Primary Scripture
Matthew 15:17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Plain explanation
Defilement from the heart does not overturn YAHUAH's clean and unclean food distinctions.
Common assumption
Food laws are abolished because defilement comes from the heart.
Scripture-defined meaning
Matthew 15:17-20 answers a dispute about defilement, handwashing, and what comes from the heart. It does not redefine unclean animals as food or overturn the clean/unclean distinctions YAHUAH already gave.
Confirming witnesses
- Immediate explanation: Matthew 15:2-16
The preceding dispute is about handwashing tradition and YAHUSHA's contrast between human tradition and YAHUAH's commandment. - Lexical usage: Mark 7:18-23
The parallel explanation contrasts digestion with sins arising from the heart, not clean animals with unclean animals. - Prophetic purpose: Leviticus 11:46-47
The earlier revelation preserves the distinction between clean and unclean and between what may and may not be eaten. - Apostolic confirmation: Acts 10:14,28
Peter still distinguishes common from unclean and later explains that the vision concerned people, not permission to eat unclean flesh.
Takeaway
Heart defilement does not cancel YAHUAH's definition of clean and unclean.
Context reflection
Where has a handwashing dispute been used to overturn YAHUAH's food boundaries?