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

 

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 

 

 In yesterday's reading, we were given a new turn in Christ's ministry.  We read that on the same day following a dispute with the Pharisees and scribes (and their demand for a sign from Him), 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 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, 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 simply obscure concepts, or some religious truths meant only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of the parables a purely intellectual process.  Even the disciples find the message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible comments, 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.' "  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).  My study Bible comments that this prophesy of Isaiah, according to St. John Chrysostom, does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It's a figure of speech common to Scripture which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).   It's understood from this passage that God permits their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  Spiritual blindness is not the result of God speaking through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because 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."  Here He is speaking directly to His disciples, those who have chosen to follow Him, responding to the truths they perceive in His ministry, and His presence of holiness that is undeniable to them (John 6:68).

 

 Jesus has suddenly begun an unusual practice (for Him) which the disciples have never seen Him do before:  He begins to speak to the crowds ("great multitudes") in parables (see yesterday's reading, above).  His disciples are puzzled, and they come to ask Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  Jesus answered, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." This is an intriguing answer.  Somehow Jesus seems to be saying to them that somehow it has been given to them by God that they should have the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven revealed to them, but not to the crowds in front of whom Christ now speaks in parables.  Parables sound like simple stories, and indeed they are, but to understand and to have insights about the spiritual journey and the reality of the kingdom of heaven, one would have to have some sort of experience of this to relate to the parable.  One would have to know something about the journey of spiritual truth, of growing closer to God and growing in participation in those mysteries in one's life.  But what is the point of speaking to the great crowds in parables?  Jesus tells the disciples, "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."   We take this together with the words from Isaiah Jesus goes on to quote, and we discover a fact about the spiritual life, which Jesus states here unequivocally.  We're either going to grow in this life, or we won't.  This is a reflection of the common theme, sometimes called "the two ways" in Scripture.  It's also referred to as the "way of life and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8).  These "two ways" were also described in the earliest teaching document known to the Church, considered to be the teachings of the apostles, called the Didache ("The Teaching").  Jesus Himself described these two ways when He taught (in the Sermon on the Mount), "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" (Matthew 7:13-14).  But here in today's reading, He seems to teach us that there are some for whom these mysteries of the kingdom of God are accessible; perhaps they have a function in their inner life of being perceptive to them, and they will find them in Christ's parables, and be drawn to Him.  But, He also states, there are those who simply don't, and will not seek to have this abundance, as He puts it.  One presumes that this capacity is linked also to the capacity for repentance, for access to this Kingdom and its mysteries surely confers ways in which we change and adapt as we participate in this understanding, and grow more deeply into it.  Let us consider the reality of the presence of this Kingdom among us, and in our world, brought to us by Christ -- and how we will pursue it.  Our prayers are those that seek this participation and growth in the life of the Kingdom, for without it, what else is the point of His preaching to us in His parables of the kingdom of God?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind

 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."

 

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you  already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."   They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

 

- John 9:18-41 

 

 In our present readings, we are in chapter 9 of John's Gospel.  John 7:1-10:21 covers the events at the Feast of Tabernacles, which takes place during the final year of Jesus' earthly life.  Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know." They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus  made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  he said, "He is a prophet."

 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  My study Bible comments on the behavior of the Pharisees here. It notes that with Jesus not present, they still call Him a sinner.  But earlier when He asked them face-to-face, "Which of you convicts Me of sin?" (John 8:46), they evaded that question.  Give God the glory! is an oath formula which was used before giving testimony.  My study Bible points out that he does indeed give God glory (verse 38).  The more he is pressed, the more fervent his faith becomes, while the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness.  

 

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."   Here the healed man becomes a model of Christian witness.  My study Bible comments that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions they cannot answer.  This man's response to people who are much more educated than he is provides our solution:  he admits what he does not know, but follows with what he does know.  This formula, "That I don't know, but what I do know is this," is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others.  

