Matthew 13:10-17 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
In our day, the word of God is broadcast everywhere, from the deepest jungles, to the most isolated deserts, to the expansive tundra. There are many voices expressing what they believe is the word of the Lord. From countless platforms we hear the good news that a relationship with the Creator God is possible. Constantly, we hear this relationship comes from faith, not works. Even though the word of God is as prevalent as air in so many areas of the world, it is not heard with understanding. Or if the gospel is heard in some way, it lacks everyday spiritual reality. This ineptitude creates a deafness and blindness to the word of God: though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In fact, this lack of spiritual awareness has caused the world to be even more adulterous as they reject God. To many He is dead. In their minds, He does not exist. To others, if He is God, He is not a God of relevance, demanding something from us. He is a permissive God, accepting all behavior equally with enduring love. No behavior is too gross, too violent, or out of the norm for him to call it evil, corrupt, or eternally damned. The God people often construct is a God of self, an idol not made out of wood, stone, or precious metals, but a God of self-will, self-engrandisement, and selfish pursuits. Our God of self-centeredness does not demand anything from us; therefore, we need not revere him or honor him in any way. In Jesus’ day, John the Baptist understood this rebellious nature of man. He knew they played a good song, their words seemed in tune with subservience to God, but their hearts strayed, to the point they were deadly vipers to each other. John calls to them in derision as they approached him. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9) Their tune was to rely on their forefathers: we have the patriarchs as our fathers; therefore, we are right with God, for He has placed his special blessing on us Semites. He loves us with a special blessing, his everlasting covenant remains with us Jews. But as the prophet Hosea writes, their words are empty, without any substance: They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7) The heads of their grain have no kernels in them. They look good, say the right words, play the right song, but they are empty vessels with empty words. Someday all of this pretense will come back on them like a whirlwind, destroying everything, casting them out into the lands of the foreigners. Jesus knew this, for He evaluates hearts not words or religious activities and demeanor. He knew their hearts contained the wickedness of a prostitute’s heart: short relationships without affection, going from one lover to the next, even in one night. As we see later, the Jews shout and praise Jesus on one day and on the next day cry out, “crucify him.” When Jesus did not fulfill their fleshly desires, they wanted him dead. Today, people want God dead; consequently, their science eliminates God from their existence. While they glory in that proposed knowledge, the Spirit declares God is not dead, He is alive!
Jesus selected twelve men to accompany him as He ministered to the people. They were common men with no experience with spiritual things, but they willingly followed him, leaving their families and lifestyles to be close to Jesus. They trusted Jesus to provide for their needs. They even ate grain from the fields, harvesting grain as would the poor in the community, for the fields were purposely left with some grain so the poor could gather it. So in some ways, the disciples became poor for their dedication to Jesus. They were criticized by the religious leaders for eating grain on the Sabbath, doing what the poor probably did for daily sustenance. Jesus selected them, knowing their willingness to break from their daily routine and risk everything for him. But as common men, with little religious training, Jesus’ teaching probably often went over their heads. His parables confused them, not giving them a clear understanding of what Jesus was saying. They wanted him to speak plainly to them, saying something they could understand. The religious leaders often understood Jesus’ parables, knowing they were directed at them. Because the disciples were not part of that religious group, Jesus many times explained his parables to his disciples. In the sower parable, He later explained to the disciples what the parable meant. Jesus loved his disciples; they left all to follow him so He privileged them with expositions of his parables so they might truly know what He was saying and doing. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. God’s purpose with humankind was revealed to them, but they could not grasp the totality of all Jesus said and did until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. After that the Spirit reminded them of all that Jesus taught. At that time, their eyes saw and their ears heard. The message of the Good News came into their spiritual reality. They gave their lives for this message: that God is and that the Son was sent for the redemption of men and women, making them eternal beings, right with the living God as his adopted children.
The message of the kingdom of God comes to those who have put their full trust in Jesus. The disciples followed Jesus by trusting in his words, works, and lifestyle. They built their lives on Jesus, the Rock. This faith became a girder reaching from Jesus, the Rock, to God himself. Even though sometimes their understanding of Jesus and his purposes became muddled, lacking knowledge that Jesus was God in the flesh, they kept following him by faith. When Jesus calmed the roaring sea and they feared their demise, they proclaimed, He must be God. Who else could control nature? He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:39-41) However, on another occasion of crossing the sea, they argued about who forgot to bring the bread. Sadly, this happened right after Jesus fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. The miracle had not opened their fleshly eyes. Even though Jesus knew about this hardness of heart, He told them: the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Jesus had selected these faithful men with their ups and downs in knowing him as people worthy to receive the knowledge of the secrets of heaven. We who have our lives IN CHRIST have received this knowledge of his purpose on earth. We know his willingness to die for people who have rejected the will of God, who even now proclaim He does not exist. Jesus died for all for all time. He died because of God’s great love for his creation. We are in the center of that creation with all things created for our benefit. God is making sons and daughters to dwell in his eternal household. We who are in that household must fully understand what God is doing and manifest God in our lives. The disciples exposed their lives to death by propagating the Good News. We also have the Good News to announce to all people. The electronic media has spread many words about Jesus, about God. Yet the world is quite hardened to these many words. People’s ears are stopped and their eyes sightless to the things of God. Some of the words they have heard came from insincere hearts without true servanthood love for people—people who are uniquely loved by the Creator God. Some spiritual words come from people whose own lives do not measure up to godly standards—self-serving people who strive for recognition, ambitious in their religious communities, seeking notoriety in the world. But Jesus was kind, humble and merciful, loving those who were the outcasts in society. He met with the troublemakers, the sinners of this world. He met with those who knew they were not right with God because they were in need of knowing him. We all need to know God, his heart, his purpose for our lives. When we realize our need to know God, to be right with God, our hearts become open to the message of love: JESUS HIMSELF, the messenger from God. Let this Messenger be in our hearts and his message for the world be broadcast with diligence and sincerity, let his wisdom from heaven flow through us in our daily lives. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18) Words will not break the hardness of hearts, but actions of love through people dedicated to the Lord will crumble the stoniness of any heart.
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