“Are you being willfully stupid?” ~Jesus

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Jesus, Jesus Sayings, Matthew 15, Stupid

Jesus is clear. Jesus doesn’t pull any punches. Yet, I say “I don’t get it.”

Really? I don’t get it? I say that to Jesus? Of course I do. I say “Why is this happening to me?” — meaning I don’t get it. It takes a lot of different forms but the essence of what I’m saying is “I don’t get it.”

How does Jesus react to that? Oops! “Are you being willfully stupid?” Not only is Jesus clear, he is direct with me. I don’t get to skate off having pretending I don’t know what is going on. Jesus won’t let me get away with that. All I can do is admit that I am.

What does Jesus do? Jesus, politely and kindly, explains it to me. God’s goal for me is to understand, even when I like to pretend I don’t get it.

Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

Source: Matthew 15:15-20