db122 then he called the crowd again & said ~~~~~~

"LISTEN TO ME, ALL OF YOU, AND UNDERSTAND:
there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile,
but the things that come out are what defile!"

When je had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.
He said to them, "THEN DO YOU ALSO FAIL TO UNDERSTAND? DO YOU NOT SEE THAT WHATEVER GOES INTO A PERSON FROM OUTSIDE CANNOT DEFILE, SINCE IT ENTERS NOT THE HEART BUT THE STOMACH, AND GOES OUT INTO THE SEWER?"
(Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "IT IS WHAT COMES OUT OF A PERSON THAT DEFILES. FOR IT IS FROM WITHIN, FROM THE HUMAN HEART, THAT EVIL INTENTIONS COME: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, pride, slander & folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Attentive readers will have noticed that verse 16 has been left out of my translation of the text, as it is in many standard versions: it is usually considered a later addition to the text, but actually it is original & the key to understanding the passage. It reads: "LET THOSE WHO HAVE EARS, HEAR!" thus signaling that Yesh's statement about the law of purity is a parable, that the law iiself has a deeper meaning. But the disciples could not understand the deeper meaning that YESHUA's words were meant to convey. And so they asked him to explain. What, teacher, did you mean to teach us with this parable? And Yehoshua answered them: "WHY DOES THE TORAH ONLY RENDER IMPURE THAT WHICH COMES OUT AND NOT THAT WHICH GOES IN, IF NOT TO TEACH US SOMETHING, NAMELY, THAT MORALITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PURITY RULES ~ AND ESPECIALLY ALLEGEDLY PHARISAIC EXTENSIONS OF THEM?" This has absolutely nothing to do with abroga-ting the Law; it is just putting it in its place. The explanation that Yesh gives is to interpret the deep meaning of the Torah's rules, not to set them aside. And it is this deep interpretation of the Law that constitutes HÌS great contribution ~ nòt an alleged rejection of the Law at all!