Why do You speak to them in parables?

 

 On the 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.  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.  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 13:1–16 

 

We have presently been reading in the Sermon on the Mount (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 the 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 the 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.  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.    Today's lectionary reading jumps from chapter 7, in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount, to chapter 13, in which Jesus is now surrounded by great multitudes who come to hear Him.  Over the course of the next few days, the lectionary readings prepare us for Ascension Day, which is Thursday in the West and the Armenian Apostolic Church, and a week later for the Eastern Orthodox.  On Friday, the day following the celebration of Christ's Ascension, we will resume the lectionary sequence in chapter 7 once again.  Here we are to note by this stage of Christ's ministry, His fame has reached a point that He must preach from a boat while great multitudes are gathered on the shore.  These are not just disciples, as in the Sermon on the Mount, but likely also the curious and those who come because of His reputation for healing as well.  

 

 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!"  My study Bible comments that, in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 31:27-30; Hosea 2:21-23; Joel 3:12-14).  These were a part of daily life, experienced by all people.  Here, Christ reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower in the earth, who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  

 

 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."  My study Bible teaches that the mysteries of the kingdom are not simply obscure concepts or religious truths only for the elite, and  at the same time, neither is the understanding of Christ's parables merely an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find the message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, it notes, it is 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 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."  Here Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible notes, this prophecy of Isaiah doesn't mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture, and reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).  What is meant by He has blinded, my study Bible explains, is that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They didn't become blind because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.  

 

At this point in His ministry, Jesus begins speaking in parables.  His reasoning is clear:  He wants to reach those who truly desire to hear and to see the things of which He speaks, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and not merely astonishing "earthly" miracles and healings or things which might fall into the category of magic (in people's perception) or unusual power.   He's here to bring His gospel into the world, not simply to practice astonishing feats to gather the curious or those who will follow Him in fear or other motivations which distract from real discipleship and faith.  So the parables form a kind of opening to those who are drawn to Him from the heart.  That is, from hearts that have not grown dull.  When Jesus quotes Isaiah, and speaks about ears that are hard of hearing, and eyes they have closed, He's speaking of spiritual eyes and ears, the attention of the soul and the heart -- that is the real depth of a person. To understand with their hearts and turn, is to repent.  That is, to turn toward Christ, "so that I should heal them."  If we understand these words in the context in which Christ has spoken them, we understand that this is the way He chooses to frame salvation, and the whole of the institution of the Church, as a kind of hospital in which we receive real healing, with Christ as Physician.  In Matthew 9:11-13, Jesus directly refers to Himself as divine Physician.  He says to the complaining Pharisees, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  This call Jesus speaks of is the call to turn toward Him, to practice repentance in the sense that all repentance is a turning toward Christ, to God.  In this understanding, the whole of the Incarnation and its purpose is for healing, to help us to turn toward God, to become more like God, in whose image and likeness we are created, our true nature.  St. Athanasius of Alexandria writes, "God became man so that man might become god" (On the Incarnation, 54:3).  This was written just prior to the Council of Nicea which formed our earliest Christian Creed, and in which St. Athanasius played such a decisive part.  Because of Christ's Incarnation, we may become more like God, growing in our true nature even toward an eternal union with God, and in this sense, everlasting life (John 3:16).  And with St. Athanasius and his guiding light, we come toward Christ's Ascension, which will be celebrated on Thursday in Western Church (and the Armenian Apostolic Church) and the Eastern Churches the following Thursday.  For in Christ's Ascension, He takes His humanity into heaven, showing us that our own human nature is capable through grace of doing the same.  This process of grace in us is called theosis, or divinization, and it is what our true salvation is all about, how Christ our Physician heals us through a lifetime process in which we constantly turn to Him throughout our lives.  He is the Sower who sows the seeds of salvation for us in His gospel, and as He teaches in this chapter of parables, these grow and shape and produce fruit, and  transform everything, so that even the angels can dwell with us and we are prepared to dwell with Him.  For without these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, such healing doesn't exist.

 

 

 

 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 

'Seeing they may see and not perceive,

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it become unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

- Mark 4:1-20 

 

 Yesterday we read that, after Jesus appointed twelve to be with Him as disciples and to be sent out on apostolic missions, they went into a house. Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, ""By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

  And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"   At this point in Mark's Gospel, Christ's ministry has progressed to the point where He has just appointed the Twelve who will be His disciples and apostles.  The crowds follow Him so that there is no room in the house where He goes, and He preaches by the sea with a small boat to be kept ready in case the crowds threaten to crush Him.  Here is a new turning point, marked by Christ's beginning to preach in parables, a very notable and significant highlight of Christ's preaching.  Apparently our Lord, being Logos (or the Word) in His divine identity, loved the use of language and words to convey meanings and substance about the kingdom of God.  We can say with great certainty that His vivid way of speaking and turns of phrase remain sayings in all languages to which the Gospel has gone and been proclaimed.  My study Bible focuses on parables in a lengthy comment, calling them stories in word-pictures, which reveal spiritual truth.  In Hebrew and Aramaic the words for parable also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb."  All the Scriptures -- and particularly the Gospels -- are filled with parables.  They are images drawn from daily life in the world in order to represent and communicate the deep things of God, giving us glimpses of the One whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).   Here, Jesus begins (as He does in the other Synoptic Gospels) with the parable of the Sower, a great clue as to the identity of Christ Himself, and the work He does for the kingdom of God.

