Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear

 On that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked then.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn
So that I should heal them.'

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, 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."

- Matthew 13:1-17

We have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5 - 7.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught:  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

 On that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked then.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Today the lectionary skips ahead, to chapter 13.  We will return to the Sermon on the Mount after Ascension Day (Thursday), but the next couple of readings prepares us for that feast.  These are the readings from Matthew 13, in which Jesus introduces the use of parables.   In the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 21:27-30, Hosea 2:21-23, Joel 3:12-14) as this was a part of daily life.  In this introductory parable to all the parables, Jesus reveals Himself as the promised Messiah; He is the sower in the earth, who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  By this time in Jesus' ministry, He has multitudes who seek to see and hear Him because of the signs He's done, and He speaks to great crowds, seeking by His parables to reach those who have ears to hear the message.

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."  My study bible notes here that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite, nor is the understanding of the parables simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples, it remarks, find the message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, it is the simple (that is, pure in heart) and innocent who are open to its message.

"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;  For the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, 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."  St. John Chrysostom comments that Isaiah's prophecy doesn't mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  His words, echoed by Jesus, give us a figure of speech that is common to Scripture, revealing God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).  God permits people their self-chosen blindness.  The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled as Isaiah foresaw the blindness of those who cannot receive Christ's word.  See Isaiah 6:9-10.  According to St. Hilary of Poitiers, Jesus teaches the blessedness of this time, as the apostles may even physically see and hear that which many prophets and righteous men knew of, but did not see nor hear as they do.

And, we want to ask, coming from the commentary of St. Hilary, what of those who do physically see and hear, and do not truly see and hear what Jesus is teaching about Himself?  What of them?  Chrysostom remarks that the prophets and righteous of old beheld by faith, but the apostles are blessed because they see and hear both by faith and in the presence of Jesus.  But those who have no faith, the ones to whom Jesus refers, do not even do as the apostles do -- come and ask Christ for themselves what He means.  In fact, apathy is more than apathy in response to Christ, it will turn to hostility. Jesus links the prophets and righteous of old with those of apostolic times who behold what the faithful of old knew to be true, but could not see and hear for themselves.  In this sense, St. Chrysostom teaches, Jesus links the old and the new, for it is the same God who gave the prophets and righteous of old their vision of He who stands before them.  We don't often get a sense of the timelessness that is conveyed by faith, but we have to understand that Jesus, in citing the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, teaches us about the communion of saints and the blessedness of those who are able to behold this fulfillment and to realize it for themselves.  We today are blessed with these witnesses, who've given us the Scripture and the Church.   After the Resurrection, replying to Thomas who had to see and touch to believe, Jesus will teach also, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed" (see John 20:24-29).  In this way, the communion of all the faithful is extended from the ancient prophets and righteous to whom Jesus refers in today's reading, and to those of us whose faith responds to Christ today.  Faith extends in us not only a communion, but a way of understanding that surpasses limitations of time and space.  Thus we may read Jesus' word, and hear His teachings, and find in our own understanding teachings that illuminate our lives in the here and the now.  Furthermore, we'll find that the same word takes on new facets of light, illuminating our lives in different periods and through varied struggles, even those of our own pasts which still need that light; there is no limitation that stands in the way of His word as we receive it.  He is the Sower who sows the word in our hearts, and may the harvest be always present to us.