Hygiene and Holiness
Read Mark 7:1-23
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” –Mark 7:14-15
There’s a classic Seinfeld episode in which his girlfriend takes him to her father’s pizza restaurant. Jerry goes to the bathroom, and while he is washing his hands, the father (Poppi) comes out of a stall. “Ah, Jerry!” he exclaims. “Tonight you’re in for a real treat. I’m going to personally prepare the dinner for you and my Audrey!” Then he checks his hair in the mirror and walks out … without washing his hands.
When Poppi eventually brings the pizza to their table, Jerry is presented with a difficult choice. Eat the pizza that he knows this man made without washing his hands, or lose his girlfriend. We all know what choice Jerry made.
We easily sympathize with Jerry for not wanting to eat this pizza. So perhaps we can sympathize too with the Pharisees in this story—after all, their main criticism of Jesus’ disciples was that they didn’t wash their hands before they ate! We have to remember, though, that the ancient world had no understanding of bacteria. The Pharisees weren’t concerned about sanitation—their concern was with ritual purity.
There was a whole list of things that could make someone “unclean” according to their customs. When a woman had her period, she was unclean. Suppose someone had a skin condition, like leprosy. You could become unclean by sharing fellowship (entering a home, sharing a meal together) with a Gentile or a known sinner. Notably, Jesus broke all of these rules.
The Pharisees didn’t just understand germs as unclean—they saw people as unclean. Jesus’ teaching here (that all food is clean) parallels the vision that Peter received in the book of Acts (Acts 10:9-15). Except in Peter’s case, God wasn’t just talking about the foods we eat—God was talking about people. Perhaps Jesus was trying to teach his disciples the same lesson.
What makes someone “unclean” has nothing to do with the way they look, what food they eat, or whether they wash their hands. God looks at what’s on the inside of a person. And as Jesus taught, it’s what comes out of our mouths, not what goes in, that reveals what is in our hearts. Spend a moment and reflect on the list of “evil thoughts” that Jesus identified in this passage—"sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (vv. 21-22) You’ll notice all of these sins are relational—they affect how we view and treat others. That’s what God is most concerned about.
As you go through your day, you will no doubt see and interact with others. Pay close attention if you find yourself repelled by someone. Ask yourself what it is that repels you—is it because they didn’t wash their hands as they came out of the bathroom? Is there something else that repels you or feels “unclean” about this person? Remember that it was their judgment of others that made the Pharisees unclean before God. So do your best to check your own judgment of another person’s life, and try to love them—clean or unclean—as Jesus does.
Cleanse me, O Lord, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. –Psalm 51:7 & 10