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NASB | Matthew 13:1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea [of Galilee]. [Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15] |
Subject: Purpose of the parables? |
Bible Note: Dear Stone, I was looking at what you have said here and I would say that the vast majority of this scene was for the benefit of the disciples and us by attrition and for the detriment of those whom Jesus new would never turn around and believe. I have been thinking about something that Doc posted as a stand alone and how God's sovereignty works through the parables. Here is what I thought about it all after reading his post; although it is true that the crowds had already rejected the message and then it appears as if Jesus then takes action to seal their hardness of heart by speaking in parables lest they turn and understand... But from eternity past it was already a done deal, they were never going to be foreknown, predestined, or elected - so from the finite mortal point of the crowds rejecting the message and then Jesus sealing their fate, it actually from an infinite eternal stand point is that Jesus was merely carrying out the divine sovereign plan. It took some thinking but I did get there in a few minutes. That is one. Two is Jesus is not so much winking at us in the future in giving us a secret as He is sincerely giving the disciples then a secret, a true mystery, which according to Jesus is what all parables are, the mysteries of the Kingdom. We always have to remember that the historical context and the grammatical content is drives the meaning of the text. Jesus was specifically addressing the disciples in that day and age primarily in the parables and the crowds in that day and age secondarily. Where we come in is in the application for us today based on that we too are disciples and all parables are to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to Jesus' disciples. I am trying to click with your understanding of why the crowds were following Him because we are talking about parables in general here and not one specific parable. Each situation was different and they had different reasons sometimes to be following Him; to get fed more food, to see more miracles, to get more healings, to hear more of the teachings of Jesus, He had a huge number of disciples following Him as part of the crowds until they became angry and confused and left off of Him at one point. This points to that a lot of them were at one point disciples but that they deserted Him when they no longer like what they heard about eating His body and driking His blood. We still only have two groups here, disciples and unbelievers, which is always true of the parables... That is what I think, God's Day To You, Tamara |