 

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'"  We note that the truth of Christ's parables is not obvious to all who hear; neither is the degree of understanding the same even for those who hear.  Therefore, my study Bible says, Jesus' statement that "to those who are outside, all things come in parables" may be translated as ". . . all things come in riddles."  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10 here.  This quotation does not mean that parables are used to blind people, or to lead them to punishment.  It shows, on the contrary, that people are responsible for their own lack of receptivity.  Those who have grown dull and insensitive are unwilling to accept the message of the parables.  My study Bible says that as the mission of Isaiah in the Old Testament was to open the eyes of Israel to see the acts of God, so the parables of Jesus are intended to open the eyes of His hearers to the truth and lead them to produce the fruit of righteousness.  

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it become unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  Jesus explains the parable of the Sower.  In this parable, He reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  My study Bible also asks us to note that while some might teach a person is permanently saved at the moment one professes faith -- a view which wasn't held by the historic Church -- the teaching of Jesus is clear here that it is possible to receive the word and endure only for a time, and then when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  In Luke we read that they "fall away" (Luke 8:5).

It's interesting that what we read here today affirms that faith is a kind of continuum, a progression, a "road," as Jesus tells us that He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (way in Greek also meaning "road").   It is possible we will hear the word and keep it for a while, and then over a challenge of some sort of tribulation or testing, we stumble.  Note that Jesus does not mince words when it comes to difficulties. He more or less promises the certainty of difficulties, just as He here tells the disciples that there will be times "when persecution arises for the word's sake."  There are other enemies to the word sown here as well.  He says that for some, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  So there is no guarantee here of an easy road, or of immediate or guaranteed success in this journey of faith, our struggle to abide in His word.  We will face challenges.  But, if we're going to face challenges to something in life, the best way to meet challenges is with preparation -- and here Jesus, in the details of the parable, is preparing us for what it means to struggle with our faith for a lifetime's endurance.  Moreover, the parable tells us that endurance in the word is not simply for the sake of endurance alone, but that to live our faith means producing spiritual fruit.  That is, there are good changes, good effects, that accompany this endurance in the word and in faith.  But there are also important challenges, that remain always all-too-present to us, and perhaps especially at this time, with so many modern products of technology and economic prosperity.  Jesus distinctly notes that the "cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word."  It's not simply that these things are still with us 2,000 years after Christ preached these words.  But we have had 2,000 years in the mean time of accumulating "cares of this world."  While economic prosperity rises, goods are produced and traded worldwide to a degree simply unimaginable to human beings of the first century (perhaps even of the twentieth century), and riches continue to expand beyond previous measure (in our lifetimes alone, a "millionaire" is simply incomparable to today's "billionaires").  So we must assume that the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things has expanded right along with that prosperity and what we call material progress.  In accordance with this parable, it really doesn't seem to matter what our level of economic prosperity or poverty is, we're still going to face these obstacles to one degree or another -- and, like the poor whom Jesus loved, it seems that these things will always be with us (Matthew 26:11).  Neither does Christ say that the answer to these problems or stumbling blocks is abolishing either wealth or poverty altogether (there will always be those with "less"), but rather to cultivate our own strength of faith and awareness and to endure in His word.  We should expect challenges and difficulties, being ready for them through our awareness and our spiritual preparedness, including the tools of our faith:  worship services, our fellow faithful and the great cloud of witnesses mentioned by St. Paul in his own exhortation to preparedness for spiritual struggle in Hebrews 12:1-3, and of course our prayer lives and pastors.  This is the way, the truth, and the life of Christ:  He prepares us for challenges, not for a perfect world that He fixes for us.  He invites us into His own work of faith, and sets the example first and most powerfully of all.  If we're prepared for the difficulties and pitfalls (and here we are clearly forewarned by Christ), if we are enlightened as to the sense of ourselves on a journey in the experience of this Kingdom, then we are given a clear awareness of what our lives are all about as we seek to follow Him and His word and produce the fruits He asks.  In John's Gospel, Jesus preaches to the people, telling them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going" (John 12:38).  He gives us a clear picture of this walk in the light, so that we know where we are going.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 

 

Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

 

 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke and departed, and was hidden from them.  But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

"Lord, who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"

Therefore they could not believe, because Isiah said again:

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,

Lest they should see with their eyes,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them."

