Mark 7:14-23 – 14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality,envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
To summarize Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7:14-23 is to say that true religion focuses on what is inside of us, manifested by what comes out of us. This means our main problem in life isn’t outside of us, even though we like to blame our spouse, kids, co-worker, boss, or neighbor. It’s true that there are many factors that are involved in our sin, but nothing outside of us can cause us to sin. The greater the adversity from outside of us, the easier it is for us to adopt a sinful response and excuse ourselves from obeying God’s word. We are too easily tempted to think that external factors are ruining our lives. There’s no doubt that people and circumstances can make our lives difficult and even painful, but perhaps we need to consider that’s it’s our sinful response to external factors that is ruining our lives. This is what makes Christ’s life so unique and spectacular. He had the most intense form of mistreatment in the history of the world because he was completely sinless and never did anything wrong. Yet the Bible tells us in 1 Pet. 2:23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He experienced the fury of satanic forces in his mistreatment and abuse, yet nothing evil came out of him because nothing evil was within him.