Mateus 13
Kenneth Wuest · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 13
Wuest explains that "The mystery is not in the fact that they are difficult to interpret, but that they are impossible to interpret until their meaning is revealed, for only then do they become plain. The disciples had been initiated into these secret things." (Word Studies) Adrian Rogers - Now these parables reveal mysteries; and so there is the mystery of His teaching. And you cannot just take cold and callused hands, and lay them upon this book, and open this book, and bring to it an undiscipled and an uncircumcised and an unspiritual mind, and expect to understand this book. This book is full of mysteries. Now a mystery, in the Bible, is a hidden truth; and it cannot be known by human knowledge or by human wisdom, but it must come by revelation. It is a hidden truth that you can only know by revelation. And so Jesus here is speaking in mysteries. And that’s the reason that some people don’t understand the Bible: They don’t have eyes to see..
Mateus 13
Wuest adds that took offense meant in a passive sense, “to find occasion of stumbling in a person, to be offended in a person, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority.” They could not explain Him, so they rejected Him. The saddest part of all was that His own brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of Mary and Joseph, disbelieved His Messianic claims. They had lived in the same home with Jesus for many years, and had been the recipients of the financial support He brought in to the family coffers by His carpenter work. His singularly beautiful life had made no effective impression upon their dull, cold hearts." The prophet Isaiah had prophesied that Messiah would be a stone of stumbling “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. "And many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught." (Isa 8:14-15+) Peter adds that Jesus was “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE (skandalon)”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. (1 Peter 2:8+) Took offense (4624)(skandalizo from skandalon = a trap = put a snare or stumbling block = 1 Cor 1:23; scandalize = offend the moral sense) means to put a snare in the way, hence to cause to stumble, to give offense. Matt. 5:29; Matt. 5:30; Matt. 11:6; Matt. 13:21 = he falls away (is scandalized); Matt. 13:57; Matt. 15:12; Matt. 17:27; Matt. 18:6; Matt. 18:8; Matt. 18:9; Matt. 24:10; Matt. 26:31; Matt. 26:33; Andrus adds that skandalizo "is built on a very graphic picture of taking a stick and using it to spring a trap shut. These individuals acknowledged Christ’s wisdom and miraculous powers, they are amazed at his teaching, yet their minds have sprung shut against the truth of who He is. They are trapped in their thinking about Who Christ is and are unwilling to be released from that conclusion. They will not submit to the evidence of His identity, evidence that is powerful and compelling. They will not submit to the truth. They will not submit to the attesting miracles that He has done as indicators of His Deity. What tragic power unbelief has!...The people of Christ hometown had this treasure right in their midst, yet they would not see its worth, its value. They are a living illustration of the seed which fell on the path and was snatched away. They are a sobering reminder of how actively weeds can grow right at the feet of the Son of Man. (Sermon Notes) Play Michael Card's great song SKANDALON SKANDALON The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago That the long awaited One would make men stumble But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill Who'd have ever thought He'd be so weak and humble Chorus He will be the truth that will offend them one and all A Stone that makes men stumble And a Rock that makes them fall Many will be broken so that He can make them whole And many will be crushed and lose their own soul Along the path of life there lies a stubborn Scandalon And all who come this way must be offended To some He is a barrier, To others He's the way For all should know the scandal of believing Chorus It seems today the Scandalon offends no one at all The image we present can be stepped over Could it be that we are like the others long ago Will we ever learn that all who come must stumble Repeat Chorus But Jesus said to them - Jesus responds to those who despised and rejected Him and were scandalized by Him. A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household - Mark adds "and among his own relatives." (Mk 6:4+) Note that Jesus acknowledges that He is in fact a prophet. The point of the double negative is that a prophet is respected everywhere but in His hometown and own household. Everyone else respects a prophet but you do not. A parallel passage is John 1:11+ for "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." A T