10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables,
For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.
14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,
‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.
Read Matthew 13:10-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In an unexpected part of the gospels, Jesus shares a blessing on His followers who were present while He was teaching. It is a blessing and a privilege that most of us living today wish we could have had. In Matthew’s gospel, He shares Jesus’ blessing His disciples and followers first hand, because He was there to experience it.
Matthew tells us that after Jesus shares Isaiah’s prophecy in response to being asked why He always seemed to talk in parables, He tells His followers, “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” (v. 16-17)
I am one who would have loved to have been present to hear Jesus first hand as He taught the crowds. Perhaps you can also relate. For thousands of years before Jesus arrived on earth, there were prophets and people who looked forward to the day. There were countless people longing to be present when God would send the Messiah into the world – but they all lived before Jesus’ time.
The people living in Jesus’ day were blessed because they could be present to hear Him personally, but taking the rest of Jesus’ response into context, it would seem that even being alive during Jesus’ life could not change a stubborn heart. There were thousands of people who rejected Jesus because they didn’t understand Him, because their minds and/or hearts were closed to Him, or because they thought He set the bar way to high with many of the things He taught.
We have an advantage living centuries after Jesus. We can look back and see how God worked through His life – and we can see the cross Jesus faced in the context that He went to the cross for you and me. This is something those present during Jesus’ life, and those living prior to Jesus, were unable to connect together like we can connect these truths today.
But to really benefit from Jesus’ ministry at any point in history, we must be open to letting God lead our lives and open to obeying the truth that He has revealed to us.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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