We have seen in Matthew 18.7 (the verse of the three scandals) that Jesus is careful to distinguish between the temptation itself and the agent of that temptation – between the ‘trap’ and the ‘trapper’. Here Jesus blurs that distinction, perhaps in the intensity of his feelings, and addresses Peter as the personification of temptation, or enticement to sin: “You are a ‘skandalon’ to me”. There is, I think, one other example where ‘skandalon’ is personified, though neither AV nor NIV so translate it. It occurs in Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13, the parable itself in vv. 24-30, the interpretation delayed until vv. 37-43. The parable is about “the kingdom of heaven” (24), but clearly in its earthly appearance – the “church visible” – and explains why it will contain both true “children of the kingdom” and also “children of the devil” – the weeds that the “enemy” sowed. In v.41 Jesus tells us that the harvest in the parable is the time when he will send out his angels, and they will collect out of the kingdom “all the ‘scandals’ and all who commit lawlessness”. Note that “out of the kingdom” implies that they appeared to be in it. If ‘skandala’ (the plural form) is an abstract noun here (“everything that causes sin” – NIV), it is hard to see how the angels could accomplish their task, and what exactly would be incinerated in the “fiery furnace”. It seems much more plausible to interpret the ‘scandals’, like the “doers of lawlessness” paired with them, as people, which is consistent with the parable and with Jesus’ interpretation of it: “the weeds are the sons of the evil one” (v.38); “as the weeds are pulled up and burned, so it will be at the end of the age”. Furthermore, not “everything that causes sin” is itself sinful: the fruit eaten by Eve was the cause of the first sin of all, yet it was a part of God’s perfect creation, and certainly did not deserve to be “thrown into the fiery furnace”; that is the fate reserved for the Serpent who tempted her, together with all his children. This view is also consistent with the example we have been looking at: false teachers, apparently part of the visible church, but actually agents of Satan in leading astray Christians, especially young Christians, by teaching “lawlessness” and practising it themselves.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
SKANDALON 2 (e): the wheat and the weeds
We have seen in Matthew 18.7 (the verse of the three scandals) that Jesus is careful to distinguish between the temptation itself and the agent of that temptation – between the ‘trap’ and the ‘trapper’. Here Jesus blurs that distinction, perhaps in the intensity of his feelings, and addresses Peter as the personification of temptation, or enticement to sin: “You are a ‘skandalon’ to me”. There is, I think, one other example where ‘skandalon’ is personified, though neither AV nor NIV so translate it. It occurs in Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13, the parable itself in vv. 24-30, the interpretation delayed until vv. 37-43. The parable is about “the kingdom of heaven” (24), but clearly in its earthly appearance – the “church visible” – and explains why it will contain both true “children of the kingdom” and also “children of the devil” – the weeds that the “enemy” sowed. In v.41 Jesus tells us that the harvest in the parable is the time when he will send out his angels, and they will collect out of the kingdom “all the ‘scandals’ and all who commit lawlessness”. Note that “out of the kingdom” implies that they appeared to be in it. If ‘skandala’ (the plural form) is an abstract noun here (“everything that causes sin” – NIV), it is hard to see how the angels could accomplish their task, and what exactly would be incinerated in the “fiery furnace”. It seems much more plausible to interpret the ‘scandals’, like the “doers of lawlessness” paired with them, as people, which is consistent with the parable and with Jesus’ interpretation of it: “the weeds are the sons of the evil one” (v.38); “as the weeds are pulled up and burned, so it will be at the end of the age”. Furthermore, not “everything that causes sin” is itself sinful: the fruit eaten by Eve was the cause of the first sin of all, yet it was a part of God’s perfect creation, and certainly did not deserve to be “thrown into the fiery furnace”; that is the fate reserved for the Serpent who tempted her, together with all his children. This view is also consistent with the example we have been looking at: false teachers, apparently part of the visible church, but actually agents of Satan in leading astray Christians, especially young Christians, by teaching “lawlessness” and practising it themselves.
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