Jesus Asks a Question: “Are you dull-witted and without understanding like the others?”

Jesus Asks a Question: “Are you dull-witted and without understanding like the others?”

The Grand Inquisitor. Messiah Jesus was a Master of asking questions: some were open-ended, others were very pointed; some were out of curiosity, others were challenging; some seemed rhetorical, others seemed painfully obvious; some were to reveal Himself, others were to guide the other into self-understanding; some were intentionally provocative, others were to kick-start a conversation; some questions were asked to explore a topic to deepen understanding and stretch toward the truth; some were leading questions that He designed to suggest a particular answer, and others were questions in response to questions asked of Him; some were hypotheticals to stimulate the imagination, other questions were used  by Him as stepping stones to think logically from one point to the next. Jesus used questions to dignify the listener, letting that person know that He is taking that person seriously and listening carefully. Many of His questions were acts of friendship and used to pursue a more profound intimacy with someone. Jesus asked very few yes-no questions, and since time was usually irrelevant for Him when He was with people, He rarely asked a “when” question. Several biblical scholars have studied the gospels with Christ’s questions in mind, and they have literally counted a total of 307 questions in His various conversations and teachings. It seems that a worthy spiritual exercise when considering the many questions of Jesus is that we ask ourselves… should I take His questions personally, as if He was asking us that question right now?

The Question. “Are you as dull-witted (‘asynetoi’) as the rest?

“Asynetoi” = the Greek term that means witless, dull-witted, unintelligent, senseless, without understanding, unable to comprehend.

Straightforward Jews vs. Gentle Gentiles. A prominent Jewish Christian Bible teacher we know would occasionally lament at the apparent need for “gentle Gentile” Christians to be approached in a sweeter, softer way than he was used to growing up in a Jewish home and synagogue. To him, Gentiles would seem to require communications to be cushioned and easier to hear, so their feelings wouldn’t be hurt, their sensitivities offended. This is no doubt a cultural issue here, but Jesus, a full-blooded Jew if there ever was one, was extremely frank in his words to His disciples. He didn’t hold back out of being a “sensitive” teacher. He generally was not afraid to offend His listeners if truth was being told. He was candid to the point of sounding rather insensitive, if not brutal. Our Bible teacher would suggest that sometimes Gentiles need to develop a thicker skin, better able to accept a hard or straightforward word to the wise. So it’s doubtful that Jesus’ disciples were offended by Jesus’ questioning their intelligence. They knew Jesus to be full of grace and truth, and He was thoroughly Jewish in His candidness. They were accustomed to the frank banter or critical comment that could happen at a moment’s notice. As George MacDonald once wrote, Jesus was “easy to please but hard to satisfy.” He expected to see some growth in His followers, some progress in understanding what He had to say. So on the one hand, Jesus would embrace whatever small steps His disciples took in their understanding, but at the same time he didn’t suffer fools gladly. I believe that what looks like a harsh and impatient denunciation of their intelligence, was said by Jesus with an ironic smile and a twinkle in the eye, and He remained the perfect example of the Fruit of the Spirit, even patience. Jesus knew that it would be a different ball game for the disciples after Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit would be released to inspire and strengthen their understanding.

Context. “Jesus called the crowd together again and said, ‘Listen now, all of you – take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life. It’s what you vomit – that’s what constitutes impurity, that’s what makes you unclean.’ When Jesus was back home after being with the crowd, His disciples said, ‘We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.” (Mark 7:14-15).

So on the one hand, Christ’s disciples richly deserved His occasional rebuke, as do all of us who are seeking to follow Jesus. They seem to be allowing their preconceived ideas to slow them down in the Faith, they are letting the small spiritual world they grew up in limit their ability to understand a whole new world with Jesus. He certainly appreciated that His message and way of doing things were foreign to them, and He expected their understanding to be a process.

“Don’t you understand that you are not defiled by what you eat? For the food you swallow doesn’t enter your heart and effect your deeds, but instead goes into your stomach, only to be eliminated into the sewer.’ (This means that all foods are clean). Jesus added, ‘Word and deeds pollute a person, not food. It’s the intentions of the heart that matter to God, not food. Impurity originates from inside a person and makes him unclean. Coming out of a human heart from within are evil schemes, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, depravity, treachery, debauchery, jealousy, slander, arrogance, and foolish recklessness. All these corrupt things emerge from within, they are all vomit from the heart. That is what makes a person unclean, impure.” (Mark 7:18-23).

