Filthy Food

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (v15).

Gluten-free. Low fat. Low sodium. Low carb. Lactose intolerant. Vegan. Vegetarian. Fruitarian. It seems like just about everybody I know is on some sort of restricted diet. It’s amazing how much discipline these folks have when it comes to food. They know what they should eat. And they know what they should avoid. For the new believers on the island of Crete, a team of false teachers demand that they follow a diet as key part of their faith in Jesus. Here in his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul reminds his go-to guy that this idea of filthy food is crazy talk. 

As part of his assignment, Titus is to shut down and shut up a posse of spiritual snake oil salesmen who are distracting new Christ followers from the main thing (Titus 1:10-11). And that main thing is following Jesus! These con artists are members of the “circumcision party” (Titus 1:10). These are Jews who demand that Gentiles must convert to Judaism before they can ever consider following Messiah Jesus. Paul dealt with the same sort of knuckleheads in Galatia. This became such a hot button issue for the new church that they called a meeting back at the home office in Jerusalem to figure out what to do (Acts 15). They quickly decided that if God is saving non-Jews and bringing them into His kingdom, there’s no reason to burden these new believers with following the Old Testament and getting circumcised (whew!). A huge part of living life under the OT law is Jewish food regulations. In other words, there’s no requirement for Gentile believers to order the kosher meal.

Clearly, these new followers of Jesus understand the beauty of God’s creation and the glory of a good meal. “To the pure, all things are pure” (v15). In other words, when we place our trust in our pure and holy High Priest, we no longer have to worry about those incredibly complex rules of ritual purity God handed Moses in the Old Testament. Jesus is our ultimate High Priest (Heb 4:14-16). He makes EVERYTHING ritually pure and clean. The religious police challenged Jesus on this very same idea one night at dinner. The Pharisees’ jaws hit the floor when the Rabbi/Carpenter from Galilee didn’t wash up before dinner (Lk 11:38). They didn’t give a hot hoot about sanitation. They were obsessed with Jewish regulations of religious purity. At that point, Christ busts their chops and tells them they are totally preoccupied with the wrong stuff. He told them that they were like bad dishwashers. They scrubbed clean the outside of cups and dishes but never even touched the inside (Lk 11:39). “You fools! Did He who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you” (Lk 11:40-41). 

Paul also ran into similar food controversies. No we’re NOT talking about who has the best barbecue (why can’t we all just get along?!?). It was huge point of contention for his friends in Rome. He let Roman believers know that we shouldn’t let food rules drive a wedge between each other. “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats” (Rom 14:20). Forbidden foods was also a controversial issue in Corinth. The apostle reminds the Corinthians to not get all hung up on what they should eat. The bottom line is to remember that food and religious diet is a big deal for a lot of fellow believers. Don’t let what’s served at dinner “become a stumbling block to the weak” (1Cor 8:9). We need to stop worrying about what we want and start concerning ourselves with the good of others. “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1Cor 10:23).

The problem with the false teachers is that they see the world like my wife looks at a service station restroom. It’s disgusting. It’s filthy. “But to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure” (v15). This is WAY more than just whether or not there’s bacon on my cheeseburger. This is failing to trust that Jesus completely saved you and me. These Jewish circumcisers believe that Christ may have gotten us into God’s kingdom but it’s now up to us to stay in. And a big part of that is following a complicated list of religious rules and regs. Trusting in Jesus means wrapping your arms around His completed work. When He yelled from the cross “It is finished!” (Jn 19:3), He wasn’t kidding! He did it all. There’s nothing left for us to do except believe that He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived the perfectly obedient life of purity that I completely failed to live. He died the death for my sinful disobedience that I should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that I totally do not deserve. 

As a result, I don’t have to worry about my diet. Well, I probably do need to cut back on my red meat, but that’s a completely different issue. Jesus has freed us not just from the kosher food rules, but the obligation to follow the rules to self-salvation. It’s a reminder of God’s critique of His spectacular creation. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Yeah, this idea of filthy food is crazy talk.

Jesus the Terminator

By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Eph 2:15).

I'm a bit of a hoarder.  Some of the things I keep are ticket stubs.  Torn tickets from all the games and plays I've attended over the years.  These are great reminders of events throughout my life.  Many of these tickets originally cost a lot of money.  Are they worth anything today?  Nope.  Not a dime.  Not after they've been torn at the turnstile.  In this verse, Paul looks back on the Jewish ceremonial laws of the Old Testament like a ticket stub.  Jesus tore our sacrificial ticket "by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace" (v15).  Thanks to what He's done for us, we can look back at the complicated list of sacrificial laws in the OT like a ticket stub.  A very expensive ticket.  But one that is no longer needed.  

