Matthew 13 - Part 2

 

Read Matthew 13

Have you seen the two-part meme where the refrigerator is open and the ketchup bottle is front and center and the man says, “I can’t find the ketchup.”  In the second part, the view is of a wooded ridge in the distance that seems to just be a beautiful landscape and the man says, “You see that buck next to the edge of the shade?”

We see the same things but we don’t see the same things.  Sometimes we have eyes to see where others don’t.

You call your dog for twenty minutes and have no sign of him.  You sit down in your recliner and open a bag of chips and sure enough, that’s your dog parked in front of you with its best beggar’s look staring you in the eye.

We hear what we hear, sometimes it’s exactly what we were hoping to hear.  We have ears to hear.

Sandwiched between the Parable of the Sower and its explanation is a simple question.  Why do you speak to the people in parables?

Why parables?

Because some have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Lord has to say.  Others hear the world first and maybe catch a little of what the Lord is telling us.  If you want to hear the Lord, it’s an all-in deal.  If you want to see the ways of the Lord, it’s an all-in deal.

This is why I speak to them in parables:

Though seeing, they do not see;

    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

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.

 

Jesus then told his disciples that they were blessed.  They sought the ways of the Lord and God had given them eyes to see.  This was a gift from God to those who sought to do his will.

They had been given freely what so many prophets had desired.

Those not seeking the Lord can’t make sense of what he said or did.  They have neither eyes to see nor ears to hear.  To them, a parable is just a story.  To us, it offers counsel, guidance, direction, and challenges to learn more.

We are blessed to have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Amen.