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 

 

- John 12:36-43 

 

The setting of yesterday's reading is just after Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, having been welcomed by crowds with a messianic joy, and with all kinds of expectations of Him.  But He began to teach about His coming Passion.  In yesterday's reading, He said, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up/"  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke and departed, and was hidden from them.  But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  Today's reading begins by repeating Jesus' statement from yesterday's reading:  "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  John's Gospel has, from its beginning, referred to Jesus as the light, and here He also refers to Himself as that light (see John 1:4-9; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9-10; 12:35).  His emphasis is on faith, belief.  But here we are confronted with non-belief, and how faith exists or does not exist in the heart of a human being.  The quotation is from Isaiah 53:1, a prophesy regarding the Messiah.

Therefore they could not believe, because Isiah said again:  "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."  These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.  My study Bible notes the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that Isaiah's prophecy does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common in Scripture, and reveals God as giving people up to their own devices.  There is a similar understanding in Romans 1:24-26.  To say that He has blinded them is to say that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  The people did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.  The quotation is from Isaiah 6:10.  Isaiah . . . saw His [Christ's] glory in about 700 BC (Isaiah 6:1) and spoke of Him in many places through the length of his extensive prophecy. 

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible notes, these rulers are in truth the worst of slaves.  They are enslaved by the opinions of men.  This keeps them from leading as God would have them lead. 

Once again, the Gospel emphasizes that we have a choice.  Belief is a matter of accepting a truth that roots itself in the heart, that comes through the approach of God.  How do we perceive this light?  Where does this perception of light and spiritual truth come from?  Which part of ourselves is capable of discerning it, of taking it in and nurturing it?   In the tradition of Greek philosophy there existed the concept of what in Greek is called the "nous" (pronounced noos).   Some consider it merely to be the intellect, but in the tradition of the Church and theology it came to be understood as the specific faculty capable not just of discursive reason but also of apprehension of things beyond ourselves, spiritual truth, spiritual reality.  It encompasses both mind and heart, in the sense that the heart indicates the center of a person, of the soul, the place that unites soul, spirit, mind:  the intellect and intuition.  This is a place that is not only aware of who we are and what we are, but which can permeate experience with meaning, especially that which is given through prayer and other ways in which the things of God reach to us and communicate with us in the subtle language of this kind of perception.   It is this place of light that constitutes spiritual illumination, and it permeates our lives and the fullness of who we are:  body, soul, spirit, mind -- and mingles with our experiences and our walk in the world.  Hence, Christ's words, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going" (John 12:35).  Prophets and saints throughout the ages saw by this light and spoke by this light.  But clearly, and for all kinds of reasons, this light is neither understood nor perceived by many; there are those who are blind to it, and those who prefer the darkness without it.  At least, this is the language of Scripture, and especially John's Gospel.  Hence, Isaiah's questions, "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  In Christ's foundation parable about Himself, the parable of the Sower, He speaks of many reasons why the seed of His truth does not take root.  One of them is illustrated by allegorical thorns that choke the word, said by Christ to be the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches (Matthew 13:22).  In today's reading, John indicates that for many of the rulers on the Council, the truth of Christ was clear to them, but choked from fruition because "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."  They feared exclusion and isolation, being put out of the synagogue by the Pharisees who had chosen as a body to oppose Christ.  (Nonetheless, John's Gospel tells us that Christ had followers among them.  Nicodemus in particular is a Pharisee and also a believer in Christ.)  But this particular fear, of being excluded, socially isolated, stripped of place and position, remains a great power in our world today, and especially through the prominence of social media.  We're all familiar with bullying and what it does, in school among children as well as in the workplace among adults.  We know the impact of exclusion on our lives, psychologically and materially.  We also know the impact that psychological and social isolation can have on our physical health.   But the Scriptures teach us that nonetheless, we are called to faith and to live our faith.  The heroic life of the early believers in Christ makes that clear, and our Savior's Passion sets that example regarding the strongest, highest, and best calling that we have.  We have to consider clearly what a desire to accept this light and live it means to us.  We will always find the compassion and love of God, even when we are called to sacrifice something worldly for that love.  Again, Isaiah asks, "Who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  The prophets and saints we know chose to live this calling, even at the risk of life, reputation, belonging.  Let us seek God's light for ourselves, and our own particular way we are to live it.  Let us ask for the discernment to walk in the way we're called through the world and the thorns it seeks to bring to us today.  For we are called not to be a part of the darkness of the world -- He calls us out of the world (John 15:19):  to walk in the light and become His children of light.   When we love the praise of men more than the praise of God we so easily stumble in our own darkness, our self-imposed blindness.  

 

 

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

 

 On the 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 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.  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 . . . "

 

- Matthew 13:1-16 

 

We have been recently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (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 into destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, 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 the 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.  Today the lectionary skips forward in Matthew's Gospel, from chapter 7 to chapter 13, in which Jesus will begin teaching in parables.  We note that by now there are great multitudes who are coming to see Him; this has a great deal to do with why He begins to speak in parables.  

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!"   This is Jesus' first parable that works as a kind of foundation for the rest of them.  My study Bible explains that in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 31:27-30; Hosea 2:21-23; Joel 3:12-14), as this was a part of daily life.  In this parable, Jesus reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower in the earth, who had been prophesied in Isaiah 55:10-13.

