Clean and Unclean

Mark 7 is a little confusing because Jesus is talking about foods being clean that up to this point were unclean according to the Word of God in the Old Testament laws of Moses.

"Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclear.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'

It helps to understand that the purpose of the Old Testament ceremonial laws (about eating, washing, etc.) was to keep the people of Israel separate so they wouldn't fall into the sinful lifestyles of the surrounding peoples and put in danger the coming of the Messiah through Israel. So these laws essentially pointed ahead to Jesus. When he came, then, he was a fulfillment of these ceremonial laws as Colossians 2:16-17 explains: "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."

Unfortunately some, like the Pharisees, turned these laws into their own path of salvation by works. They even created 600 or so "buffer laws" to make sure they did even better than asked--just in case.

Jesus explains that it's not these outward acts that matter but what's in the heart. Were those following the ceremonial laws doing it because of their faith in God and the promised Messiah or because they wanted to save themselves by keeping the laws (and thereby rejecting their need of a Savior)?

It sounds like Jesus here is basically declaring an end to the ceremonial laws on foods although that understanding doesn't seem to catch on until it is confirmed in a vision to Peter in Acts 10:9-16.