ACC ~ Mark 7 v19

THE MOUTH AND THE SOUL

ORIGEN: When we read in Leviticus [1] and Deuteronomy [2] of the laws about food as clean and unclean (for the transgression of which we are censured by the legalists and by the Ebionites, who differ from them very little), we are not to think that the scope of the Scripture is found in any superficial understanding of them. For “whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on.” [3] According to Mark, the Savior “declared all food clean,” [4] so we are not defiled when we eat those things declared to be unclean by those who still desire to be in bondage to the letter of the law. But we are then defiled when our lips, which ought to be bound with good judgment as we search for correct balance and weight, speak recklessly and discuss matters we ought not. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.12. [5]

[1] Cf. Lev 11.

[2] Cf. Deut 14.

[3] Cf. Mt 15:11, 17.

[4] Mk 7:19.

[5] TLG 2042.029, 11.12.4-17; ANF 9:440**.

Mk