrictions is free to do so.  But don’t bind them on others; don’t start thinking it makes you better; don’t put your trust in your own works.  If you’re a Christian, Christ has sanctified you.  You didn’t do it by abstaining from food or drink.  Cleansing comes from God, through the purifying and atoning sacrifice of his Son.  Put your trust in him.

Jeremy Nettles

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