Matthew 13:10-17
¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
¹¹Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
¹²For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
¹⁴In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
¹⁵For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’
¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
¹⁷For truly 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.
Devotional
Feel free to ask.
It is pre-eminently the power of Jewish education to ask questions of a rabbi in order to learn more.
Here Jesus’ disciples want to know why He now gives His message in the form of parables (Matthew 13:10).
He says it is a means of making clear who really cares about the truths of the Kingdom of God God. His mysteries can only be understood by a revelation from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 13:11; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16).
Do we want to give God’s Spirit plenty of room in our lives?
If so, then we will find that we become very happy people.
It is a spiritual law that those who use God’s gifts rightly will receive much more from the LORD (cf. Proverbs 9:9).
But from those who neglect their possibilities and have no love for God’s truth, what they have will also be taken away (Matthew 13:12).
Hearing the parables leads to a choice: for, or against Jesus.
Thus the similarities separate.
Separation between people who do, and people who do not, want to listen to Jesus.
Those who will not listen are through their own fault outside the Kingdom of God.
That these people do not see and hear is not because they cannot, but because they do not want to (Matthew 13:13-15; Cf. Exodus 7:13 and 9:12: after Pharaoh hardened his heart several times had, the LORD hardened it still further.
After all, it is the LORD’s desire to heal everyone (Matthew 13:15).
If we are open to Jesus and his Kingdom, then He calls us happy (Matthew 13:16).
Why? Because we are better than other people?
No, not that.
But it is because the Holy Spirit has led us to give up our opposition to God.
All of the Old Testament speaks of the coming of the Kingdom of the Messiah.
What countless prophets and righteous people of the old covenant had not seen (Matthew 13:17) we now see when we humbly believe.
Question
- How do you open up to God’s message, which invites you not to stand aside?
Prayer Suggestion
- Ask your Heavenly Father to set you free from any unwillingness to live by His Word.
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