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."  Here Jesus begins to reveal to the disciples the purpose of speaking in parables.  My study Bible explains that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts or some religious truths which are only for the elite, nor is the understanding of the parables just an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible says that it is the simple 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, snd 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 . . . "  The quotation is from Isaiah 6:10.  This quotation also appears in John 12:37-41, in the context of those many who gathered to Christ for His signs, but had no faith.  Here, as Jesus speaks to such a great multitude that He must sit in a boat off the shore, His parables are also aimed toward those who will hear and develop faith, out of the multitudes who will not.  My study Bible notes that according to St. John Chrysostom, the prophecy of Isaiah quoted here does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture, revealing God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).    What is meant by He has blinded, my study Bible explains, is that God has permitted people's self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  People did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; it is Isaiah who gave his prophesy because he foresaw their blindness. 

As we have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7; beginning with this reading from May 9), Jesus has been speaking to His disciples.  That is, He has been addressing His sermon to those who would be His followers, speaking of the particular type of blessedness that belongs to this Kingdom, to those who have faith in Him, teaching His gospel message.  He has been teaching us what it means to be a disciple, to engage in discipleship, to follow Him.   But in today's reading, we skip to chapter 13, where the parables begin, and the lectionary will be giving us these parables in preparation for Ascension Day (which, generally speaking, for the West is Thursday this week, and for the Eastern Churches  falls on Thursday next week).  In tomorrow's reading, we'll receive Jesus' explanation of this foundational parable which He gives to His disciples.  But for today, let us consider what He teaches them here, in response to their question about why He has chosen to begin to speak in parables.  For us today, it remains an important concern to understand why it is that membership in our churches seems to fluctuate so.  Popular ideas in the West have long followed a trend toward a belief in a very materialist-oriented perspective on life.  A false understanding of science seems to imply that we must only trust in what has been proven to us scientifically, but nevertheless there are those who seem to adopt this attitude.  (All science is based on hypothesis; if scientists only accepted that existence was limited to what had already been proven, there would be no science at all; nor would there be constant new discoveries which, in fact, render mistaken what had been previously understood to have been proven.)   In some sense, this "misdirection" of perception, or failure to grasp the mysteries of which Christ speaks, remains entirely pertinent to what we're being taught in the quotation of the prophesy of Isaiah.  Jesus gives us a hint about the failure to hear and see the things He is offering, the lack of perception of the value in the things He teaches.  Although Israel, and particularly its leadership contemporaneous with Christ, is steeped in preparation for the Messiah, in scholarship on the Old Testament, together with tremendous resources from the Second Temple period which was rich in possibility to accept Christ as divine, there are those who cannot nor will not see and hear what He is offering, with faith.  Jesus has spoken of the hypocrisy which keeps us from faith during His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, for which He will repeatedly indict the religious leadership.  There is the aspect of life lived purely for show, for the praise of other people, which He repeatedly mentions in this context -- and we can surely see at least some of this pattern reflected in a world which now bases so much of its common social exchange on consumed image through social media, or identity which seems to rest solely on how it is reflected back to us through the eyes of others.  It seems common today that there are so many who do not see and do not hear these realities of which Christ speaks, the blessedness of God and mysteries of God's kingdom.  Faith asks us for a perception that comes from a deeper place within ourselves, something subtle, but also essential to identity which is hidden from those without this capacity for perception.  From this perspective, it seems there is something missing from the development which enables us to participate in mystery and to receive what mystery offers us as part of identity and personal growth.  Just as Jesus taught us to rebuke hypocrisy by praying in secret to our Father who is in the secret place and who sees in secret (and to do likewise with practices of almsgiving and fasting), so we must come to understand that a life lived entirely with a consumerist orientation is going to miss out on what is to be grasped from within, in a secret place, even with no one else watching or seeing.  There are things which cannot be apprehended simply by consuming or absorbing what is outside of us or around ourselves.  This is what the parables point to:  images hidden within the story, which feed us something more than the easy fare of spectacle.  That is, things which engage us in a deeper way than the narcissistic drive for competing image or comparing ourselves to others, something other than the tremendous focus only on what appears to us in a material way.  There is a deeper place where life is for us, where we understand that who we are comes in relationship to God and to the righteous way of life to which God calls us in our relations to others, regardless of social demands.  If we think about it, this is part of the reason why the poor (or the poor in spirit) are always dear to God, for their perception is not based solely on what they possess materially.  We start there, in this parable of the Sower, to build an awareness of what this means and what it offers, who the Sower is, and how important it is that we find this way to perceive what is of true value and gives value to all else.  As Jesus teaches, there is a law to this type of awareness, and the kind of abundance He offers:  "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."   In Jesus' final statement in today's reading, it is as if we are given another Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount, and another lesson about what it means to live a blessed life:  "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . ."