Paul tells his readers how Jesus brought Jews and non-Jews together by "abolishing the law of commandments" (v15).  No place was a better example than Ephesus.  When the apostle first hit the city, he set up shop in the local synagogue telling Jews that Messiah has come (Acts 19:8).  Some came to believe that Jesus was indeed God's long promised Savior.  But other Jewish leaders rejected Paul and his message and gave him the boot (Acts 19:9).  So he moved over to a place called Tyrannus Hall and started teaching everyday for another two years (Acts 19:9-10).  As a result, both Ephesian Jews and Gentiles placed their trust in the radical and risen Rabbi from Galilee (Acts 19:10).  As He had started doing everywhere He sent Paul, Jesus brought Jews and non-Jews together in a crazy new way.

Christ did this by "abolishing the law of commandments" (v15).  The apostle uses the Greek verb katargeo, which means to terminate, nullify, cancel, render ineffective, cause to cease or put an end to something.  Writers of the New Testament use it 27 times.  All but two of those are by the man from Tarsus.  When he grew up, Paul put an end to (Gr. katargeo) acting childish (1Cor 13:11).  Jesus "abolished (Gr. katargeo) death" once and for all through His gracioius Good News (2Tim 1:10).

Jesus is the Terminator.

According to Paul, Jesus has dropped a nuke on the OT ceremonial laws of sacrifice and separation by giving Himself as the Ultimate Sacrifice.  There's a huge difference between what really smart dudes call Moral Law and Ceremonial Law in the Bible.  The Moral Law is talking about the code of conduct God has passed down for us to follow.  The Ten Commandments are a perfect example of Moral Law.  Ceremonial Law describes the process of sacrifices, offerings and rituals that were required when we violated God's perfect standard.  Are you tracking?  When it comes to the sacrifices of the OT, Jesus has torn the ticket.  He's torn YOUR ticket!  He's put an end to all of it.  It's over.  

Jesus is the Terminator.

So what was God up to through this complicated and bloody system of rituals and offerings anyway?  First, it was the only way to even temporarily deal with sin.  There is no forgiveness without spilled blood (Heb 9:22).  Gross, yes.  But effective in the short run.  Second, these gory and costly sacrifices provided a picture of the One who was to come and provide the perfect and final sacrifice.  All of these were simply "a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ" (Col 2:16-17).  All of the holidays, all of the feasts, all of the dietary laws gave people a picture of the One who was to come.  Third, these sacrificial ceremonies, laws and festivals provided a clear distinction between the Jews and the rest of the people of the world.  As God's chosen people, they were holy, distinct and separate from the rest of mankind.  It was Yahweh's method of setting them apart to Himself (Lev 20:26).  By dying on a cross as the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, Jesus tore our tickets.  He paid for Jews.  He paid for non-Jews.  

The very cool thing is that Jesus handled BOTH the Moral and Ceremonial Law for us.  During His most memorable sermon, He told the big crowd, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them" (Mt 5:17).  Here He's talking about the Moral Law.  Christ didn't simply take a big eraser to all the commands about behavior in the OT.  Not in the least.  But what He did was even more amazing.  He obeyed them.  He obeyed them ALL.  He obeyed them PERFECTLY.  He obeyed them SPOTLESSLY.  Don't ever underestimate the fact that He lived the perfect life that we failed to live.  Because of that, Jesus is qualified to die the brutal death for sin that we should have died.  He didn't come to erase the law.  He came to highlight it.  The law lets me know I can't do it.  It doesn't save me.  It only diagnoses my disease.  And the only cure is Jesus and His perfect obedience and sacrifice.  He perfectly obeyed the Moral Law.  And because of His flawless obedience and sinless sacrifice, He's closed the book on the Ceremonial Law.  He's put a stop to the Jewish sacrificial system.  That's the entire point the writer of Hebrews is trying to through our thick skulls.  Because of Jesus, get out of the temple!

Jesus is the Terminator.

Christ abolished all of these ceremonial laws so that "he might create in Himself one new man in place of two, so making peace" (v15).  Quite simply, Jesus knocked down the walls that separated Jews and Gentiles.  He took a wrecking ball and obliterated them.  There's absolutely nothing that's keeping us apart any longer.  Circumcision doesn't do it (Col 3:11).  Race or nationality doesn't do it (Gal 3:28).  Job or social status doesn't do it.  Thanks to Jesus the Terminator, all of that stuff has come to an end.  He's made us one.  We're finally at peace.

Thanks to Jesus the Terminator.