The Bible Says
Mark 7:17-23 Meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Mark 7:17-23 is found in Matthew 15:15-20.

In Mark 7:17-23, the disciples question Jesus about His teaching and He explains how defilement does not come from what enters the body, but from the evil thoughts and sinful actions that proceed from the heart.

Mark 7:17-23 concludes a series of interactions between Jesus’s opposition, the crowds, and now His disciples.

It began in Mark 7:1-13 when the Pharisees and scribes tried to defame Jesus by pointing out that His disciples had defiled themselves by breaking the religious rules and traditions of the elders. Jesus dismissed their framework and showed how His accusers were hypocrites because they used their man-made religious rules and traditions to create loopholes to break God’s law.

Having dismissed His enemies, Jesus then spoke to the crowds and clarified the issue (Mark 7:14-16). He told them that external things do not make a person righteous or unrighteous, but rather it is what comes out of a person’s heart-his thoughts, words, and actions that make him righteous or unrighteous.

Specifically, Jesus said:

“There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.”
(Mark 7:15)

But a little while later the disciples questioned Jesus about this teaching.

When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable (v 17).

The parable that the disciples asked Jesus to explain referred to the teaching He had just given about what truly makes a man unclean (Mark 7:15). And He spoke this parable in response to the Pharisees’ accusation regarding the disciples' practice of eating bread without first washing their hands (Mark 7:5).

The disciples questioned Jesus about this teaching privately. They questioned Him about it only after He left the crowd and entered the house.

Matthew’s Gospel indicates that Jesus’s disciples also asked Jesus if He was aware that He had offended the powerful and influential Pharisees from Jerusalem (Matthew 15:12).

His disciples were correct. Jesus had offended the Pharisees and scribes. He called them “hypocrites” who manufacture loopholes to invalidate the Law of God and directed Isaiah’s prophetic rebuke against them (Matthew 15:7-9, Mark 7:6-13). And He publicly taught that their religious tradition was flat wrong when it said that eating with unwashed hands defiled a person before God (Matthew 15:10-11, Mark 7:14-16).

Jesus was not concerned about their opinion of Him. He did not come to please men, but to do the will of His Father (John 5:41, 6:38). Jesus told His disciples to ignore the Pharisees because their teaching and their influence would not last because they were not from God (Matthew 15:13). He described them as a blind person leading another blind person-“both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14).

Matthew also identifies Peter as the disciple who questioned Him about His teaching that corrected the Pharisees’ error about what does or does not defile a person (Matthew 15:15).

Apparently, His disciples (including Peter) shared the same mistaken assumptions about righteousness that the Pharisees taught and therefore were confused by Jesus’s teachings about righteousness.

The Pharisees held that righteousness was primarily external. They judged a man’s moral standing based on his outward behavior and adherence to ritual. According to their traditions, eating with unwashed hands rendered a person defiled.

The Pharisees approached God's commandments through a legalistic lens, relying on technical compliance and self-justification to define righteousness. This mindset stood in stark contrast to Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, where He emphasized that outward obedience without a sincere heart was empty and insufficient before God (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-37, 38-42, 43-45).

Jesus taught that true righteousness flows from the heart outward.

The Pharisees believed righteousness flowed from the outside in. And the disciples’ request for Jesus to explain His parable shows that they were still working to unlearn this false understanding.

Jesus addressed their misunderstanding with a rhetorical question:

And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also?” (v 18a).

The inclusion of the word also in Jesus’s question meant that His disciples were like the Pharisees who also lacked understanding on this point. They also were under the misassumption that righteousness was external.

Their Teacher seemed astonished by their lacking in understanding on this issue. They had been with Jesus for some time now and had heard Him speak the truth clearly on numerous occasions-indeed one of the themes of His teaching on the Sermon on the Mount (which they likely heard many times and had likely repeated during their mission) was that true righteousness (harmony with God) is a matter of the heart (Matthew 5:20, 5:27-28, 6:1, 6:33).

Jesus wanted to uproot this deeply ingrained misconception, so He followed with a clarifying question to reset their thinking:

“Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (vv 18-19a)

Jesus was clarifying that it is not food-what goes into the man through his mouth and passes into his stomach-that defiles him. These material things are processed and then expelled. Jesus was using a down-to-earth example to help the disciples grasp the point: whatever goes into the mouth is eliminated and ends up as waste. This natural bodily function does not defile a person’s soul or make them unrighteous.

Jesus explained that the reason why outside-i.e. external things such as food-cannot defile a person is because it does not go into the person’s heart. In this context the word heart does not describe a person’s physical heart, but rather his spiritual heart.

A person’s spiritual heart is the core of who that person is. The heart can be synonymous with a person’s soul. The heart is the seat of a person’s desires, consciousness, and will. If a person’s heart goes bad, that person goes bad. As the heart so goes the person. This is why food from the outside which does not go into a person’s heart cannot defile him.

