Jesus' Advice on Hand washing.

[Red Wolf]

The Scientists say wash your hands to control the coronavirus.
Compare Jesus' advice on hand washing.
Jesus' Advice On Handwashing and Health
Hand washing Mark chapter 7

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,
2and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.
3For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders;
4and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.
5The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?"

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "

Was this good advice that Jesus gave the crowd. For health reasons isn’t it prudent to wash your hands, cups and pitchers and copper pots?

What do health professionals always tell you concerning how to avoid getting sick?
Wash your hands. Wash your hands before eating. My mother always insisted that I wash my hands when I came into the house, and before eating.

Is there “Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him,�� as Jesus said? What about bacteria, viruses, and poisons, that may be on your hands, and may find their way into your mouth and make you sick, if you don’t wash them off your hands?

If Jesus is God, didn’t Jesus sin by giving people false information that could result in death or disease? [Criminal indifference to Human Life]

If Jesus didn’t know that his information was false, doesn’t that prove that he is not God?

In the Hebrew Scriptures, there is Scripture that makes it incumbent for all to take measures to shield others from safety hazards to which the unwary might fall victim. [Deuteronomy 22:8] Jesus ignored this principle.

If you study the Hebrew Scriptures you find that there are laws which are intended to keep people healthy.
Hand washing keeps people healthy.
By going against hand washing Jesus was encouraging people to eat with dirty hands possibly exposing them to disease.
It doesn't seem right that Jesus could be who people think he is if he has an attitude that is dangerous to people's health.

Jesus' followers ate with dirty hands.
In the dark ages of Christianity people believed Demons were responsible for disease.
Maybe if Jesus knew ....and would have told people about how disease is spread people wouldn't have been dying while trying to get a demon removed.
Remember Jesus healed by casting out demons....was that truthful? Or just rank superstition?

Back in Jesus' day, people ate with their fingers from communal bowls. [Matthew 26:23]
If one man relieves his bowels, doesn't adequately wash his hands, and then lays down to eat with his fingers from the community bowl, he could make everyone eating from that bowl sick.
A man has an obligation under the Law to protect the health and well being of his neighbor. Don't you agree?
Yes....the ritual of hand washing had a religious significance, but it was also in place to protect the health of the people.
We have all heard the saying....Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
The Scripture quoted in Mark 7 says ..."""some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.""
So it wasn't a matter of them not washing good enough. They didn't wash their hands at all.

So do you follow the advice of Scientists or the advice of Jesus?????

[bjs]

Jesus was clearly talking about spiritual cleanliness, not physical cleanliness. He was rejecting the idea that physical washing or ceremonies of that kind are what make a person spiritually clean before God. He was not rejecting washing for physical cleaning, and still actively encouraged physical washing (see John 13).

This is not exactly accurate, but to get the basic idea think of it this way: Jesus was saying being clean does not make you a good person, and having grease on your hands does not make you a bad person.

[Red Wolf]

[Replying to post 2 by bjs]

The point is Jesus and his followers did not wash their hands because Jesus said not to wash hands. Had there been a Covid19 virus back then they would have been feeding the epidemic.
Jesus made some false statements....
Is there “Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him,�� as Jesus said? What about bacteria, viruses, and poisons, that may be on your hands, and may find their way into your mouth and make you sick, if you don’t wash them off your hands?

If Jesus is God, didn’t Jesus sin by giving people false information that could result in death or disease?

[bjs]

[Replying to post 2 by bjs]

The point is Jesus and his followers did not wash their hands because Jesus said not to wash hands.

Can you support this claim with evidence? Jesus rejected ceremonial hand cleaning. Can you show that his disciples never washed their hands for any other reason?

Is there “Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him,�� as Jesus said? What about bacteria, viruses, and poisons, that may be on your hands, and may find their way into your mouth and make you sick, if you don’t wash them off your hands?

Yes, Jesus was correct. Nothing outside a man makes him “unclean.� “Unclean� was a well-established spiritual concept found throughout the OT and in many other Jewish and later Christian writings. Spiritual uncleanliness does not come from any virus, bacteria or dirt. It comes from the heart. It is not what goes into a man’s body, but what comes out of his heart (soul, will, intellect, etc.) that makes him clean or unclean.

[Diagoras]

Jesus was clearly talking about spiritual cleanliness, not physical cleanliness.

<bolding mine>

I’m not sure that it is that clear. These verses from Mark appear to show Jesus talking about both the physical (the belly) and the spiritual (the heart), but not drawing a clear distinction between them.

7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
7:19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
7:20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

I see two alternatives, neither particularly good for Jesus. Either:

a) Jesus believes that anything put into a person can’t harm them in any way, or -

b) Jesus knows the difference between physical sickness and spiritual sickness, but chooses (either intentionally or unintentionally) to confuse his audience by not spelling it out properly.

Even allowing for some figurative language in a parable, it’s either flat-out wrong, or needlessly confusing.

[earl]

Mt.15.1-20
This is the alternate version .
What has happened is that the "tradition of the elders" ,the washing of hands in this context is only found in the Talmud .Please check anyone .I could be wrong.This topic has not come up in a long while.
Jesus rebuked them.
V 12-"they were offended"

The point Jesus made was the elders were not referencing the Torah for their accusations but the Talmud which is nothing but man made works of men,"break the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions".(your traditions)

[brunumb]

Jesus was clearly talking about spiritual cleanliness, not physical cleanliness. He was rejecting the idea that physical washing or ceremonies of that kind are what make a person spiritually clean before God. He was not rejecting washing for physical cleaning, and still actively encouraged physical washing (see John 13).

This is not exactly accurate, but to get the basic idea think of it this way: Jesus was saying being clean does not make you a good person, and having grease on your hands does not make you a bad person.

In that case, precisely what does “Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him� actually mean?

[Zzyzx]

.
An omniscient being (or part of one) should be wise enough to advise humans to wash hands (not feet), cook food thoroughly, boil questionable water, don't poop where you live, and stay away from sick people as much as possible.

Therefore, such advice is prominent in the Bible. Right?

[brunumb]

[Replying to post 2 by bjs]

...and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

How do you get the spiritual from that?

[1213]

...Jesus' followers ate with dirty hands....

By what the story tells we don’t know that. You say they had dirty hands, but how could you know that?