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them

 

 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 on which Jesus' mother and brothers came seeking to see Him, 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."  My study Bible comments that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts, or some religious truths for only the elite, nor is the understanding of the parables simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hard to understand.  Even though Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible says, it is 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 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.'"   In John's Gospel, Jesus uses this same quotation from Isaiah 6:9-10 in speaking to those who have rejected faith in Him despite His many signs (see John 12:37-43).  In either case, we should turn to the understanding of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  Rather, this is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture, revealing God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).   God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke as he foresaw their blindness.  

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."  The prophets and righteous men of the past desired to see the day of Christ, and did not see it, and to hear His word but did not hear it.

Jesus quotes from Isaiah, who 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."  This prophecy, as quoted by Jesus, really prompts us to ask the question, "What does it mean to be healed?"  It's very important that we understand healing in this context of spiritual guidance and perception.  Jesus has already suggested that one name for Himself is Physician, as in His response to the Pharisees who criticized Him for eating and dining with tax collectors and others who were understood to be sinners.  He said, "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" (see this reading).  Clearly it is spiritual ailments to which He's referring.  In this context, since all of us are deficient in some sense, each one of us has healing that we need.  That is, we might sin, knowingly and unknowingly, but even in terms of understanding sin, we "miss the mark" we're capable of making.  "Missing the mark" is the true literal meaning of the word for sin in the Greek.  It comes from the notion of hitting a target.   It indicates what we could do better; that of which we are capable but don't quite come up to a standard.  But what is most important is that we understand Jesus' language of caring for a person, of both healing and being a Physician.  For while we might understand perfectly well what physical ailments are, and even psychological ailments, we don't necessarily conceive of spiritual ailments as this language asks us to do.  In this context, and in the words of Isaiah, our own blindness and deafness leaves us blind and deaf to the things we need that we don't perceive, to the things we need for healing, to our own ailments and illnesses in some sense.  While we might understand a failure to function physically or mentally in a healthy way by a set of community standards, the text makes it clear that spiritual ailments may be those things we fail to detect or understand in ourselves.  One example of  a spiritual ailment might be extreme selfishness, or possibly a great lust or covetousness.  These things do lead to disorders in the society, but are clearly often characterized by a kind of blindness to what could be, a deafness to that which would create better relatedness in community and peace within ourselves.  Jesus embodies also for us a love and mercy that gives us a standard -- and in this sense also offers healing, but our eyes and ears need to be opened to this.  The spiritually deaf and blind may find it perfectly acceptable to practice hypocrisy and hidden vice which harms and hurts both themselves and others, and fail to find God's way for their own healing in this respect.  What is clear is that through the parables, Jesus begins to ask His listeners whether or not they truly want what He's offering.  As human beings, we're given a sense that it is really up to us to desire what He has, and deeply and earnestly seek it.  Otherwise our lives, as St. Chrysostom comments, are left to our own devices, and the messes and brokenness we create as a result become a part of a fabric of our own legacies and the lives around us.  There is a clear understanding here that we are capable of hearing, seeing, and seeking what He offers, but there must be a desire in our hearts to do so.  As we discussed in yesterday's reading, it's simply false to assume that what we are is written in stone, so to speak, static and unchanging or incapable of change.  That is a spiritual falsehood, and He calls us to truth, to growth, to fruitfulness.  That is what it means to be healed.  Physical ailments or harm, and emotional and mental hardships, quite clearly contribute to the challenges we have in our lives.  But a great deal of healing from either one may also be spiritual in nature, with God's help putting our lives and even tragedies and brokenness in perspective, even and possibly most especially creating new life where we might find limitation.  Healing, in Christ's language, is an ongoing process and encompasses all of ourselves and our lives, for His is the deepest and truest response to all that ails us. 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately, it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that

'Seeing they may see and not perceive, 

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.' "

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

- Mark 4:1–20 

 

On Saturday, we read that after Jesus had appointed His twelve disciples, who would also be apostles, they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

  And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: . . ..  Let us note that once again, Jesus teaches by the sea, and that this is because there are so many who come to hear Him -- so much so, that now He sits in a boat off the shore to preach, while His audience is on shore facing the sea.  At this stage in Christ's expansive ministry, He has called the Twelve to Him to appoint them as those who will be disciples ("learners") and apostles ("those sent out").  There is another kind of landmark note in this passage for a new stage in Christ's ministry, and that is that He has now begun to teach in parables.

"Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately, it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  The importance of the parable of the Sower is clear through its prominence as the first parable we're given in the Gospels.  It is clearly significant for Jesus' ministry, which will become more clear as He explains its meaning to His disciples (a few verses further on in today's reading).

 

 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.' "  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:10, which is more fully quoted in John 12:40.  My study Bible notes that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Isaiah's prophecy does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It explains that this is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture and reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).  In the fullness of the quotation, it is understood that God permits a self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  This is consistent with the understanding that faith precedes healing, as we can see in Christ's healing miracles.