But on the other hand, the disciples of Christ could be forgiven for their repeated inability to fully understand what Jesus was saying. Look at what these fishermen and peasants and Roman collaborators had to grasp without much preparation… sleeping on the road and making do regarding food and shelter; the intense rejection of the Temple authorities, unprecedented miracles, puzzling parables, voices from God in heaven, frightful exorcisms, unexplained events that Jesus pretty much kept to Himself, the nature of Jesus’ version of the prophesied Messiah. So how about a little sympathy and patience with these men who were largely out of their element, not trained theologians, and generally unprepared for these mysteries that have been hidden since the dawn of time. Did we really expect these men to come to a quick understanding of God’s mysteries? After all:

“O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! What a deep wealth of wisdom and knowledge He has! How incomprehensible are His decisions, how unsearchable His judgments! How undiscoverable are His paths, how mysterious His ways, beyond finding out! Who has understood the mind of Yahweh? Who knows how the Lord thinks, or what His thoughts are? Can anyone discern the Lord’s intentions, His motivations? Who knows enough to give Him advice? Is there anyone qualified to be His counselor? Who has given Him so much that He needs to pay it back? Who could ever have a claim against Him? For everything was created by Him, everything lives through Him, and everything exists for Him; So to Him must be given the glory forever! Amen! (Romans 11:33-36, also refer to Isaiah 40:12-14).

God’s  unfathomable intellect was always on full display in the life of Jesus, even at twelve years old in the Temple with the Torah scholars. We see in all His interactions during His earthly ministry with others that Jesus had perfect insight, unerring common sense, and a deep understanding of whatever needed to be understood. “God’s understanding is infinite.” (Ps. 147:5). Jesus always had sound reason and logic on His side, made shrewd decisions, and had unlimited discernment. His creative imagination was boundless as He told stories, offered object lessons, and used nature as visual aids, showing Himself to be a Master Teacher. There is an impenetrable depth of wisdom to Lord Yahweh that only His Son can reveal. Jesus did not have a fallen mind, and the disciples did. So they can be forgiven for momentary lapses or a slow growth of understanding. And we can empathize with these at times hapless disciples when Jesus tells them things like, “Do you mean you don’t get this yet?”

Even Mary didn’t fully understand. If the disciples, including us now, have a difficult time taking in the mysteries of Jesus and the Faith, imagine how Mary felt? Luke records three different times that she had to step back and think carefully about what she was witnessing in her young life. She was greatly perplexed, considered the angel’s announcement deeply in her mind, and didn’t know what to make of the Gabriel’s visit and his Annunciation (Luke 1:29); she treasured up and pondered at what the shepherds were telling her and Joseph at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:19); she thoroughly guarded and tried to keep putting her thoughts together when boy Jesus was twelve years old and talking about His Father’s business when He interacted as an equal with the Torah scholars in the Temple (Luke 2:51). Mary “treasured up” these things and she “pondered” what was unexpectedly happening, as a young teenager no less. The Greek word for “treasure up” means to closely guard deep within, to safely protect and retain in the memory. To “ponder” meant to put together in one’s mind, to carefully consider and wonder about, to mull over and contemplate the meaning of something. So Mary’s absolute trust in God resulted in her ability to think carefully about the profound things happening to her, without fully understanding them at all. These miraculous events in her life were kept in her heart as dear treasures to protect at all costs, even if she didn’t understand them.

“A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and as stewards of the mysteries of God. Think of us as Messiah’s official underlings who are entrusted with the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1).

MYSTERY: (Greek, “mysterion”); a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden from skeptical doubters and those who choose not to believe. The word mysterion is found 28 times in the New Testament.

STEWARDS: (Greek, “oikonomos”); literally the manager of a household responsible to dispense what is needed; the custodian in a home given the responsibility to carefully distribute the necessities when needed; managers; caretakers; trustees, or those entrusted with important responsibilities from the owner of the house. In this context, to responsibly take care of the divine revelations of God and disperse the knowledge of God’s mysteries in a way that would honor the Owner’s wishes; to carefully explain the revealed secrets of God’s in a responsible way; to guard the sanctity of what God has decided to reveal. A competent and faithful steward would be one who “holds the mystery of the Faith with a pure conscience.” (1 Timothy 3:9), since we are also called to be “stewards of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 3:2).  So if God has anything to do with it, these stewards of God’s mysteries must “speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15).

