Reflective Bible Study

Sandwiched between a parable and Jesus explaining what the parable means is probably one of Jesus’ most unfair statements in the entire Bible. This statement and idea possibly shocked the disciples so much that we have it shared in three of the four gospels – and Jesus shares this idea because the disciples simply asked Him a question they had been wondering about.

As this passage opens, the disciples pull Jesus aside after He had just finished sharing a parable, and they ask Him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” (v. 10)

This is a simple question – but Jesus’ response is both prophetic and in some ways insulting. Jesus responds by saying, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.” (v. 11)

Other gospels share Jesus directly transitioning into a quote from the Old Testament to explain what He is doing. Jesus then quotes from the prophet Isaiah who said,

“When they see what I do,
    they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
    they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
    and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:12 [Isaiah 6:9-10])

Now if we look at this response and this statement, this is incredibly unfair. Not only does this make Jesus look unfair, it makes God look unfair. This prophecy makes God look like He is blesses some people with knowledge, and others He slams the door on.

However, what I believe is missing from the surface level reading of this passage is an open mind – or in other words, the freedom of choice for those listening.

If the people listening to Jesus came to Him with an open mind and a humble heart, I believe God is ready and willing to reveal truth to them. But most people are neither open-minded nor humble. In my mind, if someone comes to Jesus with preconceived ideas about Him, or if they come looking for ways to help validate an idea/opinion they already had about Him, they are not coming with an open mind or with a humble heart, and while they may listen intently and hear His words, they will learn nothing.

In this response, Jesus clearly states that He plays favorites. “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.” (v. 11)

Jesus tells His followers – those who have placed their hope, faith, trust, and belief in Him – that they are permitted to understand the secrets of God’s kingdom. However, those who have rejected Jesus and those who have closed their minds to Him are unable to learning from Him – making them unable to be healed or forgiven.

One thing I like about Jesus’ style of teaching is that He uses lots of metaphors and illustrations. While in some ways it would be nice if He simply came out and said what He wanted to communicate, by wrapping the teaching in some type of relatable illustration.

Within Jesus’ teaching, one of the more humoring illustrations is found in our passage for this journal entry. Jesus starts this passage by saying, “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.” (v. 16)

While most of us don’t light lamps anymore, we could adapt this illustration to say “No one installs lights under their carpet or floorboards. They install lights on ceilings and in places where they will be seen, so that everyone who enters a room will be able to benefit.”

Jesus goes on to talk about how all secrets will come to light, but instead of following Jesus’ illustration to the next verse, let’s stay on this verse to draw our attention to a powerful metaphor.

For many of us, when we look at our lives leading up to this point, we can see how God has moved and directed certain events to help lead us to where we are today. In many cases, God has brought us out of a life of sin, bitterness, depression, or any number of other “dark” places.

Now, imagine that God has just picked you up, healed you, dusted you off, and brought you out of the dark spot in your life. If God has just brightened your life up, why would He then “hide” you away? If God has freed you from your past and given you joy, would He keep your freedom a secret? Not likely. That would be like installing a light under your carpet.

Instead, when God frees us from our past, and He gives us His light, He will often give us opportunities to share that light with others. It might not be from a stage, podium, or pulpit, but it may simply be opening up connections and conversations with people we might not have known before.

When God lights up our lives, He places us in situations where His light will be seen!

One thing I find amazing in the Bible is how we learn about prejudices people had at that time. On one hand, there were people who rejected Jesus because He grew up in Nazareth, but in this passage from the gospel of Matthew, it seems that a great number of people living in Nazareth also rejected Jesus.

In this passage, Jesus returns home to Nazareth and He visits the synagogue. The people present were impressed by His preaching, but it seems they “knew too much”. Many of these people watched Jesus grow up, and while that shouldn’t make a difference, it would seem that Jesus’ developing years were not spectacular enough to have made an impression of divinity on these people.

“When Jesus finished telling these parables, he left that place and went back to his hometown. He taught in the synagogue, and those who heard him were amazed. ‘Where did he get such wisdom?’ they asked. ‘And what about his miracles? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? Where did he get all this?’ And so they rejected him.” (v. 53-57a)

Seeing Jesus grow up actually seemed to hurt His reputation in the people of Nazareth’s minds. While they were among the closest to His family, these acquaintances were not open to the idea that God’s Messiah would have been chosen to grow up in their midst. While Jesus needed to mature somewhere, they had written off the possibility that it would be in their small town.

And by writing this possibility off, they chose to reject the amazing gift God sent them. They had the opportunity to know Jesus before He was famous, and before He was the celebrity. But as it turns out, knowing Jesus and just thinking He was a good person with some good things to say doesn’t lead people into a life-transforming faith. Those living in Nazareth were stuck in their belief of Jesus being a carpenter’s son and nothing more.

There are people living today who believe like those living in Nazareth. These people believe Jesus was a great preacher, and He was famous, but His life 2000 years ago is not important or relevant to us today. Don’t let your preconceived ideas about who Jesus was impact who the Holy Spirit inspires Him to be to you. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because they thought they knew who He was, but in their rejection, they gave up the amazing gift God had given them that millions of people living afterwards would have loved to have: They got the chance to know Jesus before the fame and the ministry.

In what may have been one of the most heartbreaking events during Jesus’ ministry, after being challenged by Jesus, we read that many of His followers left Him. It seemed that while Jesus drew a crowd, if that crowd became too large, He would challenge them with something very difficult, and many would give up and walk away.

However, in this passage, while the crowd of followers are gathering their things to leave, Jesus says a very profound statement: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” (v. 63)

Whether the crowd of followers didn’t grasp this, or they were too offended by Jesus’ metaphor-challenge about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, we read that “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” (v. 66)

But not all of Jesus followers left.

Perhaps seeing confusion in the eyes of the twelve disciples, Jesus turns and asks them, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (v. 67)

In one of his few moments of inspiration, Peter breaks the silence hanging in the air following Jesus’ question by answering, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (v. 68-69)

Whether Peter fully grasped the words he was saying, or whether Peter was simply echoing Jesus’ statement about His words being full of Spirit and life, it seemed that these closest disciples saw something in Jesus worth following.

In a way they might not understand until later, they believed Jesus’ statement in verse 63 that “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” It is the intangible aspects of life, like our focus and our character that matter the most. Focusing on the tangible parts of life, such as on our clothes, our bodies, our hairstyle, and what we eat each day will only leave us chasing after things that don’t really matter in the long term. What does it matter what we wore two or three years ago on this day, or what we made for supper? These topics consume too much thought in our present lives when Jesus wants us instead to focus on more important matters, like our focus on God, our relationship with Him, and on the character we are developing through our habits.

Peter gets this key idea: Peter knows that the more time he spends with Jesus, the more like Jesus he will become and the stronger their relationship will be. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more like Jesus we can be as well – and the more life we will be given through the Holy Spirit and the truth Jesus spoke.