After returning from the region of the Gentiles, Jesus is once again confronted by the religious leaders, asking for a messianic sign. Jesus rejected their request and warned His disciples of the false teachings of those leaders. He then continued to ask about what the people and the disciples themselves thought of Jesus.
When Jesus is confronted by the pharisees because His disciples did not wash before eating, He teaches that true defilement comes from within and not without. He leaves and enters the regions of the Gentiles and with three examples of ministry teaches His disciples how that their future ministry would incorporate blessings for the Gentiles.
After revealing the mystery kingdom AND since the rejection of Jesus as the nation’s Messiah and King, Jesus “withdraws” and begins to teach and train His disciples for their future work in the ministry. The death of John the Baptist marks this transition.
In this second part of Chapter 13, Jesus continues to teach in parables concerning this new mystery kingdom. He explains how that this new kingdom (the church) will begin pure and end in impurity; begin small and end great; begin with right doctrine and become saturated with false doctrine.
Chapter 12 begins a pivotal moment in the ministry of Jesus. It is the national rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the leaders. And because of this, Jesus withdraws His offer as Messiah to the nation and begins to speak of a new “mystery” kingdom”. So, Israel will not receive the kingdom at this time, but instead, a kingdom that was not foretold will now be birthed.
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