Jesus teaches what causes sickness

Sickness has been a major concern in the history of mankind. Here is a common scene in Biblical time. Lots of people bring their sick relatives and friends for healing by Jesus.

Even today many seek healing everywhere. This passage in Mark chapter six is followed by a teaching by Jesus in chapter seven. Let us meditate on what Jesus teaches about what causes sickness in the first place. Some today would have thought eating the right food is most essential. But Jesus says sickness actually comes from within a person.

Mark 6:53-56 New Living Translation (NLT)

53 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore54 and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, 55 and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

Mark 7 New Living Translation (NLT) Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating…

14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.[h]”

17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”