By David ReayThursday 15 Dec 2022LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you. (NRSV)
The first thing to say about this rather striking saying of Jesus is that no one can be really sure of what it means. Which in turn reminds us that we have to humbly admit that we don’t understand every bit of the Bible. Even those who genuinely seek the Spirit’s help in all this may not reach firm conclusions and may arrive at different meanings.
We need to remember the saying attributed to Mark Twain: “It is not the parts of the Bible I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand.” In other words, there is more than enough that is clear to keep us busy exploring our relationship to God. We don’t know everything, but we know enough to recognise God loves us and that Jesus proves it.
Jesus may have been saying we ought not to share the good news with those who will rubbish it. But his followers from New Testament times have always run that risk. We can’t just share the good news with those who we know will embrace it. A variation of this may be that we ought not to engage in what appears to be futile, repeated attempts to dialogue with such people. There may be a limit to our perseverance.
If that is the case, Jesus may be qualifying what he had just said earlier in this passage. Sure, we don’t pass judgement on others in a way that condemns them, or in a way that ignores our own failings. But we can exercise some judgement or discernment when it comes to sorting out how and with whom we share the good news.
We can’t be sure. Perhaps we need to ask Jesus when we meet him in the life to come. But let’s first be sure we will meet him before worrying too much about such bits of the Bible.
Blessings
David