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  My study Bible comments that in this central, important parable, the Lord reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, who is the sower, who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  

My study Bible has an article on parables that notes several important things we should understand about their use.  It describes parables as "word-pictures" which reveal spiritual truth.  In both Hebrew and Aramaic, the word for parable also means "allegory, "riddle," or "proverb."  All the Scriptures, but especially the Gospels, are filled with parables; that is, images which are drawn from daily life in the world in order to represent and communicate the deep things of God.  It says that parables give us glimpses of God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  But there is something distinctive and important here, as Jesus Himself points out:  the truth in Christ's parables isn't plain to all who hear them.  It requires spiritual ears and eyes to hear and see; and even then not all will have the same degree of understanding.  In today's reading, Jesus says that "to those who are outside, all things come in parables."  We might translate that as, ". . . all things come in riddles."  The quotation from Isaiah leaves no doubt that people are responsible for their own lack of receptivity, and absolutely thereby affirms that we all are capable of understanding.  It is a matter of choice to grow dull and insensitive to God's message and understanding; at heart there's an unwillingness to accept the message of the parables.  In the language of the ancient world and the understanding of the Church, this faculty for perceiving the things of God is in each one of us and is called the "nous" in Greek.  It is associated with the heart, and the understanding capacity therein.  This form of grasping truths is very closely akin to experience, as it forms through a kind of participation.  My study Bible says that as the mission of Isaiah in the Old Testament was to open the eyes of Israel to see the acts of God, so the parables of Jesus are intended to open the eyes of His hearers to the truth and lead them to produce the fruit of righteousness.  In effect, they challenge all hearers and call for faith to perceive the mysteries of the Kingdom.  This doesn't happen only through an intellectual understanding of the parables.  My study Bible calls spiritual enlightenment essentially a communication of faith in the Person, words, and deeds of Jesus Christ.  Once again, we understand that the use of parables in Jewish culture existed long before Jesus, and we can read this in the Old Testament Scriptures (2 Samuel 12:1-4, 1 Kings 20:35-42, Isaiah 5:1-7).  But Jesus' use of parables is unsurpassed, speaking of aspects of God through vivid, memorable stories.  His purpose, my study Bible tells us, was not only to reveal truth to those with hearts prepared, but in fact to draw responsive hearts past the entrance and into the reality of God's Kingdom which He proclaimed and inaugurated.  Whatever we are to grasp about Christ's parables, let us understand how they point to mystery and the mystical, affirming an important understanding of our faith.  There is a deep connection to the things of God, and to the faith of Christ, through our own capacity for hearing and seeing spiritually -- as Jesus' quotation from Isaiah affirms.  The parables invite us into the Kingdom, as my study Bible says, they invite us in to begin to perceive the things of God, the words of Christ, all that is given to us by our Lord.  In this special kind of perception, we are taught that we are capable of understanding a communion of saints which include the ministering angels (that "great cloud of witnesses" cited by St. Paul in Hebrews 12:1), the realities which Christ has brought into our world, and the truths we are offered through this gift of faith and grace.  The parables, as my study Bible says, are meant to open a door to something, to give us a glimpse of the workings of a Kingdom that not everybody is capable of perceiving.  They are not simple moral tales or aphorisms meant to be sported by anybody for "good living."  They open a door, and the door is Christ (John 10:9-16).  They are meant to teach us about the journey beyond the door, and invite us in to a learning that does not stop but grows through experience.  On that road or way of Christ (John 14:6) we might come to find that the cares of the world that choke us like thorns, the fleeting thoughts of faith that disappear with all the myriad concerns that come to snatch them away, the faith that disappears in fear or crisis -- all of this can be part of the journey along the way. But His word, His seed, keeps giving growth where it takes deep root:  in some thirty-fold, in some sixty, in some a hundred -- or possibly, at various times of our lives, we may experience each of these levels of growth in our own spiritual understanding and capacity for faith and the fruits of that faith.  Jesus opens the door as the crowds grow large, and all kinds of people crowd in to see Him.  But He calls to those who have the ears to hear the things He really offers, which transform our lives and heal us.

Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive

 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 Jesus went out of the house where He was preaching 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 and 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."  My study bible says that the mysteries of the kingdom are not merely obscure concepts nor are they religious truths that are only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of the parables simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples, it notes, find the message hard to understand -- and this is something of which we should be well aware.  While Jesus teaches the same message to all, my study bible says that it is the "simple 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."  Here is the logic of the Kingdom.  If we have ears to hear, we will hear in abundance.  If we do not, even what we think we have will be taken away.

"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."   Jesus also references this passage of Isaiah in John's Gospel (John 12:40).  It is related to faith in general and also specifically to Jesus' ministry, as well as this new style of preaching in parables.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise be faithful.  It is a figure of speech common to Scripture that reveals that God gives people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).  My study bible also says that this indicates that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  The people did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke in prophecy, foreseeing their blindness.  And by contrast, there is a deep reassurance here, a great and tremendous blessing, in that these (His disciples) see what many prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear, and did not.