God’s Secrets. There are a number of hidden truths, mysteries, that God had concealed until the time had arrived for their revelation. It’s no wonder the disciples were unable to quickly grasp these mysteries that must have been pouring out on them like a fire hose:

1. The Mysteries of the Kingdom. “Then the disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ In answer, He said ‘Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not granted.’” (Matthew 13:11).
2. The Mystery of the Good News. “Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the mystery, the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past. Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.” (Romans 16:25).
3. The Mystery of God’s Wisdom. “It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, that goes deep into the interiors of His purposes. This wisdom of God was once hidden from human understanding and now revealed to us by God. This is God’s secret wisdom hidden before now in a mystery which God predetermined before the ages for our glorification, to lift us into the glory of His Presence. This is the wisdom that God destined for our glory before time began.” (a weaving of 1 Corinthians 2:7using several Bible translations).
4. The Mystery of Bodily Resurrection. “Behold! I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be transformed – in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the shofar trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed, beyond the reach of death, never to die again.” (1 Cor. 15:51).
5. The Mystery of Salvation for the Gentiles. “If you read what I have written, you will be able to understand my insight into this mysteryconcerning the Messiah. In past generations, it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to God’s holy apostles and prophets; This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together with the Jews in God’s promise in the Messiah Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:4-6).
6. The Mystery of Spiritual Oneness. “Yes, I truly believe that we are all living members of Christ’s body, and as I relate this to marriage, it is indeed an enormous mystery. I may not understand all of this, but I can tell you this… the marriage of 2-becoming-1 is meant to be a vivid picture, a clear illustration of the union between Christ and the Church, the oneness that exists between Messiah and His universal household of faith.” (Ephesians 5:30-32).
7. The Mystery of Christ’s Indwelling. “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  (Colossians 1:26-27, NIV).
8. The Mystery of the Messiah. “My purpose is that they may be encouraged, that they may be joined together in love, and that they may have all the riches derived from being assured of understanding and fully knowing God’s mystery, which is – The Messiah! It is in Him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” (Colossians 2:2-3).
9. The Mystery of the Faith. “Deacons must be reverent… holding onto the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Without question, great is the mystery of the faith: ‘God was revealed in the flesh,Proved right by the Spirit, Beheld by the angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:9, 16).

Deep Dive. Ancient Christians used to make a determined study of mysteries like these, intent on going back to square one when they got sidetracked, too distracted by life outside the truths of the Church. They called it “disciplina arcana,” which means “the secret discipline.” These early believers in Jesus would dwell on these Christ-centered mysteries, meditate on them, seeking to grow in their understanding of God’s long-held secrets, these hidden truths that have now been revealed. These mysteries, by God’s design, are accessible to believers who are in the process of gaining the “mind of Christ.”

“Who is able to understand the mind of Lord Yahweh? Who is able to be His teacher? We, however, have the mind of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

As we struggle with our understanding just like the Apostles and Mary,  let us treasure up this wisdom from Proverbs 3 and ponder its truths:

Ryan Ellis – Lean on the Lord (Official Live Video)

Verse 5:  Completely lean on the Lord, from the bottom of your heart. Yes, trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, and be confident in Him with all your heart and mind. Do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Put no faith in your own perception. Don’t trust in your personal opinions, and quit trying to figure out everything on your own.

Verse 6:  Listen to God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go. Acknowledge Him in every course you take. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you, and He will see that your paths are plain and straight. He will lead you wherever you go, and will keep you on track.

Verse 7:  Do not be wise in your own eyes, or think for a minute that you know it all. Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord, reverently worship Him, for wisdom comes when you adore Him with undivided devotion. Run to God, and run from evil! Avoid everything that is wrong, turning your back entirely on evil.

Verse 8:  Do this, and your body will glow with health. You will find the healing refreshment your flesh and spirit long for, a health-giving cure. And you will experience nourishment, a relieving tonic. Your very bones will vibrate with life! (This was my weaving together of the following translations and paraphrases: NIV, the Passion Translation, the Aramaic, the Message, the Amplified Bible, the New King James, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society).

Our Understanding “in Christ.”  Don’t rely on our own understanding? I would imagine we all have a constant temptation to rely on our own understanding, our personal perception and viewpoint, of just about everything. The Creator God gifted each human person with an amazing brain, and to be faithful, we need to use that gift to develop insight, understanding and wisdom. But our natural brain is in desperate need to be redeemed, replaced by the mind of Christ. How can we tell if we are relying too much on our own natural perception, and not the supernatural wisdom of God? Gaining the mind of Christ is a vital part of the process of redemption. In the meantime, the process of leaning on His understanding and not ours, goes on as the believer matures and continues to nurture and depend on the mind of Christ within.

“It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, that goes deep into the interiors of His purposes. This wisdom of God was once hidden from human understanding and now revealed to us by God. This is God’s secret wisdom hidden before now in a mystery which God predetermined before the ages for our glorification, to lift us into the glory of His Presence. This is the wisdom that God destined for our glory before time began.” (a weaving of 1 Corinthians 2:7 using several Bible translations).