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you  already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."   They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.   Here the Gospel gives witness to the transformation of faith taking place in this healed man.  My study Bible points out that he moves from knowing nearly nothing about Christ, through to the conclusion that Jesus cannot possibly be a sinner, to finally confessing that Jesus must be from God.  As the Pharisees once again cannot refute the man's logic, nor the truth of what he reveals, they once again resort to personal insult (see John 8:48).  Additionally, my study Bible comments on this passage that the unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one who was born blind is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  This was one of the prophesied signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and a prerogative belonging solely to God (Psalm 146:8). 

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  Here the man healed of physical blindness is also healed of spiritual blindness:  he comes to see Jesus for who He is:  the divine Son of God whom it is appropriate to worship. 

 

 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  My study Bible comments here that our Lord's coming brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (John 12:47-48), but because of our accountability to Him.  Those who see and hear Christ but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness.  

It's quite a marvel to observe this man blind from birth who first has sight given to him by Jesus, and then -- even tested by the religious leaders and their questions (which his parents refuse to answer themselves) -- he gradually is "illumined" with faith in Christ.  Clearly we can see the parallels to holy illumination, the light now permeating and taken in by his eyes also parallel to the spiritual light with which he sees as well.  As my study Bible explained in an earlier note at the beginning of this chapter (see yesterday's reading and commentary), baptism is also called "holy illumination," and the focus on light in this chapter teaches us about this process of coming to "see."  But today's reading is also a story about judgment, as Jesus' final notes in this chapter signal.  He has come for judgment.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  As is not unusual in the stories of the Gospels, God the Father has revealed something not to the wise and prudent, but to babes (see Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21).  For if it is God the Father who revealed Jesus' identity as Christ, the Son of the living God, to St. Peter and the disciples (see Saturday's reading), then why should we not assume that the Father has also revealed to this "babe," the one whose sight has just been given to him through grace, Jesus' divine identity?  So let us rejoice at the judgment we witness, that the wise and prudent remain stubbornly, deliberately blind, while the mouth of a babe who has just received his sight confesses that Jesus is the Christ.  Who's to say who has sight?  Who sees and knows, who doesn't see, and doesn't know?  These experts in the Scripture (the Pharisees) are the authorities passing judgment on Christ, and will soon successfully bring Him to trial.  But it is the healed who see, even the "babes" with fresh sight.  It is by grace that we have our eyes opened.  St. Paul writes, "Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).

 

Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull

 

 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to the, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  

 

"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

     'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, 

    And seeing you will see and not perceive;

    For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

    Their ears are hard of hearing,

    And their eyes they have closed,

    Lest they should see with their  eyes and hear with their ears,

    Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

    So that I should heal them.'

 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 

- Matthew 13:10-17 

 

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

 

  And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to the, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  My study Bible says that the mysteries of the kingdom are not simply obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite.  Additionally, the understanding the parables is not simply an intellectual process.  Even the disciples find this message hared to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible adds, it's the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  

 

"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their  eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary on Christ's use of this passage from Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10) that this prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It's a figure of speech common in Scripture that reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).   It means that God has permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They didn't "see and not perceive" because God spoke through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.

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

 

 

 

Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it

 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

 

- Luke 10:17–24 

 

 Yesterday we read that the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  My study Bible comments that Jesus is describing an event which took place before the creation of the world.  There are five times when Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Serpents and scorpions are symbols of devils and demons, images of the manifestation of the power of the enemy.  They sting with venous poison.  Note however, that Jesus teaches that we are to rejoice because our names are written in heaven.

 

 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  My study Bible describes babes as meaning people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  

