In these verses, Paul addresses the unwillingness of the Jewish people to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Their disobedient and rebellious hearts stopped their ears. Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4: 10-12) The children of Israel should have been able to recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah because they had the law and the Old Testament prophecies to enlighten their hearts. Jesus performed many miracles in the midst of them. He calmed the seas and silenced the wind, but they would not believe in his words or his actions. They approached God’s revelation of himself through Jesus Christ as if it had no eternal value for them, only temporal value: desiring him to deliver them from the Roman Empire. Their present condition in their flesh overrode his voice about the kingdom of heaven. They lost their ears to hear. Even though they were chosen, they operated as the heathens who lived in great darkness, living for this kingdom of the flesh. As God’s chosen people, they should have been in tune with the eternal God; instead, because of their disobedience, they were as blind as the Gentiles. God presented his kingdom to them under the context of faith: believe in my Son, Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. However, since they were under the Roman authorities; they felt the chafing of subservience to a hated power more than they felt the need of a savior. Where was their God under their circumstances of bondage? Where was the God of the universe who called them his own? The Sadducees went so far in their unbelief that they taught there was no resurrection, no eternal prize for believing in the God of all creation. Their ears were deaf to the One who performed miracles in their very presence. They challenged Jesus to reveal clearly his divinity, to show them a special sign or give them a rational explanation of his divinity. They were completely in the domain of those who believe power on this earth was the only real prize to be obtained by religion. They chose to live for today’s world, not for some illusionary kingdom of God. They did not have to be new creatures; they did not have to be born again, for they were functioning quite well in their biological existence, striving for today, for the meager awards that fleshly existences awarded them. They did not understand their foolishness: For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36 NKJV)
Paul’s teachings infer an awareness of God existed in all people at one time. Many cultures have a creation story in their lexicon. But the knowledge of God the Creator fell on many types of ground. As Jesus pointed out, some seed fell on ground that was not conducive to germination or healthy growth: some on rocky ground, some among thorns, some in meager soil. Of course, seeds of faith in God that do not germinate or fail to thrive become nothing more than opinions or legends in different cultures, societies. Consequently, many stories are created to explain the beginning of life on Earth. Life becomes merely a process of living, trying to please manmade gods held responsible for existence. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:18-21) The secular man’s perspective, regardless of his belief in God or gods, places himself on the throne of life. His narcissistic view of himself and the meaning of life satisfies his basic rebellious nature of Adam. Before his stoning, John the Baptist said this of those around him, You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! (Acts 7:51) John knew religious acts did not change the heart. Only faith convinces a man or a woman of God’s realm. Jesus would not stoop to people’s desire for him to convince them of his divinity. He demanded their faith, not their rational minds. Consequently, He spoke in parables. Salvation would not depend on man’s ability, his IQ, his knowledge, his wisdom. Salvation would come to all those who put their faith and trust in the Son of God. This way of faith seems foolishness to the rational man. He would accept a Jesus who showed himself all-powerful, but he rejects a God so weak that the Jewish elite and the Roman Empire could dally with him and then put him to death. Unbelieving men and women fail to comprehend that the God of all creation must be accepted by faith. Weighing authority by strength, power, the unredeemed ask how Christ on the cross reveals God’s mighty power? He is one to be ashamed of, for he is weak, helpless in the face of mere men. No wonder the crowd cried, “Crucify him!” The onlookers were ashamed that his meekness and weakness would stain them with the same robe of humiliation. The Jews wanted a strong, authoritative man who could throw off the yoke of the hated Romans. They wanted their own Caesar to breathe fire, who could defang the Roman Empire. Instead, their king helplessly hung from the cross while the soldiers beneath him claimed his clothing for themselves. Jesus’ proclamation remains clear: for those without ears to hear, I will let them walk in their deafness. Those who will not accept the Messiah by faith without absolute proof of his divinity, I leave them to their rebellion, their ignorance. I will not open heaven to them, for I despise their unbelief, their lack of acceptance of the Creator, even though they know better. They ask me for proof, but I will give them only one proof of my divinity, the proof of Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40) In this manner Jesus alluded to his death and resurrection in power and authority from the grave.
The Bible clearly indicates the Jewish people were the most culpable concerning not receiving Jesus as the Messiah. They rejected the prophets who foretold Jesus’ coming. They chafed under the prophets’ words that predicted dire consequences for their unwillingness to accept God’s authority over their lives. Their rejection of the Creator God by accepting other gods into their environment caused them untold trouble and grief. Their unwillingness to accept God as the only authority in their lives caused them not to hear the voice of God through Jesus Christ and his life. They contaminated their lives with other gods and secular living. All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. Through the years, they tested God as they did in the Wilderness. They questioned his direction, his authority in their lives. They questioned his love and his provision for them. The Israelites even wanted to abandon him and go back to Egypt, serving a lifestyle of slavery and servanthood to other gods. Consequently, after all these years of unfaithfulness to the God who chose them out of all races, God turns his favor upon a people who did not know him, who previously were not blessed by him. He turned to the Gentiles. Of course from the beginning of time, God’s plan was to bless all people with his divine salvation. We read in the Word about God’s covenant: This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. (Hebrews 10:16-17) But faith in God had to supplant the nature of Adam in humans. Men and women must be born again through a divine work in their hearts. Because of God’s grace, the Gentiles have discovered this new life through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has become their hope of eternal life. The Gentiles have found a new life through Jesus the Savior and Healer. I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me. The wayward people’s works were not many, their knowledge about God was not great, but they trusted God IN JESUS. Therefore, they inherit the kingdom of God by faith. They know God has cleansed them of their sins by the efficacious blood of the Lamb. They are in tune with God; they serve him out of love. The wayward from all ethnic groups, all races, who received the mercy and grace of God by faith, walk in gladness because their lives are now worth living. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10) Amen!
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