(Text and Audio)
Title: An Interesting Response
- “Hear and understand…” (The command before the actual command)
I think there are a few noteworthy points to consider with Jesus’s 2 part encouragement. It’s subtle, but there is some insight into the will of God even in these three words, “Hear and understand…”
- Both the word “hear” and “understand” are recorded by Jesus in the Greek as being present, active, imperative words. In other words, when Jesus says, “Hear and understand” he’s giving the crowd a command.
- He’s talking now to the multitudes, in a moment the context of his conversation will shift back to the disciples, but for now, he has called the multitudes to him to tell them they need to both hear and understand what he is about to say.
- Theologically speaking, this brings up a subtle, but powerful, question: Is Jesus’s command here of his sovereign will (I decree that you WILL understand) or of his desire (I’m telling you it’s important that you understand this)?
- The answer to this question lies in the result. If they hear and understand, all of them, then they’ve been given these ears to hear the truth, to understand, and then apply it to their lives. If, however, some of them understand, and others do not (a more likely outcome) then we must conclude that Jesus is commanding them of something he wants them to obey, fully well knowing that some of them will not obey.
POINT: Jesus can issue “commands” that are from his sovereign will, but from his will of desire. If they are from his sovereign will we will obey them. If they are from his will of desire, we may or may not obey them, depending on our obedience at the time.
- The Command Itself
So what is it that Jesus actually commands them?
“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Now, I’m not going to go into great detail to explain this saying today, because in a couple weeks when we get back into Matthew after Easter you will see that Jesus himself offers an explanation of this statement beginning in verse 16, but at this point I will say this:
What Jesus is stressing here is that what one says is a reflection of the product inside the person.
This was not a particularly tricky teaching, I’m sure all who were present had the ability to get what Jesus was saying, even if they missed the multiple applications, some of which were aimed specifically at the Pharisees and Scribes.
Consider:
- The Pharisees and Scribes were concerned with the outward symbol going in. (Hand washing rituals, food laws, the traditions of outward appearance)
- Jesus was concerned about what was coming out of a person. (Their words, their actions, their motivations, the condition of their spirit)
- Jesus’s interesting reaction
(read v. 13-14)
Here we read that the disciples bring to Jesus’s attention the fact that he’s offended the Scribes and Pharisees but the way that Jesus responds is telling. He never acknowledges the fact that he’s offended, he frankly doesn’t seem to care, but what he does care about is the ability of his disciples to discern who and what the Scribes and Pharisees are.
He chooses a parable to explain this to them, and my feeling is that the disciples, Peter included, are rather shocked by what Jesus is suggesting through this parable, so, in verse 15 we read that Peter speaks up and asks for further clarification. We’ll cover that clarification in two weeks, but for now, let’s take a look at what Jesus says in response to the news that he’s offended the Scribes and Pharisees.
- “Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted.”
- There are plants NOT planted by the father
- This would most likely remind the disciples of the parable of the scattered seed, which had a similar point: what the plant actually becomes (a multiplying plant vs. a dead plant) reveals what it actually is. (What comes OUT is the defining characteristic, NOT what goes in.)
- These plants WILL be uprooted
- “Let them alone”
- This certainly makes one think of Matthew 6, where Jesus reminds the disciples, “Do not cast your pearls before swine, or give what is holy to dogs.”
- Jesus is essentially telling the disciples to leave these men to themselves. They’ve heard the truth and rejected it, it is not the job of the disciples to continue to engage them at this point.
- “They are blind leaders of the blind”
- Because of their lack of ears to hear, and eyes to see, they will end up in ruin.
- Even though Jesus knows this, he still advises them to leave them alone
Theological Point: This may seem “cruel” but don’t forget Paul’s quote of Yahweh in Romans 9:15 “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Application: Our job is to speak the Truth. But only the intervention of the illuminating Holy Spirit will keep someone out of a ditch.