In this return of the Seventy we can read the great good news of Christ's gospel, and the effects of their ministry.  First they report their power (Christ's power, shared with and bestowed upon them and their mission) even over the demons.  But Christ's response to them becomes even more important for us.  First, they are directed to rejoice not over their power against the demonic, but rather because their names are written in heaven.   In this place of the kingdom of God is the greater glory and salvation found.  But then Christ goes on to give us greater reason for rejoicing; indeed, it is His reason for rejoicing and giving thanks to God the Father:  "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."  The text here asks of us to notice what great good news this is -- so much so, and we may even say stunningly so, that Jesus pauses to give thanks to the Father.  In this sense, we can call this a revelation of God, for even to Jesus this seems to be a new turn in His ministry, a new sign from the Father about how God's kingdom manifests, and teaching those who would seek to follow Him all about the true nature of God whom we serve.  For this is a God whose glory is defined by graciousness.  That is, not only by a shared power which the Seventy have experienced in their contact over the demonic, but rather in the wisdom and knowledge shared even with "babes."  For these Seventy are not exclusively those of the learned class or schooled in the formal schools of the religious establishment.  They are those "of simple faith and open hearts," as my study Bible describes them.  Let us note how Jesus has emphasized the gifts of the Holy Spirit already, as we read when He taught the Lord's Prayer (in this reading from chapter 11), saying, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  For this revelation of the gracious sharing of wisdom from God the Father comes not only as good news to us, but also as a revelation of the fullness of the authority bestowed upon the Son:  "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  And then we read Jesus' private comment to the disciples:  "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."   Here is the glory and flower of this ministry, in Jesus' joyful -- perhaps we might say ecstatic -- sight, that His disciples who are "babes" have seen and heard what prophets and kings have desired to see and hear, and have not seen and not heard.  The great revelation of God in the world, through the ministry of Jesus Christ and these seventy apostles He has appointed, is God's gracious nature even to the humble and simple in the generous outpouring of the Spirit and the things of the Spirit, especially God's wisdom.  This is where we must also see God as light, for these things which prophets and kings could not hear and see are part of what it means to be enlightened, illuminated.  They are in this sense the great outpouring of God's gracious energies, the "light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel" (Luke 2:32).  If in this passage we are witnessing Christ's own ecstatic joy at this outpouring and enlightening even for the "babes," then what of us?  How are we joyful over such glad tidings, the good news of the gospel?  Do we appreciate what tremendous gifts we've been given? Do we glory in that light in the world? Can we cherish it as does He, and appreciate its worth?  Let us be grateful and live in that light, bringing glory to God as is fitting.

 

 

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. 

But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears for they hear

 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 that see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

- Matthew 13:1-17

On Saturday, we read Jesus' words as He began to conclude the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:13-21):  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

On 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!"  As we begin to prepare for the commemoration of Jesus' Ascension on Thursday, the lectionary skips forward to this parable in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel.  On Saturday we had read almost to Jesus' final words in the Sermon on the Mount.  But in today's reading, we skip ahead into Jesus' ministry, to a time when He is so well-known that many come to see Him out of curiosity, and so great multitudes come to Him.  Also by this time in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has begun to have conflicts with the religious leadership, who openly demand to see a sign from Him to prove His identity as Messiah, which He refuses.  They have accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons.  It is at this point in the Gospel that He begins to introduce a new style of preaching.  He begins to preach in parables.  In contrast to the Sermon on the Mount (which began with the Beatitudes), in which Jesus spoke explicitly of the blessedness of the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, parables are "word-pictures" which illustrate aspects of the Kingdom and rely on the perception of the listener.  My study bible adds that in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 31:27-30, Hos 2:21–23; Joel 3:12–14).  These are images common to daily life for the people.  In this first parable, which introduces both the disciples and His audience of "great multitudes" to the use of parables in His preaching, Jesus introduces Himself in a particular way.  He is the Messiah who is the sower in the earth, 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.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."  The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, my study bible notes, are not simply obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of the parables just an intellectual process.  My study bible remarks that even the disciples find the message hard to understand.    Even as Jesus  taught the same message to all, it is the simple and innocent -- at whatever level of personal education or sophistication -- who are open to its message.

"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'"    Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10.  According to St. Chrysostom, this prophesy of Isaiah does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in those who otherwise would have been faithful.  He explains rather that this is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).   That people will hear and not understand and will see and not perceive means that God permits self-chosen spiritual deafness and blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).   They did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; rather Isaiah spoke in prophecy as he foresaw their blindness. 

