Mark / Question
Jesus told the crowd that nothing outside a person that goes into him can defile him; what comes out is what defiles (Mark 7:15). He later explains that evil thoughts and actions come from within the heart and defile a person (Mark 7:20–23).
In Mark 7:14–16, Jesus turns from a dispute to address the whole crowd with a clear, public rule about what truly makes a person unclean. He calls for careful listening and understanding, then states that what enters a person from the outside does not make them unclean. Instead, what comes out from within a person is what makes them unclean. This scene follows a confrontation about religious practices and what counts as impurity, where attention has been focused on external actions and traditions. Jesus shifts the audience from leaders and disciples to the larger crowd, signaling that the issue has broad relevance and is not just an insider debate.
Jesus publicly reframes what “defiles” a person. He calls the whole crowd in, not just specialists, and asks for real comprehension, not mere hearing. The core contrast is clear and repeated: what goes into a person from the outside does not defile; what comes out from within is what defiles (verse 15).
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Mark 7:15, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
15There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.