13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
As was most often the case in the Gospels, Jesus was saying one thing and His disciples were hearing something else! I love these guys because they make me feel a bit better about myself – if they could get confused while Jesus walked among them how much more so can I? Don’t you know it took enormous restraint for Jesus to keep from saying “You are constantly missing the mark boys”? I am reminded in Scripture where Jesus basically says just that in His own perfect way. We find the following in Matthew:
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'" 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" 13 He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." 15 Peter said, "Explain the parable to us." 16 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'" Matt 15:10-20 (NIV)
The word “dull” Jesus uses in verse16 above actually means without discernment or insight, lacking the ability to “get it”, lack of mental perception. Remember, these are His guys – those that walked with our Lord and shared meals with Him. Their lack of grasping His teaching had to be disappointment to our Lord. It was as if their ears could not hear. I suppose that is why Jesus often stated:
15 He who has ears, let him hear. Matt 11:15 (NIV)
“Miss anything else, but do not miss My voice. Other voices may introduce disharmony, but My voice will always bring peace to your heart and clarity to your thinking. For when you turn to the left or to the right, you will hear My voice behind you saying: This is the way, walk in it.” Frances J. Roberts
Scripture states over and over again that God lovingly promises to teach us and guide us, making our paths straight. Our jobs are to hear and heed.
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:19-21 (NIV)
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalms 32:8 (NIV)
Don’t you find that sometimes as His modern day disciples we are unwilling to hear because it may not be what we want to hear? This could have been the case in this situation with Jesus’ disciples as well. I am confident they were not all that eager to rush back into an area that had already tried to stone Jesus. They certainly had to assume as His followers that their lives would have been on the line as well. Perhaps they did not want to take the chance of returning and so desperately wanted to believe that Lazarus was resting rather than dead.
“It is common to observe that men will not understand what they do not want to understand.” J. C. Ryle
“Fear is never a good counselor.” Nikolai Berdyaev
This is not the only time in Scripture that the disciples misunderstood the figurative language of our Lord. After Jesus had ministered to the woman at the well, His disciples showed up with food for Him to eat. He proclaims the following to them which they totally misunderstood until He clarified:
32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 4:32-34 (NIV)
The best way I know for us to be proper discerners of God’s Word is to set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things. God’s will not ours. Emptying ourselves of any bias that would taint our understanding and ever asking the Holy Spirit to grant us wisdom of His perfect ways.
“The Holy Spirit has promised to lead us step by step into the fullness of truth.” Leon Suenens
“A man’s heart has only enough life in it to pursue one object fully.” Charles Spurgeon
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:5-8 (NIV)