After Mark records Jesus’s clarification about how external food does not or cannot defile and make a person unrighteous, Mark then makes a parenthetical point:

(Thus He declared all foods clean) (v 19b).

Mark observes that Jesus declared all foods clean with this teaching.

In the Law, God instructed Israel through Moses that there were certain foods they should avoid. Leviticus 11 gives an extended list of clean and unclean animals for Jewish consumption.

An incomplete list of some of the forbidden animals stated in Leviticus 11 include:

• Camel (Leviticus 11:4)
• Rabbit (Leviticus 11:6)
• Pig (Leviticus 11:7)
• Shellfish (Leviticus 11:10)
• And certain birds (Leviticus 11:13-19)

These dietary restrictions were part of the covenant God made with Israel to set them apart from the surrounding nations as holy. To eat unclean food was to transgress the Law, and therefore to break the covenant that distinguished Israel as God’s chosen people who were holy and set a part unto the LORD.

The Pharisees built extensive man-made traditions around these commands, reinforcing separation from Gentiles and elevating dietary laws-such as eating with washed hands (Mark 7:5)-as central to righteousness and not just a person’s Jewishness. The Pharisees teaching on this point and others demonstrates how one of their core assumptions was that a person had to be Jewish and live like a Jew according to their rules in order to be considered righteous. If they were not a Jew, they were a Gentile dog.

Mark’s comment that Jesus “declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19b) likely reflects Peter’s later experience, which helped clarify and confirm this truth.

In Acts 10, Peter received a vision from God while praying on a rooftop in Joppa. In the vision, a sheet came down from heaven filled with all kinds of animals, both clean and unclean. A voice told him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” (Acts 10:13). Peter resisted, saying he had never eaten anything unholy or unclean. The voice replied, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” (Acts 10:15.

This happened three times to emphasize the point. Peter later understood the vision was not only about food but also about accepting Gentiles-people formerly considered “unclean”-into the fellowship of the gospel without requiring adherence to Mosaic dietary laws.

Mark, writing under Peter’s apostolic authority and primarily for a Gentile (especially Roman) audience, includes this parenthetical comment in Mark 7:19 to highlight that Jesus’s teaching opened the way for all foods-and therefore all peoples-to be clean through faith in Him.

From this, it seems that Peter did not fully understand what Jesus was teaching him here in Mark 7 until after his vision in Acts 10. But rather, he later recalled Jesus’s teaching in Mark 7 and correctly applied what he had learned in Acts 10 to better grasp what Jesus was saying.

Mark’s observation that He declared all foods clean would have encouraged Gentile believers who may have felt second-class or excluded by Jewish customs. Notably, Matthew, writing to a Jewish audience, does not include this parenthetical remark-either because it did not stand out to him as it did to Peter, or because he chose not to draw attention to it, knowing that it could be a stumbling block to Jewish readers still sensitive to dietary purity. In either case, Mark’s inclusion of this observation points to the universal scope of the Gospel and the internal, rather than external, nature of defilement and righteousness.

In Acts 15, following the success of Paul and Barnabas’s missionary journey to Cyprus and Galatia they reported how many Gentiles came to the faith when they met with the apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem. This council was called in part to evaluate what God was doing among the Gentiles and what it meant for the future of the Gospel. The core issue was do the Gentiles need to follow the Law of Moses and believe in Jesus in order to receive salvation and become partakers of the Gospel or do they only need to believe? (Acts 15:4-5).

It was determined that the Gentiles were granted inclusion in God's family on the basis of faith in Jesus and that they were not to be burdened with having to follow the Law of Moses (Acts 15:19, 28-29). In other words, the Gentiles were not required to be circumcised and follow Jewish religious rituals in order to be saved. The Gentiles could remain Gentile and the Jews would continue to follow their customs and maintain their Jewishness. And both the Jews while keeping the Law and the Gentiles while remaining Gentile would be saved by grace through faith in Jesus as the God's Son and their Savior. As Peter said:

"But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
(Acts 15:11)

Though both Jews and Gentiles were saved by faith (Romans 1:16, 3:28-30, Ephesians 3:6), the Jews were expected to remain Jewish and keep the Mosaic covenant. In this way the Jews had a different “deal” from the Gentiles. The Jews were expected to continue keeping tradition, not for their eternal salvation, but as part of what it meant for them to be faithful to God, which is why Paul says in Acts 28:17 “I have never done anything against the customs of our fathers”.  For a Jewish believer to be faithful they are to follow the teachings of Jesus as they keep the Law of Moses. For a Gentile believer to be faithful they are only to follow the teachings of Jesus.

After pointing out Thus Jesus declared all foods clean, Mark resumes his narrative of Jesus’s teaching.

Jesus had just told His disciples that it is not food or whatever external thing goes into a man from the outside that defiles a person. He explained that external things such as food cannot defile a person because outside things do not go into a person’s heart.

