Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand

Prophet Isaiah.  Copy of 14th cent. icon, Monastery of Dionysiou,  Mt Athos.  The scroll he is holding is open to Isaiah 6:1

 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 13:10-17

Yesterday we read that on the same day that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees (after He was accused of casting out demons by the power of demons - see readings beginning on Friday), He 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 them.  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."  My study bible explains that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts or some religious truths that exist only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of these parable a purely intellectual process.  As we can read, even the disciples find the message obscure and hard to understand.  Jesus taught the same message to all, my study bible says, but it is the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  Here, Jesus clearly indicates a kind of process ongoing, where those who are open to receive the treasures in His word are on a kind of journey where they will receive more.  But those whose hearts and minds are not open to the spiritual message of the Kingdom will be depleted of such treasure.

"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.'"   Jesus quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who reflects that Isaiah's prophecy doesn't mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise be faithful.  This is a familiar type of speech in Scripture which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).  As the heart is far from God, God permits a self-chosen deafness and blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).

"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."  Once again, Jesus emphasizes the blessedness of those for whom the realities of the spiritual life He offers are present and perceived.  He contrasts those disciples drawn to what He offers with the many prophets and righteous men who desired the same -- and neither saw nor heard what they do.

Throughout Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has couched His ministry in terms of healing.  His mighty "great works" done in various cities have been, for the most part, works of healing.  That would include physical healing as well as exorcisms, the casting out of demons causing affliction of various sorts.  He explicitly called Himself a Physician when referring to the spiritual ailments of sin, when He was criticized by the Pharisees for associating with tax collectors, notorious and scandalous for the Jews.  At that time Jesus said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Matthew 9:12-13; see this reading).   Jesus quoted from Hosea 6:6, also a passage related to the themes in today's readings, as the full passage reads: "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."  In today's reading from Matthew, Jesus connects this mysterious knowledge of God with healing, through the words of the Prophet Isaiah.   Jesus explains to His disciples His reason for speaking in parables, through the prophecy of Isaiah.  As the hearts of many are far away from God, so they will be left to their spiritual blindness and deafness, and therefore they will not be healed.  What He offers -- these mysteries and blessings of which Jesus speaks in today's reading -- is a healing balm of grace for all.  Spiritual suffering, this deafness and blindness, is something very real, something acute.  It is a spiritual ailment and depletion of what the soul needs.  Jesus speaks the words of the prophecy of Isaiah, which only serve to emphasize and frame His ministry within this paradigm or image of healing, with Christ as Physician.  Hosea's "knowledge of God" becomes Christ's words to His disciples regarding the mysteries and blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which are also couched in the Beatitudes of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.  These mysteries and blessings are the very things for an ailing humanity.  They are the medicine that we need, and the Church herself must serve as hospital.  But there is a very important lesson here that must not be lost on any of us.  Those who truly don't desire this healing, whose spiritual eyes and ears are closed off through a "hardness of heart" which does not want to hear and see, are left to such a choice.   Christ speaks in parables in a sense similar to the understanding that God "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (5:45).  While the explanation in private to His disciples is for those who have a true desire to understand, the parables nevertheless are given to all, so that this ministry is open to anyone who truly desires what God -- through Christ the Son Incarnate -- has to offer to a world deeply in need of healing on all levels.  So how about your spiritual eyes and ears?   What healing do you need today?  Is there a mystery, a blessing of God that you need to heal you spiritually, that your soul needs to know?  Seek it in prayer, read the Scripture, find those who offer sustenance and who also seek what you know is treasure.  Let us be truly grateful, even if the whole world does not care for what there is on offer.  The one who needs healing remains blessed simply to be aware of their true need.