Who is Jesus Referencing When saying "THEY"

"They" are those who don't have eyes to see and ears to hear. "They" are the ones who hear in parables because they do not understand.

The "they" in this instance is the one that "hath not" as in understanding.

If you are on the right path spiritually you will "get it" and if not you won't.

They are Human

We are God

the 'great multitudes' who were gathered along the shore to hear him preach

"They" were eye-witnesses to Jesus and his ministry

in the midst of any group who is listening to him speak, there are those who 'don't get it'; they are the ones that don't understand the meaning of the parable. and even when he's saying this, they don't understand what his true meaning is.

look at some other translations.. try 'good news' bible or 'living' bible.. this might help you.

I remember at one point he is refering to the pharisees.. who later got it when jerusalem was destroyed in 70ad.

I believe jesus was not exactly like in the bible, read the other books that were banned and then put them together with these books(bible books) to get a more accurate picture..

I believe he existed but was possibly the leader of the gnostics. he may have been the 'wicked priest' in the dead sea scrolls, if this.. then he was more than likely a pharisee preist or rabbi working in the temple, this is what I personally believe. either way, he was not for the archons.

-and then these people will have problems.. in the future..

-if he was a rabbi then he was married. rabbis must be married as a requirement.

Last Edited by Aikan on 10/03/2012 01:06 AM

i look at them all

in this particular case, the "they" refered to is the great multitudes who had gathered at that particular time to hear Jesus preach-- eye witnesses to him at that particular time

simple as that

Jesus was not refering to the pharisees in Matthew 13, which is the question at hand in this thread

How do you know you don't fall into the "They"(Not understanding) catagory as well? Just because you think you know doesn't necessarly mean you know. If only a few are chosen, then only a few must understand.

Yea, but to be more specific, just look at the context of the verses OP posted.

As i posted earlier, "they" are those who do not understand the parables.

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

The bold part answers OP's question as to who "they" are.

Let the Word of God speak for itself.

careful with your tense, the "they" only applies to the eye witnesses who saw Jesus preach

to attempt to apply the "they" from Matthew chapter 13 to anyone else but those alive at that particular time who saw Jesus preach is wrong

They is whom BE that whomsever would be not them for art thou that?

consider the whole of Matthew 13 instead of taking verses out of context


there is no 'break' in Matthew 13, it is one continual series of events

Matthew 13:1-2

On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Last Edited by Sugarelf on 10/03/2012 01:34 AM

Wrong...

Completely wrong...

OP bolded "they" in verse 13:

13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Yes, Christ and the disciples are talking about the multitudes of people who are listening to Jesus preach. Verse 13 is very specific at defining who "they" are. "They" are the people who do not have eyes to see and ears to here. "They are those who have not been given understanding to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven (verse 11)

Think of the Parable of the Sower, not all seeds will grow (with understanding). Not everyone is given the spirit of understanding...

Romans 11:8 states:

(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Follow the subject in Matthew 13, the disciples asked Christ why he spoke to the multitude in parables.
Christ then explains that he is speaking in parables to the people, because only some are meant to understand the parables, not all.

.

I wanted to read this thread because I have been pondering another "they" reference and thought this had some insights on my search.

Mat 24:38 For G1063 as G5618 in G1722 the G3588 days G2250 that G3588 were before G4253 the G3588 flood G2627 they were G2258 eating G5176 and G2532 drinking, G4095 marrying G1060 and G2532 giving in marriage,G1547 until G891 the day G2250 that G3739 Noe G3575 entered G1525 into G1519 the G3588 ark, G2787

Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Strong's Hebrew and Greek dictionary (the G numbers for Greek) translate almost every word, but no citation for the word "they". That is interesting.

When the pharisees had an exchange with Jesus, laughing in HIS face that HE was a bastard, (Joseph was not HIS father and everyone knew that)(That starts in John 8:39) Jesus told them that if Abraham was their father, they would know who Jesus was, but they were of their father the devil.

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (KJV)

By the way, I just last week believe I solved my "they" inquiry.

Couldn't "They" be some other race of being, or some type of cloaked darkness?

So if we are all "God's" creation, then why would Christ only want a few to understand instead of all? I thought Christ on the cross was salvation for all, this seems like salvation for the few.

Is it possible that some people aren't as they seem and just replicants of the evil one, whom arent even real we just percieve them as so?

care to share the solution to the puzzel?

The Word says what it says and if it offends people that's just too bad.

Christ does want salvation for all:
2nd Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

This doesn't really have anything to do with people who don't understand parables. Just because they don't understand doesn't mean that they will perish. Salvation is based on repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ.

However some people choose to be ignorant, and God will allow them to slumber if they so choose. Personally, I'd be careful about judging a person to hell based on their knowledge - let's let God do the judging, only He knows the hearts of people.


.

which refers only to the great multitudes mentioned in verse 2

it does not refer to anyone else

In the beginning was the word, the spoken word

Further more, Christ is talking about the multitude of people who are following Him, listening to Him preach. Despite the fact that some of them don't understand the parables, they still follow Him and believe in Him. He also feeds them and loves them, but they are not going to perish for not understanding the parables. I don't see where it says that in the Bible. They simply believe upon Him and therefore are Saved.

as far as Matthew 13--

he was only talking about those who saw him preach at that particular time-- those who actually saw him preach

"They" refers to the unsaved, those who cannot understand the truth.

There are those who have no capacity to understand, or believe.

Those are the "they."

Yeah...I never said He wasn't talking about the multitude, that is obvious. Why do you keep repeating yourself? Yes "they" are the multitude but the scripture gets much more specific than just that. He is speaking to the multitude in parables. WHY is He speaking to them in parables? He explains that to the disciples - He is speaking in parables because they don't have ears to hear..............

So why encode the secrets to the kingdom into parables? I understand not everyone will understand, but he claims within those sayings is they key to gaining entrance to the Kingdom.

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.


You only encrypt things for one reason

OP, don't even listen to Sugar Elf, he is not even a Christian who believes in the bible.

Thread: Christ Consciousness is a Lie

His disagreement with Anonymous Coward 24691545 confirms this.

Actually I cannot read Hebrew or Greek and this word "they" might be an English word added to describe who Jesus was talking about. It is vague but my GUESS is the they are the children of the synagogue of Satan. They can be saved. Jesus did die to redeem "whosoever will" but there must be deeper issues that Jesus would know and see but we can't.

My, "they", from Mark 24:38 suggests the fallen angelic beings because "they" married earth women in that day. It sounds so benign to say they were marrying unless the they meant something special. The flood came after the entire creation was corrupted before God and the 1/2 human giant offspring were eating people to have enough food. It was very ugly but Noah had perfect DNA back to Adam so the promise of Messiah could come through Noah's linage.

If my ears hear different than yours, how do you determine who understands? If one of us is right, how would we know?

Because we all know we don't want the "Blind leading the blind"