Question

Did Jesus violate the dietary laws in the Old Testament when it says in Mark 7:19, the last clause, "Thus he declared all foods clean."  Is that a violation of the dietary laws?  This is brought up also, I might add, by a lot of Rabbinical antagonists to the Christian faith.

Answer

Jesus never violated anything.  Jesus wrote it and had the right to edit it anyway He wanted.  You are asking about that incident about Jesus saying, "Don't be concern about what you eat," in effect?  "It is not what goes into the man that defiles him, it is what comes out of the man that defiles him."  The statement, "purging all foods," is not even a proper understanding of that text.  "It enters not into the heart, but into the stomach, and goes out into the draught," which means the "toilet" in effect.  "Purging" the food as it goes through the body, that has nothing to do with setting aside the dietary system.  But, again, I think, what you have to keep in mind, is that Jesus here is saying that dietary laws are not really the heart issue at all--it is not what you take in that defiles you, it is what comes out of what's inside of you that defiles you.  So, I don't think that has any reference there. 

In Acts 10, God definitely sets aside the dietary laws.  In the experience of Peter the sheet comes down with all the clean and unclean things, and you remember in the vision, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat!" And he says, "Lord, I have never eaten what is unclean."  And the Lord said, "Call thou not uncommon what God has cleansed."  So, I think the dietary laws are set aside clearly in Acts 10.  I don't think there is any statement regarding Jesus where He overtly sets aside all of that, that's not until the Book of Acts.