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Matthew 16:5-12 – Say What?
It is no wonder that people misunderstand me when I preach. No, I am not referring to my frequent verbal faux pas, mangling of multiple syllabic words, or even the occasional disconnect between my brain and mouth – sometimes the inserted foot makes for a bad connection. No, I am not surprised that people misunderstand me because even the apostles were misunderstood.
First century inspiration referred to the apostles, not the listeners, being inspired. The hearers had to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1). And just like many of my math tests, sometimes the grade just didn’t “add up.”
When Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, apparently a contingent of Christians misunderstood concerning the timing of the coming of Christ and taught others wrongly who consequently believed wrongly. So Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians.
When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he had to correct a misunderstanding from a former communiqué about with whom to associate (5:9-13).
Countless times the apostles misunderstood Jesus (Matthew 16:5-12).
All this teaches some very important lessons:
- Perfect teaching does not always mean perfect understanding.
- Successful communication takes work from the listener.
- Miscommunications are not always the mistake of the speaker.
- Communicating again the same message is sometimes necessary.
All of this emphasizes personal responsibility. None of this was said to relieve the messenger from the responsibility of working hard to communicate successfully. The point is that learning takes work. Sometimes we don’t get it right the first time. So let’s look at ourselves first before we blame the messenger. Because even the perfect and divine Holy Spirit was misunderstood.
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