Subject: Hebrews 6:6 explained |
Bible Note: Dear Tim, Forgive me, but Mt 23:37 can be easily answered by close attention to the context of the passage in question. Matt 23:37..."Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Who is Jerusalem? Who are the children? (The following is from James White's "The Potters Freedom". 1)It is the leaders to whom God sent the prophets. 2)It is the Jewish leader who killed the prophets and those sent to them. 3) Jesus speaks of "your children," differentiating those to whom He is speaking from those whom the Lord desired to gather together. 4)The context speaks to the Jewish leaders, scribes and Pharisees. White further states: "A vitaly important point to make here is that the ones the Lord desired to gather are not the ones who "were not willing"! Jesus speaks to the leaders about their children that they the leaders, would not allow Him to "gather". Jesus was not desiring to gather the leaders but the children. This one consideration alone renders the passage useless for the Arminian seeking to establish freewillism. The "children" of the leaders would be Jews who were hindered by the Jewish leaders from hearing Christ. The "you would not" then is referring to the same men indicated by the context: The Jewish leaders who were "unwilling" to allow those under their authority to hear the proclamation of Christ. This verse then, is speaking to the same issues raised earlier in Matt 23: 13. (James White) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Sola Scriptura, Brother John |