"But blessed are your eyes that 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."  This statement has echoes of Jesus' comparison of John the Baptist, considered the last and greatest of the prophets, to those who are least in the kingdom of heaven:   "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (11:11).  It is a tremendous blessing, far greater than we can commonly count it, to be a part of this Kingdom and experience its truths.

In our next reading, Jesus will address the meanings hidden in the parable He has taught of the Sower.  But one thing we can notice right off, and that is that Jesus promises that the seed that fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  This is a teaching that gives us an idea of exponential growth somehow contained in this Kingdom, and in this work of the Sower.  We might call it "magical" -- as if these seeds are magical seeds from a fairy tale.  But that would be entirely missing the point.  There is not magic in the work of God, but something greater and more potent than what might be called magic.  The work of God is precisely that:  it is God's work in us.  It is the work of the holy, and this Kingdom will be accompanied -- even as it continues through our faith today -- with the promise of the Holy Spirit among us.  We are to be reminded here of the opposite of the purpose of the practice of magic that this work is the work of God.  What is produced is not merely something that comes of our own effort, but with the help of God, by the grace of God, and by the nature of the Kingdom which is divine.  Jesus gives us a picture of what is often called synergy, which means that those who struggle through the difficulties of faith and allow that seed to take root in the good ground of the heart and soul do not produce results solely on their own.  It means that our fruitfulness is not ours alone, but the work of God who works in us with our assent.  That is, with our hearts capable to receive this mysterious reality, we may watch it equally mysteriously grow in our lives.  Many decades ago, I prayed for God to make God's presence known to me because, being a very hard-headed person, I needed to know for myself, and not simply because someone else told me so.  My prayers were answered to the extent that what you now read as part of this blog is a continuation of several years' practice, and which is still ongoing.  It is the last thing I could and would have expected when I embarked on an honest simple prayer to God.  My writing skills have been used in journalism and other forms of more commercial writing, and there are other talents I have developed in life and worked at.  I often wonder myself why I do not pursue other forms of writing at this time.  But this is where God has led me, and the course of several years of writing -- through which ideas and insights continue to unfold, such as they are (and I hope worthy of reading and in some way helpful to my audience) -- continues to lead me forward, especially through prayer.  It is one small example of the power of God at work which we can't expect, can't predict nor plan, and which I say truly I cannot claim essential credit for.  It is something which is given, a gift one dare not refuse even when it is entirely different from one's expectation and/or social milieu of value.  The long and the short of it is that this growth is surprising, unexpected and unplanned, and in the hands of God as our faith grows.  Let us consider also Jesus' words when He teaches 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."  Let us consider the astonishing ways in which we are blessed and given every day grace and the gift of the possibility to experience this Kingdom.  We must open our eyes to realize how rich we are, and how we have been blessed with Christ's promise -- even when we live among those who have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, and hearts that have grown dull.

If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, "We see." Therefore your sin remains

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."   So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is as worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains." 

- John 9:18-41

 In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  After the leaders sought to stone Him (in response to His use of the holy Name of God), Jesus passed by them.  Yesterday we read that as He did so, Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

  But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."   So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."   We note once again that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews most frequently is used as a political term to denote the leadership.  My study bible points out that as Jesus is not present in this scene, the Pharisees call Him a sinner.  But earlier when He asked them face-to-face, "Which if you convicts Me of sin?" (8:46), they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! was an oath form that was used in giving testimony.  This healed man will indeed give God glory (see verse 38).  The more he is pressed, my study bible says, the more fervent his faith becomes.  At the same time, the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness.  Let us note also that this healed man is on his own; his parents fear the leaders and will not speak for him.

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  My study points out that this healed man becomes a model of Christian witness.  It says that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions that they cannot answer.  But this man's answer to people who are far more educated than he is gives the solution.   He admits what he does not know, but follows up with what he does know.  My study bible says that this formula, "That I don't know, but what I do know is this," is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others. 

