More James Dunn
We can conclude, then, that Jesus was recalled as speaking on the subject of purity, and as insisting that purity of heart is more important than ritual purity (cf. Matt 5.8; Matt 23.25/Luke 11.39). Some heard Jesus as not content to debate issues
of ritual purity solely at the level of ritual, but as pressing home the concerns behind such law and halakhoth to the more fundamental level of purity of motive and intention. Others heard Jesus, when the teaching was rehearsed within wider circles of discipleship, as validating or commending a more radical conclusion, to the effect that Israel’s purity law no longer applied to the followers of Jesus. Either way, Jesus evidently had no interest in making ritual purity a test case
of covenant loyalty. The emphasis on matters of purity, so characteristic of the factional rivalries of the time, was for Jesus an overemphasis.
of ritual purity solely at the level of ritual, but as pressing home the concerns behind such law and halakhoth to the more fundamental level of purity of motive and intention. Others heard Jesus, when the teaching was rehearsed within wider circles of discipleship, as validating or commending a more radical conclusion, to the effect that Israel’s purity law no longer applied to the followers of Jesus. Either way, Jesus evidently had no interest in making ritual purity a test case
of covenant loyalty. The emphasis on matters of purity, so characteristic of the factional rivalries of the time, was for Jesus an overemphasis.