by Peter Homeier
In July 1985, a user named Paul Rupsis posted a sincere question to net.religion.christian: what did Jesus mean when he said not to cast pearls before swine? Peter Homeier — an engineer at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California — replied with a careful devotional exegesis, grounding the passage in its Sermon on the Mount context, drawing on the Parable of the Sower, and weaving in his own experience of the impulse to share spiritual discovery with everyone, immediately. His answer is not a piece of academic theology but a practitioner's reflection on the rhythms of faith: when to speak, when to wait, and why the vehemence with which some people reject truth is not evidence against the truth but evidence for it.
Homeier's post is a good example of what made early Usenet's religious communities valuable: intelligent, grounded laypeople — trained in other disciplines, living ordinary lives — applying the resources of their tradition to real questions with care and personal honesty. The exegesis is sound; the personal note is genuine; the closing warning, that "swine reactions" can come from one's own brethren in Christ as easily as from outsiders, has a pastoral warmth.
Matthew 7:6 — Jesus says:
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
What did Jesus mean? Who are the dogs and swine? What are the pearls?
Paul, I would like to give my understanding of this scripture, based on personal experience as well as what the Word says here.
This passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount, and thus is part of Jesus's kingdom rules, describing the things that we are to do as children in His family. It is a commandment, not just a suggestion.
This scripture describes the relationship between Christians and non-Christians, and even between some Christians. It is a point of wisdom to know when it is not proper to speak some part of the Truth that you have to another person. The Lord may have formed some part of His holy nature in me recently; unfortunately, my first reaction is often to rush out and try to share that part with everyone around me. Sometimes that is valid and appropriate — new converts are the most credible witnesses to Christ's love and forgiveness because they were just yesterday "one of us." However, there are also times when one must be sensitive and aware of what the other person can bear.
Holy things shine. None of us can bear to view the blazing glory of the Godhead. Similarly, many cannot bear the brightness of the truth especially when it confronts some area of weakness or failure in our lives. When these dirty parts of our nature, our "swine" parts, are so confronted, they do not easily submit to the correcting influence, but instead turn, enraged by this exposure of their filth, despise and reject the confronting truth, and attempt to destroy the person who bore the truth. Oddly, the very vehemence with which these persons react bears witness to the truth of what was said. Nothing touches a nerve like the truth.
But more than this, it is implied in the scripture that it is not only silly or dumb to cast pearls before swine, because of the wrath you engender, but it is also a degradation to the pearls — and for this Jesus says "Do not." For we need to respect the value of holy things. We do not enshrine the truths of our religion or lock them away from people, saying "Do not touch." But it is not seemly for the inestimable riches of wisdom to be found in the Holy Word of God to be thrown at the feet of those who have no desire nor even ability to accept such riches, or even to recognize them for what they are. Save your beautiful things for those who are ready to accept them. The Lord will give you times and places to share what He has given you. Indeed, we must share these things: "Freely you have received; freely give." But wait on the Lord.
I think that this was one reason that Jesus used parables so much, so that He might convey His truths to those who were ready to hear, with their hearts made tender and submissive by the Holy Spirit, and yet those who were unwilling to accept His truths, like the Pharisees, would simply get confused and not understand. May I suggest reading Matthew 13:10–17, which in the New King James Version goes thus:
And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the heart of this people has grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their heart and turn,
So that I should heal them.
"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."
Finally, a word of caution. Although most of the "swine" reactions come from non-Christians, this does not mean you are safe to share everything with your brethren in Christ. Just coming to Christ for salvation and cleansing from sin does not mean that they have submitted to Christ's lordship over every area of their lives. They may even have made that profession of total commitment, but their lives may not yet fully reflect that new nature that the Spirit places in our spirits at the time we are born again. So you will probably experience some "turning and rending" from your own brethren as well. Forgive them, and pray that the Holy Spirit will soften their hearts. That, after all, is God's work, not ours.
Colophon
Peter Homeier was an engineer at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He posted this exegesis to net.religion.christian on July 19, 1985, in reply to a sincere question from Paul Rupsis about Matthew 7:6. The passage — part of the Sermon on the Mount — had puzzled Rupsis; Homeier's response drew on his personal experience of new-convert enthusiasm, the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:10–17), and a pastoral observation that even fellow Christians can be "swine" toward truths they aren't yet ready to receive.
Preserved from the Usenet UTZOO archive (net.religion.christian, batch b49, Jul–Aug 1985) for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].
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