Did Jesus Veto God Regarding Food?
By Jeff Ward
You can eat anything!
“There are no food restrictions in Christianity. You can eat whatever you want.”
Christians often cite the passage in Mark 7:14-18 as proof text that BBQ and catfish should be a mainstay in the diet of Christians. Indeed, in Jesus is quoted in Mark 7:18 that “whatsoever thing from without that entereth into the man, it cannot defile him.” So is this carte-blanche blessing on eating anything you please?
Context does not suggest menu choices
In what context do we find this? What conversation was happening just before this? Was it a conversation about menu choices?
No, Mark 7:1-13 had nothing to do with dietary choices. It related to the washing of the hands. There is no command anywhere in the Jewish or Christian bible requiring you to wash your hands. The subject was whether the people washed while reciting the incantation the elders made up, the “tradition of the elders”. According to them, whatever you ate in this condition was defiled. Nowhere in the containing chapter is menu choice the subject.
How did those with Jesus behave after this teaching?
Some 20 years after the event, long after Jesus ascended, were his closest followers eating catfish and lobster and crawdads and monkey?
No, when confronted by a vision in Acts 10:9-15, Peter was revolted by the sight of the food items. He recoiled saying, “I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
Some insist Acts 10:15 constitutes blanket approval to eat anything you want. However, Peter did not perceive this as a literal message about food selection. Acts 10:28 makes it crystal clear how he received it. He said, “I should not call any person common or unclean.” The message is about people, not cuisine.
In Acts 11:1-12, the issues discussed relate entirely to people, not cuisine.
Do we really have a Torah-bashing Jesus here?
Did Jesus “take away from the law” as Deuteronomy 4:1-2 mentions? After all, Leviticus 11:43-45 makes it clear eating “swarming things” defiles you. Did Jesus openly dispute God by declaring that null and void in Mark 7:18?
Or could it be Jesus agreed with his God and was speaking of eating with unwashed hands and traditions, right in context with the conversation he just concluded?
If Jesus agreed with Yehovah and upheld Torah, we have harmony. However, if Jesus behaves like the prophet in Deuteronomy 13:1-4, we have a real problem, because those who love Yehovah are obligated to reject him as a prophet.
Can we really allege Jesus is a “prophet like Moses” from Deuteronomy 18:15 if he disputes or reverses the laws given by Moses?