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A Telling Event From Jesus' Ministry
Many
people assume Jesus Christ abolished the distinctions between clean and unclean meats,
even though, as we have seen, no evidence for this exists in the Scriptures. However,
the Bible includes a report of a telling incident that shows whether Jesus viewed
pigs as suitable for food.
Before we examine that account, let's understand a part of Christ's character-that
He apparently was never wasteful.
On two occasions during His ministry Jesus miraculously multiplied a few fish and
loaves of bread to feed large crowds that followed Him-on one occasion 4,000 and
on the other 5,000 strong (Matthew 14:15-21; 15:32-38). But, in spite of an abundance
of food, Christ did not allow any of it to go to waste. "So when they (the crowds)
were filled, He said to His disciples, 'Gather up the fragments that remain, so that
nothing is lost'" (John 6:12).
The disciples gathered up 12 baskets of leftover food after the first of these miracles
and seven after the second. He specifically told His disciples not to allow any of
it to be thrown away.
With the understanding that Jesus was compassionate and not wasteful toward food,
let's examine an incident involving Him and some unclean animals-a large herd of
pigs.
Mark 5:1-13 records that Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat to the region of
Gadara, a gentile (non-Jewish) area on the eastern shore.
There He was met by a demon-possessed man from whom He would momentarily cast many
evil spirits.
In this remarkable encounter, the demons requested that Jesus send them into a herd
of 2,000 swine feeding on a nearby hillside. Jesus granted their request, and, when
the demons entered the swine, "the herd ran violently down the steep place into
the sea, and drowned in the sea" (verse 13).
Many have puzzled over this astounding incident in which Jesus precipitated the destruction
of a valuable herd of 2,000 pigs-enough to feed many thousands of people. Yet we
should not be surprised when we understand the biblical instruction that these animals
should never have been raised for food, and their owner was acting in defiance of
God's laws.
Beyond question is that Jesus didn't consider the swine to be suitable for food.
The compassionate Savior of mankind, the one who ordered scraps of bread and fish
to be gathered up so none would go to waste, would never have wasted such a valuable
resource had He considered the pigs to be an acceptable part of the human diet.
Jesus is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Animals
He viewed as unfit for human consumption 2,000 years ago remain unfit for us to eat
in our day.
© 2001-2008 United Church of God, an International Association
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Clean and unclean food: