Earss that Hear - Pt 2

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:10-17 ESV). The disciples wanted to know what Jesus meant when he spoke. Their desire was great; however, they still had difficulty with understanding. So, the disciples of Jesus come to him and ask why he speaks so cryptically. His answer leaves them speechless. Borrowing from an Isaiah vision, Jesus said if he spoke more clearly, people would get it too easily: “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’” (v. 13). Jesus had a very important point to make with them. Our entire salvation, from the moment we first believed till the day we enter into heaven to inhabit our eternal home, is all gift. It is not a result of our seeking but of our having been sought. We are less like explorers trying to find and more like lost children waiting to be found. This truth directly affects our understanding the Scripture. When we recognize how dependent we are on the Holy Spirit to open the message of the Scripture to us, it changes the dynamic of our reading and study. We can then realize that we are responsible only for starting; he will help us to finish, and finish well. Jesus told his disciples that their eyes were more blessed than the prophets. They saw things that others could not see. When we think of it just this way we are left to say with the psalmist, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.” John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, “Since rich store of every kind of good abounds found in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other!” Amen, and amen! Go up to the well and draw deeply of that water Jesus provides. It is not kept from us. It is readily available. Just start drinking!