Matthew 10:23

This is a difficult passage to work out what the meaning is. There are a number of interpretations put forward and I feel that the majority are not satisfactory. The one that I thought was the strongest possibility of the ones I found reading around (not saying I agree), was that Jesus was referring to when he returns to bring judgement on Israel in 70 AD. So in other words, Jesus is not talking about his second coming when He returns to the earth to rule but more of a visitation when He comes back to oversee the judgement of God on the Jews when was performed by the Romans. While this is a possible answer I am not happy with it. Firstly, I am happier to take the words “before the Son of Man comes” to mean his second coming rather than a visitation. Secondly I can not see a reason For Jesus to make a special visit as though to oversee the work of the Romans. The Roman armies were very capable of wreaking havoc and Jesus would not need to make a bodily visit when the Holy Spirit would be there.

 

I have my own interpretation and while it may not be perfect, I feel it fits the passage better than others that I read. My interpretation is that Jesus meant what He said literally. That is to say that by the time Jesus returns then all the towns and cities (which is what the Greek word of polis means) of Israel will have not been visited by disciples of Jesus. This might seem a strange concept at first because the Gospel spread so fast in the beginning but much as the Gospel was preached across Israel, it is not unreasonable that a handful of towns were never reached even though the Gospel went out across the Middle East, Europe, Asia Minor, Syria, Africa, and beyond. This is even more possible if we argue that Jesus was speaking to just his twelve disciples at this time. I admit all of this is tentative but it is a possible explanation if we take the verse in a purely literal sense. If anyone has a better solution then I am happy to hear it. Ask me again in five years and I might have a better answer.

 

Jesus’ use of parables

Not sure how Deedat could consider this deceit. It is a fact that the truth of the Gospel is often hidden from people and Jesus says as much in this passage when He says “When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables.” He then quotes from Isaiah 9 verses 9 and 10,

“they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

Then he ends by questioning them of their slowness of heart to understand when they should be the ones who do understand. “Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”

So why is the truth of the Gospel often hidden from people? It is not saying that the Gospel is not to be preached to the lost – Jesus is very clear on that as a duty for the Church. So why does God prevent people from seeing his wonderful truth? God is searching for a heart after God. Jesus said in John 3:19b “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” God is looking for only genuine converts who are prepared to take up their cross daily and follow him – to turn their backs on the world and all it stands for. If the Gospel was more easily understood, then people would be more likely to claim they were following Jesus when actually they haven’t believed in their hearts. At least this way, when a Christian shares the Gospel they have a greater likelihood of knowing if the person is a Christian or not. The tragedy is not that people don’t understand the Gospel but rather that they don’t want to understand the Gospel.

 

 

Hating your parents and family

When Jesus said we had to hate and father, mother and the rest of the family it is obvious that he is speaking in relative terms. Compared to the love that we should have for God, the love for our loved ones should pale into insignificance. Many times we are told to love our family members in the Bible and this is beyond doubt but Jesus demonstrates how deep our love for God should be in comparison. Notice that Deedat misses out one part of the verse which says “—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

 

Peter contradicts Jesus - allegedly

What Deedat is saying here in case you missed it, is that Jesus said he was the only way to the Father while Peter is saying that God is the way. All that Deedat has done here is given another Bible verse that shows that Jesus is God by equating the act of saving with both God and Jesus. So well done Deedat for that.