Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Kings 10:1-10; Mark 7:14-23)
Old Testament dietary laws were instituted in order to keep
the nation of Israel holy. It was always
possible that Jews might imitate the evil customs of neighboring peoples. It was thought, for example, that if Jews ate
pork, in time they would practice idolatry and other sins associated with
gentiles. This background makes it
difficult to appreciate Jesus’ action in today’s gospel.
The Gospel of Mark baldly states that Jesus “declared all
foods clean.” Interestingly, the statement
does not appear in the parallel section in Matthew’s gospel. Most probably Jesus never removed Old
Testament dietary restrictions. If he
had, Paul and Barnabas would not have had to go to Jerusalem to discuss the
issue with the apostles there. The
statement likely comes from the apostles’ preaching to gentiles about the moral
requirements of Christians after the decision to relax dietary restrictions was
made.
What is critical is that we follow Jesus’ moral teachings as
given in the passage. Lust, greed, and pride
are taboo if we are to follow Christ.
