Rachel
Workman: 10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets[a] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables, I love this those who listen will be given more and they will have an abundance of understanding. The more we are in his word and the more we listen and hear the more we know. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt I have found that to be true.
For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.
14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,
‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’ It truly hurts my hear to think of those whose eyes and hearts don't see or hear. What a sad existence.
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. It's not because they couldn't see but they chose not to see or hear. And that is something I can't imagine. It's not that Jesus withheld his truth but his truth is intended for a receptive heart. Anyone who rejects Christ is hardened by default.
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets[a] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables, I love this those who listen will be given more and they will have an abundance of understanding. The more we are in his word and the more we listen and hear the more we know. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt I have found that to be true.
For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.
14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,
‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’ It truly hurts my hear to think of those whose eyes and hearts don't see or hear. What a sad existence.
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. It's not because they couldn't see but they chose not to see or hear. And that is something I can't imagine. It's not that Jesus withheld his truth but his truth is intended for a receptive heart. Anyone who rejects Christ is hardened by default.
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John Burnett: 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 [d]Jesus
answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore
I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and
while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 [e]In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘[f]You will keep on hearing, [g]but will not understand;
[h]You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes, The world we live in now.
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
[h]You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes, The world we live in now.
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 For truly 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. I
am so thankful that the Holy Spirit opened my eyes so I could see my
sin for what it was and what it was going to do to me and showed me my
need for Jesus Christ as my Savior.
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Allen Michaels: 10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
When speaking in parables, Jesus was not hiding truth from sincere
seekers, because those who were receptive to spiritual truth understood
the illustrations. To others they were only stories without meaning..
This allowed Jesus to give spiritual food to those
who hungered for it while preventing his enemies from trapping him
sooner than they might otherwise have done.
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been
given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given
more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what
they have will be taken from them.
This phrase means that we are responsible to use well what we have.
When people reject Jesus, their hardness of heart drives away or renders
useless even the little understanding they had.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’ (Isaiah 6:9, 10 (see Septuagint))
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’ (Isaiah 6:9, 10 (see Septuagint))
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear
but did not hear it.
Jesus
told his disciples that not everyone would understand his parables. Did
Jesus mean to say that he was deliberately confusing his listeners?
Very likely not. Jesus was speaking
from experience. He was aware that some who heard his parables refused
to understand them. It was not that they could not intellectually
understand them, but rather, their hearts were closed to what Jesus was
saying. They had already made up their minds to
not believe. God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom to the
humble and trusting person who acknowledges the need for God and for his
truth. The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with
an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge
us. If we approach them with the conviction that we already know the
answer, then we, too, may look but not see, listen but not hear or
understand. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart that is
ready to believe and willing to submit. If we want
to hear and to understand God's word, we must listen with godly fear
and reverence. Do you believe God's word and do you submit to it with
trust and reverence?
"Holy
Spirit, fan the flame of God's love within me and consume me with your
fire that I may grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and ever seek to
do his will. May my heart
never grow dull and may my ears never tire of listening to the voice of
Christ."
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