[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by OBW

First, this is off-topic, but relevant to this one as well as a lot of other things. I caught this in something CMW was saying about something else. . . .

I think that this is true in many more ways. Even if you find these things directed at the Jews of the day, there are other things that are written only for certain parts of current Christians.

You're DA MAN OBW!! Your'e da man!! Yes !! they don't pertain to the Jews nor to the believers of that era.

Without trying to get into all the possibilities, it seems clear to me that Jesus spoke differently to the 12 than to the larger group of regular followers, and to all of them differently than to the crowds (both the curious and those who believed and stayed where they were).

Great insight!!
I'll share what you did not...and try to make it brief!
Jesus chose 12 disciples but of the 12, John was the closest to Him, although I think Peter even though he was scolded a lot was precious to Jesus too.

Jesus liked hanging out with Mary, Martha and Lazurus without the disciples

In Luke 10:1 Jesus appointed 70 and sent them out in pairs

and in Matthew 17:1 Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mountain of transfiguration. Why not the rest of the bunch?

But we read the Bible as if it is generically written to every possible Christian in the same way for every possible purpose.

And that is where 2 Timothy 2:15 comes in:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

So maybe we have no idea how to read the outer darkness metaphor. It could be that it only relates to someone else.

Exactly. The scriptures are written to 3 types of people: Jews, the church and the unsaved. As we seek the Holy Spirit to give us understanding, I believe He will give us clarity. Until this past year, I did not realize that the book of James is written to the 12 tribes of Israel.
vs 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings.

I have read James many times over and here I thought it was written to me as a Christian. Although I do get a lot out of reading James and it has blessed me.

Same with Hebrews. The book is written to the converted HEBREWS! I love Hebrews and though I now realize it is written to the Jews not the converted gentiles per sae, it has helped me alot. How do I / we know it was written to the HEBREWS beside it stating the obvious? What do the non Jewish people, the converted gentiles know about the blood of bulls and goats? The gentiles of that time never read or knew anything about the OT, the sacrifices the Israelites had to make to have their sins forgiven.

Thanks for reading my posts.
Blessings to you and your family.