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

 

 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to the, "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 prophesy 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, after a confrontation with the Pharisees, 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 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 the, "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."  My study Bible says that the mysteries of the kingdom are not simply obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite.  Additionally, the understanding the parables is not simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hared to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible adds, it's the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  

 

"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 prophesy 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."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary on Christ's use of this passage from Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10) that this prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It's a figure of speech common in Scripture that reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).   It means that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They didn't "see and not perceive" because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.

So what makes a person "blessed," with "eyes to see and ears to hear?"  Why is it that some have this capacity while others don't?  Surely it comes down to a matter of a heart that is open, or at least one that longs for the things of God.  Moreover, Jesus says to the disciples 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."  How is that possible?  It seems to suggest that they are the ones who are fortunate to be called at this time to this Kingdom, in the presence of Christ as incarnate human being.  It is Christ coming into the world and calling those who respond that makes this possible.  And so, we should think ourselves, that we are fortunate to have what so many of our spiritual ancestors that fill the pages of the early books of the Bible did not have, Christ.  We are the ones who reap the benefits from God's grace and mercy, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and especially His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  In Pentecost, the energies of God make themselves known and present in the capacity of the disciples to suddenly be understood by all in their own languages.  God's presence has made itself more closely manifest to us than to our spiritual forbears.  And yet, so many would dismiss even this.  In a fashionable or modern setting, how many people consider the wisdom of Christ and what it adds to human life?  One thing we can certainly discern from the parable of the Sower, even before we get to Christ's explanation (in tomorrow's reading), is the value of the word.  That is, the true blessedness of the seed He's sowing, the thing He offers to all of creation?  How many cherish that word, and understand that it is gift to help us to grow, and to reap a spiritual harvest through discipleship in our own lives?  We are taught to care about many things, and to chase after the things which we consider make life good and livable.  But how many of us seek this word -- nurturing the seed it plants within us -- as a highest priority, that can change the quality and meaning of everything else, and shape values in our lives?  For not only does it seem we need discernment to understand the parable, but the parable is teaching us that it is Christ's seed, the Sower's word, that rewards us with real discernment and spiritual values in the first place.  So, in this consideration, we can begin to see what it means that people's hearts have grown dull.  For, indeed, if such is the case, how will we know what's good and what to value?  How will we know and learn what's worthwhile to pursue, or even what to teach our children?  If our hearts have grown dull, we might miss altogether the things that save our souls, nurture them, and make them grow and expand.  Let us take His words seriously.