Now Jesus explained to His disciples what can defile a person and make them unrighteous.

And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man” (v 20).

The principle He was teaching was that unrighteousness comes from within a person’s heart and it overflows into our external expressions.

Matthew’s Gospel is more specific on this point. It quotes Jesus as explaining:

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man."
(Matthew 15:18)

What comes out of a man’s mouth are words-expressions of his thoughts and desires. A man’s speech often reveals the true condition of his heart. It is the heart, not the digestive system, that is the source of righteousness,

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."
(Matthew 12:34b-35)

Jesus continued explaining to His disciples what flows from the heart. His words offered a sobering glimpse into the corrupt nature of humanity:

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness” (vv 21-22).

Jesus said this to show that it is not external-outside-elements that corrupt a person or make him unclean. Instead, our unrighteousness comes from within our own heart. And the external actions and words are the outward expression of inner evil. The true source of a man's depravity lies within his own heart.

A man is defiled when his heart entertains evil thoughts and/or he commits sinful actions that sprout from those evil thoughts.

Jesus explained how evil begins inside a person, originating in their heart, and then proceeds through their thoughts to their external deeds. Jesus gave His disciples examples of unrighteous thoughts and deeds. Notice how He did not mention food or eating with unwashed hands.

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts.

Again, evil comes out of the heart of a person and proceeds from within to the outside. It begins in a person’s heart and proceeds through their evil thoughts.

Thoughts in this context are ideas or plans, or intentions.

Evil thoughts are ideas, plans, or intentions that are selfish and seek to control other people. Evil thoughts go against the perfect and good plans of God and seek to disrupt His harmony and shalom (peace). Evil thoughts are evil and unrighteous (disharmonious) because they seek to destroy what is perfect and good.

Jesus gave His disciples examples of unrighteous and evil thoughts. Jesus mentioned: fornications, thefts, murders, and adulteries.

Fornication is sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other. But here Jesus lists fornications not as an external act, but as an example of evil thoughts. In listing fornications this way, He was saying that sexual thoughts about anyone you are not married to is evil. These lustful thoughts originate in a person’s heart-before they are acted upon.

This is similar to what Jesus taught in His so-called “Sermon on the Mount”:

“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
(Matthew 5:28)

And it is a person’s own lustful and evil thoughts about fornications that defile him.

Jesus also mentions thefts as an example of evil thoughts.

Thefts describes stealing from someone. It is taking what belongs to someone else and unjustly making it your own. One of the ten commandments is “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15).

Again, Jesus lists thefts not as an action but as an evil thought to demonstrate how greed originates in the heart and defiles a person. As thoughts of greed (thoughts of theft) are entertained, it eventually proceeds from within a person to the point where theft is acted upon in the external (outside) world.

Greed’s defiling of a person works like this:

Someone entertains evil thoughts such as: “I want something that is not mine; it should be mine” to the point where they steal (commit an act of theft) and take what is not rightfully theirs. Thus, the evil thoughts of theft proceed to evil deeds.

Similarly, evil thoughts of murder work the same way. And adultery also.

In addition to teaching about the defilement of evil thoughts of lust and adultery (Matthew 5:27-28) in His so-called “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus also taught how a person’s anger in their heart leads to murder (Matthew 5:21-22). His point in that sermon was that true righteousness (harmony with God) flows from the inside-out and is not merely external.

Jesus’s teaching that evil proceeds from inside a person’s heart toward their external actions aligns with what the Book of James says about temptation and sin,

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
(James 1:14-15)

Jesus also gave His disciples examples of unrighteous deeds.

A person’s deeds are their actions and in this context can include their spoken words.

Deeds of wickedness proceed from evil thoughts.

Deeds of coveting proceed from evil thoughts of theft or adultery.

Deeds of deceit are dishonest actions or lies. Deceit seeks to manipulate people for one’s own selfish gain. Deeds of deceit arise from deceitful and selfish thoughts.

Deeds of sensuality comes from evil thoughts of lust. The wicked acts of sensuality come from evil thoughts of fornication and adultery.

Deeds of envy and slander come from evil thoughts of hating someone. Jesus taught that anyone who hates his brother has murdered his brother in his heart. Evil thoughts against a brother are often envy and slander. And the deeds of envy and slander reinforce those evil thoughts and these evil thoughts are often a defiled person’s self-justification for murdering the person they hate.

Other wicked deeds of pride and foolishness proceed from a person’s proud and foolish heart.

These are the things (evil thoughts which produce wicked actions) that truly defile a person.

Jesus sums up His teaching about how evil originates in a person’s heart and not from external things (such as food) with this statement:

All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man (v 23).

Notice how He did not mention food or eating unwashed hands-things which the Pharisees and scribes taught (and the disciples had wrongly believed) defiled a person.