2.e. Wash Up! Mark 7:19 in Context
People may try and cite Mark 7:19 to show that Jesus himself said that all foods are clean. The context reveals this is about eating food without washing one's hands first (vv.1-5). Note: "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashen hands." The other interesting detail is that the disciples and Jesus were eating bread (v.2). Contextually, this has nothing to do with the disciples eating unclean food, or even meat at all. That wasn't the issue. The Pharisees wondered why Jesus and his disciples didn't follow man-made traditions of handwashing. If Jesus actually said that unclean meat was suddenly eatable, he would've been in violation of Torah and thus an apostate. Paul does that, not Jesus!