In a particular sense, Jesus emphasizes the great mystery of faith.  It is like "the wind" that "blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes" (John 3:8).  But in Jesus' teaching on His use of parables, He makes it clear that there is some sort of counterpart in us that is responsive to this "wind" (Who is the Holy Spirit) or to Christ Himself.  We, too, put up our own internal obstacles, we rest in a condition in which our ears are hard of hearing and our eyes are blind to something.  At this juncture in Jesus' ministry, when He starts to preach in parables, it has become clear that the leadership is not only against Him, but is plotting ways to destroy Him (12:14).  The Pharisees have brought a serious false accusation against Him (that He casts out demons by the power of demons), and they're not going to stop searching for ways to accuse Him.  There are others in many cities who've seen His "mighty works" and yet rejected His ministry (11:20-24).  This is a clear-eyed assessment and adjustment of His ministry to the conditions that He has found, the receptivity (or non-receptivity) of the people to whom He's been sent and has ministered.  This is the reality of the world in which we live, and the nature of faith that we continue to find around us.  Jesus not only accepts the response He's found, but does far more in this acceptance than meets the eye.  He teaches us about God -- that faith is not imposed upon us.  God does not force nor compel anyone to return God's love.  This statement or awareness isn't simply profound in terms of its implications for God's nature, but it also teaches us truths about ourselves:  that we have freedom to choose faith or not, and that we also have the hand of love that is continually extended and awaiting response.  What it also teaches us is our own responsibility in this struggle for faith.  We need to be aware that it is not automatic, and that our relationship with the Creator who loves us can be abused or lost, frayed with rejection, locked up within ourselves where we choose or prefer blindness or hardness of hearing.  It emphasizes the essential importance of simply being aware of our choices, and our need to return to God's love and to rejoice in the blessing we're given.  Jesus' great emphasis to His disciples, practically none of whom are highly learned nor particularly known (at this point) for their piety or holiness, are the ones to whom the transcendent is revealed -- those things that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear, and have not seen nor heard.  This is the tremendous measure of the blessing we're given.  It's important to remember that, as my study bible noted (above), the disciples don't understand the parable nor immediately grasp its meaning.  But they are there with Him.  They respond to His call, and to His ministry.  The relationship is there.  St. Paul writes that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  It is the response in us to something not given by intellectual proof nor coercion nor manipulation.   Faith, in fact, is trust.  It is a trust inspired by Christ, by the presence of the Kingdom and the holy.  It is a particular response to God's love, a way of living in that reciprocal and endlessly reciprocating relationship.  Faith in our lives is this blessing of the substance of things hoped for.  It is the evidence of things not seen.   We may accept or reject it, but without it we lose immeasurable love and hope.

The Parable of the Sower

On the 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 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. 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."

- Matthew 13:1-16

Over the past two weeks, the lectionary gave us the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapters 6 and 7. We began with The Beatitudes, in which Jesus taught the blessings of the life of discipleship. Next He taught the value of such lives, in You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Then He began to teach about the Law, saying "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." He then expanded His teaching on several statutes in Mosaic Law; the first against murder: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder;'" then, against adultery: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery;'" and finally regulating vengeance: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" His expansion includes the inner life of the heart, not merely outward acts. Next He began to discuss spiritual practice (in almsgiving, prayer and fasting) - forbidding hypocrisy and again emphasizing the inner life, in "Do not be like the hypocrites." During the discussion of prayer, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, teaching Our Father in heaven. He then taught that we cannot serve both God and mammon, that we need to make a clear choice in No man can serve two masters. Then He began to teach about how we look at life and what we value. Over-worry and anxiety over the material things we need in life are not for the life of discipleship. He said to observe the birds, and the wild lilies -- none of these work to sow, harvest and store, or spin, endlessly worrying about the future, yet they are cared for by the Father. The Father knows what we have need of, we are to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." He said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."Next, Jesus taught about the life of discipleship and its righteousness in congregation. He taught us not to judge or condemn, and repeated His teachings on reciprocity: "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." He once again repeated His warnings against hypocrisy in this context. We are to be aware of who we are, our own flaws and faults, before we can helpfully correct anyone else. "First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." He then warned against giving pearls to swine, or giving what is holy to dogs: we are not to seek to create discipleship in those who do not value it, cannot appreciate it, may in fact despise it. And all things are open to those who do want these pearls, disciples in sincerity and faith who are always to be asking, seeking, and knocking: "for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Summing up the Law and Prophets, He taught once again the reciprocal principle, active in our lives as disciples: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." And finally, Jesus taught about the specific, dedicated nature of discipleship and its life: "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." He warned us about leadership in His Church: "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. . . . 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." He concluded: "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." In today's reading, the lectionary skips forward, to Matthew chapter 13, and Jesus' use of parables.

On the 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. The material we've skipped over (which we'll return to in a short time) includes many healings as well as the choosing of the twelve apostles. Jesus encourages them to fearless witness and teaches about persecution to come. We read of the rejection of Jesus in some communities and also imprisonment of John the Baptist, as well as Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees. There is even misunderstanding among his family. Today's reading begins after Jesus has stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." The verses with which we begin today's reading tell us that despite confrontation, rejection, division and misunderstanding, as well as conflict with religious authorities, Jesus' ministry has reached a wide audience. So many people come to see Him and hear Him, that He must sit in a boat and preach to "great multitudes" assembled on the shore. One can only wonder at the power of His voice and His oratorical capabilities. We so often picture Christ as soft-spoken, but the setting of this scene tells us of His vigor and strength in preaching. The setting, although unusual, is in the teaching tradition of a rabbi, seated, while disciples stand and listen.

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 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!" Jesus introduces us to parables in this teaching. His ministry has grown so large that He is becoming selective in His preaching; that is, He speaks in parables. My study bible notes: "Parables are stories in word-pictures, revealing spiritual truth. The Hebrew and Aramaic words for parable also mean 'allegory,' 'riddle,' or 'proverb.' The Scriptures, especially the Gospels, are filled with parables -- images drawn from daily life in the world to represent and communicate the deep things of God. Parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55: 8,9)." Here, Jesus begins with the first great parable, that of the Sower. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" is an expression given us to indicate the need for our own capability of discernment. As disciples, Jesus seeks those with spiritual eyes and ears of the heart, the ones capable of understanding.

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 has an essential note here: "The mysteries of the kingdom are not mere esoteric concepts or a body of religious truth only for the elite. Nor is true understanding of the parables simply an intellectual apprehension. Even the disciples find His message hard to understand. Jesus preached and taught the same message to all; but it is the 'babes,' the simple and innocent, who are open to the gospel and have the faith to receive this mystery, which is the reality of the Kingdom." Clearly, to my mind, Jesus is calling us to discernment. Not everybody is going to get this, to understand or receive it with open spiritual ears. The Kingdom is also about an initiation into something; as we receive, so we are received, and we each possess the reality to go ever-deeper, depending on our own receptivity and capability for discernment. A mystery or mysteries indicates that there is much into which we are initiated. Christian life doesn't begin and end with baptism, but is rather a journey into depths, that which is hidden, yet open to all those who may receive. Jesus' emphasis here is on giving: to some it is given, to others it is not. This is the reality of the spiritual life: the ultimate discernment or work is of God, upon whom we rely for all things.

"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." Here is a powerful report regarding spiritual gifts, especially that of discernment and growth in understanding. My study bible speaks of this capability of seeing and hearing as zeal. Zeal, in this context, is a kind of passion for the life of God, a love of the spiritual life and relationship to Creator -- especially that of discipleship. It begins with humility, acceptance, a willingness to be changed, to learn and grow. When we don't exercise this capability, Jesus is saying, we stand to lose even what we have. This relationship is an active and dynamic one, a living one -- just as Jesus will illustrate later on with parables of the Kingdom (such as the mustard seed and the leaven). If we stagnate in this life, if we use it as mere material possession, we stand to lose what we think we have. My study bible puts it this way: "When one has zeal, he will be given more from God. But if he does not use what he has, and fails to participate in the life of the Kingdom, God's gifts will be taken away. This is a hard saying, but true."

"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." The words of Isaiah the prophet are brought back to the people. These words of Isaiah are found in Isaiah chapter 6, in Isaiah's vision of the holy mysteries and the kingdom, from which we receive the thrice holy hymn. In the context of Isaiah's vision, these words come to us from the King, the voice of the Lord, who asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah becomes a messenger, to those who hear and do not understand, see but do not perceive. They are words of warning. They are powerful words about discernment.

Coming after conflict has begun with the temple authorities, and Jesus' warnings of future persecution, the arrest of John the Baptist, and Jesus' rejection in several cities, Isaiah's words echo for us a theme that comes from long past in salvation history. It is up to each one of us to "turn and be healed." Everybody is not going to get this. We are free -- ultimately free -- to reject what God offers. But we are responsible for our choices and our failure to accept that grace. In community, we are also free to do so. Throughout the Old Testament, God's love supersedes rejection by community: the prayers of the faithful do much to save entire populations. But I think that Jesus' words here tell us something important about our choices. Nothing is going to be forced upon us. As human beings, we are endowed with the capability to choose, a responsibility to discern. We are here to learn, to grow -- we are not automatons. We have the power of our hearts and minds and passions. We are capable of becoming like our Creator. It all speaks back to the great theme of the Sermon on the Mount, and its attention to the state of the heart, our inner lives. How seriously do we take discipleship? How active and powerful is this relationship within us, in the place of the heart -- where our spiritual eyes and ears reside? Hearing, do we understand? Seeing, do we perceive? Jesus seems to be saying -- and this is a powerful concept in the context of today's society -- that this isn't necessarily going to be for everyone. Spiritual truth is something we must love and nurture, and within which we grow: or else even the "faithful" will lose what they have. Powerful words: for the powerful force inside the mustard seed, in the leaven with which we may be leavened, the seed He seeks to plant.