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is as worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  My study bible notes for us the evolution of this healed man's understanding.  In response to being questioned, he thinks through the problem for himself as a response.  The leaders don't know where Christ is from, but He opened the eyes of the formerly blind man.  He says, "We know that God does not hear sinners" and "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind."  He reasons out, in the context of the times, this peculiar mystery with which he is confronted, and which the leaders don't seem to know anything about, and even go so far as to declare Jesus a sinner.  The man concludes on his own, "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  My study bible adds that the unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one born blind (not found elsewhere in Scripture)  is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  In addition, it was one of the prophesied signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7), and a prerogative which belonged only to God (Psalm 146:8).  The Pharisees, in response to the logical progression of thinking of the healed man, respond as they have before (8:48), with a personal insult (you were completely born in sins).  Let us also note the contradiction between this insult and Christ's declaration at the beginning of the chapter (see yesterday's reading, above), "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."   My study bible comments that the Lord's coming brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (12:47-48), but because of our accountability to Him.  It says that those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness.

Jesus says to the Pharisees, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  This is an important understanding, in that it brings us some insight about judgment and how judgment works.  To be blind in the figurative sense is to be ignorant of something, not to "see" it is not to "know" it.  But these men claim they see all, and understand all.  Therefore they take upon themselves the responsibility for their own judgment, their lack of true discernment, and the decision to pursue a path that renders them more deeply in spiritual darkness.  Most important, also, is the understanding that they are the religious experts of their time.  They are the ones who spend their time studying the Scriptures, debating over God's commandments, and registering their own opinions on the regulation and order of the faith as given through Jewish spiritual history.  They are the very ones who ought to see.  They are those who hold themselves not only as authorities of the faith for others, the spiritual custodians of the Scriptures and their understanding and interpretation (as well as judgments), but as we see so often from the Gospels and the remarks of Jesus, they clearly hold themselves as examples for others.  They declare to Christ that they see, and not that they need to have their own eyes opened, figuratively speaking, and so their sin remains.  This statement by Jesus illuminates another facet of Christ's work as Judge:  those who wish to see are given instruction, led along, taught, as is, for instance, this formerly blind man.  My study bible points out after his eyes are opened, the Lord also opens his heart and illumines his spirit.  This man moves from knowing almost nothing about Jesus, through the conclusion that He couldn't possibly be a sinner, through confessing that He must be from God, and finally to seeing Him as the divine Son of God and worshiping Him -- while the Pharisees, unable to refute all of this as stated by the healed man, can only resort to personal insult, a deliberate kind of ignorance, especially in those who are the most highly educated of their time.  Jesus' statement regarding judgment seems to open up an understanding for us that there are always two ways to go, and for us to choose from:  either we want to learn more, or we wish to take refuge in darkness.  Putting it literally, we either wish to move forward in discipleship (the Greek word for disciple literally means "learner"), or we wish to retreat from illumination.  From the examples of the Pharisees in today's reading, that retreat from having our eyes opened to something new means taking refuge in a hole of one's own making, digging deeper and deeper, so to speak, into a stubborn insistence that refuses change.  There we come directly to the concept of repentance, or metanoia in the Greek, which literally means "change of mind."  Christ's desire to open our own eyes, to illuminate the mind and enlighten, seems to take top priority over all else.  If there is one directive we have as human beings, judging from the Gospels and from Christ's message, we are to "follow Him" in discipleship.  It is a refusal to go forward, to learn, to be willing to change our minds with a better understanding or greater enlightenment that creates judgment.  We heed this call, or we do not.  We are meant, in that perspective, for expansion, for the fulfillment of a potential known only to our Creator, who made us in God's own "image and likeness."  Let us consider what it is to refuse, to fear the change He asks of us, and the opening up and illumination He brings.   We may like the places we find ourselves in, we may cherish a particular image of ourselves.  But it is a deliberate blindness, in which we insist we already see, that is fatal.  Christ's expansion of our own understanding not only asks us to go forward to a new place of perspective, it will ask us to change who we think we are, to be aware of flaws that hold us back which we need to discard, and to consider a better way.  We need humility for this journey, for we are all on that road that asks us to grow in discipleship.  Let us consider the alternative, and all the possibilities for faith on the other side, on the "way" that Christ asks us to go, with Him.