Disciples making questionable inferences

Matthew 10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. [kjv]

At the beginning of Matthew 10, Jesus sends, the meaning of "apostle", the disciples out on a mission. Why do they need to "cast out" "unclean spirits"? The twelve disciples of Jesus are then listed and the discourse continues.

Simon Peter	Philip	James son of Alphaeus
Andrew (his brother)	Bartholomew	Thaddaeus (Lebbaeus)
James of Zebedee	Thomas	Simon the Canaanite
John (his brother)	Matthew (publican)	Judas Iscariot

The ancient Greek word "μαλακία" ≈ "softness, effeminacy, unmanliness, feebleness, faint-hardheartedness". Only in the GNT (Greek New Testament) is the meaning "infirmity" or "sickness". What type of "softness" or "effeminacy" or "unmanliness" might Jesus, and here the disciples, have been healing?

More: A hard look at soft ideas

More: Tracking down the scent of apostles and messages

More: Matthew 10:1-4 The twelve apostolic disciples

Matthew 13:51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. [kjv]

συνηκατε ταυτα παντα λεγουσιν αυτω ναι [gnt]

Man to wife: No, you're wrong... It doesn't even go in one ear!

hearing
listening

Mother to (three) sons: You can all hear just fine, but you don't listen.

[German voice for GPS (Global Positioning System) map directions]

More: Gnashing of the teeth

Matthew 13:51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. [kjv]

συνηκατε ταυτα παντα λεγουσιν αυτω ναι [gnt]

Amazon Echo is a listening and speaking device, with the Alexa (female) voice, that listens to commands and then does Internet searches, purchases, etc., and responds as if talking to a real person.
Some people worry about security and privacy since Alexa is always listening to what is said.

Why did Amazon use Alexa as a female personality?

They tried a male personality, Alex, but he did not listen to anything.

More: Gnashing of the teeth

What is recorded in the Gospels (and Bible) are assumed by many to be exactly true in all respects. There are logical issues with this perspective.

Here, some examples of the disciples making questionable inferences are provided. Some takes these inferences as being true in reality rather than in their perceptions. This can lead to inconsistencies and misunderstandings in the meaning of the Gospels (and Bible).

Matthew 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? [kjv]

τη δε πρωτη των αζυμων προσηλθον οι μαθηται τω ιησου λεγοντες που θελεις ετοιμασωμεν σοι φαγειν το πασχα [gnt]

The disciples expected to eat the unleavened bread, or the Passover meal, on the Day of Preparation. Jesus provides instructions, but this may have been for the day before the usual day.

Upper room: We are already booked for the Passover crowd on the Day of Preparation with unleavened bread.
Early bird special: Make your reservations the day before. Get the leavened bread at a special price before it is too late!

How well does unleavened bread dip compared to leavened bread?

More: The daze of a crucifixion week

Matthew 21:18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. [kjv]

πρωι δε επαναγαγων εις την πολιν επεινασεν [gnt]

How did the disciples know that Jesus was "hungry"? The disciples do not have a good track record of making accurate inferences. Matthew probably wrote this as an explanation of what happened next. The other Gospels appear to make the same inference.

If Jesus were hungry, could he not have turned water into wine, or done some other miracle. Note that there is no record of Jesus eating anything in the near future following this episode.

One sees what one wants to see when there is in mind a pre-conceived notion. Hal Hellman.

[The emperor's new clothes, the emperor has no clothes - Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, 1837]
It is human nature to see patterns and attribute causes where those causes are not clear. This happens all the time in the news.

... and today, stocks went up/down amid rumors, happenings, <insert your idea here>, etc. The idea is to make one think that there is a causal effect when there is none.

The disciples attribute what Jesus does to "hunger" as a causal effect rather than a correlation with another cause.

It appears, rather, that Jesus is using the upcoming "fig tree" episode as a multi-verse teaching lesson.

More: Matthew 21:17-23 Connecting the fig tree curse with moving this mountain

... more to be added ...