Within the culture of Jesus’ time, there were those who insisted that the ills of society were due to certain traditional religious laws not being observed rigorously enough. More specifically, some were trying to claim moral superiority (and some measure of power) by being hyper vigilant about what, how and with whom they and those around them ate. For many it became an obsession, a preoccupation that did anything but bring them closer to God. Being the radical that he was (“radical” meaning not extremist, but “going back to the roots” of a relationship with God), Jesus insisted that food was really only an, umm, “throughput” and distinctly not the source of a barrier toward God. Instead he insisted that “evil intentions” (NRSV) or “evil thoughts” (NIV) that are within the depths of people were what truly separate us from God. It’s so much easier to judge yourself or someone else for their diet, but this does not touch the true core of our separation from and ultimately connection to God. Interestingly and even vexingly, Jesus was a man of his time which included a certain amount of racial/cultural prejudice and even misogyny. This story reminds us that even Jesus needed to be challenged on “right relations.” To his credit he accepted the challenge.