Thank you for the serious responses everyone, this has been an interesting and informative discussion for me.
I'd like to clarify that these questions assume the actual meaning of what Jesus said was not literal.
I also think that Terry makes an interesting point that it should have really been clear to everyone that these words were not literal. I've never considered that before- I think I agree with that, and it only makes me look at these scriptures with even more incredulity. It seems to me that the apostles really should have known this was not literal.
Sweeny is right, one of the big questions I have is why did Jesus allow these people to misunderstand what he was saying? Correct me if wrong, but this was on purpose, right? 64 seems to show that it was purposeful. Were these people were pre-judged?
Also- if it was purposeful, does that mean these people were deceived?
Stephen, predestination explains almost everything- thank you. But it also opens up new questions for me though.
It seems to mean that people are pre-judged from the beginning, not judged according to their actions based on knowledge of Truth.
To me, it seems to dillute the importance of Truth. If people can be judged regardless of their knowledge, why would God bother communicating with them at all?