Jawv Drop

You have no concept of how vexing life is when your mind has been wiped!
Over the weekend, I remembered two online forums I used to participate in.
Both I stopped accessing right after father's death ... not sure why.

So, I hopped onto the history site and it is still interesting.
Guess I will get to do some reading and seeing what is on their minds.
The other is a Christian site and it left me to think ...

Someone posted a question about one of the parables of Jesus.
It was not a hard parable to understand.
The following questions and discussion left me uncertain ...

So I dug out my tome on the parables of Jesus for the sake of letting me know if I had lost it too.
The Words And Works Of Jesus Christ
Dwight Pentecost  *
1981
Zondervan

And as I read the standard understanding of the parable, I had to go back and read the post and all of the comments.  Okay, so I am not being obtuse here - easily understood text, no word pictures to misunderstand - and yet 100% of the comments were completely off-base, seeking something hidden meaning in plain text.

Today Christians seem to have forgotten that people are people.  The same today, as yesterday.  If you think mankind is smarter today than in Jesus' day - you would be wrong.  They might even have been a mite wiser than we are today!  So, if Jesus was talking - then the audience had the ability to understand, but they often did not because He was not saying what was expected, nor was He acting as expected!  The learned could not get beyond their hard set expectations and so His message was not understood by the common man.  Naturally that is not a blanket statement.

Matthew 25:14-30

The entire question revolving around why are some punished and others rewarded?
Huh?
You do nothing and you expect reward?
You do little and you expect the same reward as those whom apply themselves?
What the heck  is wrong with people these days?

So the odd comments flowed, so totally "off" from what Jesus had said!
I have to admit, I do not get this illogical flow of thought .....

Perhaps we are reaching the point where truth can no longer be found.
The point where people rush around to find truth.
But, it is not to be found.
Perhaps because hearts and minds are hardening?
Clouding understanding ...

But, if something so basic, as this parable, can no longer be understood by the common man - the question becomes one of why?
What has clouded minds hearts, eyes?

I really do wonder ......

*I do not recommend anything written by Dwight Pentecost and strongly question his entire "ministry"!  However this work seemed to be problem free when I was a Bible student.  Remember: always question, no matter how highly esteemed in man's eyes someone is!