For a further day we meditate on the reason why the divine Word had to become flesh and dwell among us. Suppose God had decided against an incarnation and instead had given us a book similar to the Bible as His highest revelation –what would be the result? We humans in our usual way would attempt to read into those words our own wrong highest interpretation but nevertheless we would be greatly limited; just as we are currently in spite of the fact that we have all both God in His Holy Spirit, and His Word. Take, for example, the word ‘purity’, if I read into that word my highest experience of purity, which, because of sin and human failure, must still be partial and incomplete. I would still emerge with an impoverished understanding of the word. But what if I can see that word exemplified in a divine illustration? Now the word ‘purity’ is elucidated [make (something) clear, explain] by a Person who shares my temptations, minus my failures, and so the word takes on a new and precise meaning. This is exactly what God in our Lord Jesus did for us, God came to show or teach us how life should be lived on earth! That is why He said ‘Follow Me! In other words follow my life examples to live yours. The same would happen with other words. Take the word ‘God’. Were it not for the incarnation I would interpret the word in the light of my imagination, but now, because Christ has come, I look up through Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and I know without any shadow of doubt what God is like. The apostle Paul reminds us that Lord Jesus ‘is the [a]exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation’ as seen in Col. 1:15. ‘Lord Jesus’, said a little boy, ‘is the best photograph of Himself God ever took,’ He is! A lecturer in the Bible College used to say something which startled me every time I heard it, until I pondered it and came to see that it was true. He said, ‘If God isn’t like Lord Jesus I am not interested in Him.’ But we need not worry –God is like Lord Jesus. Our Savior has confirmed it when He said: ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,’ He assures us in John 14:9.

Now let us read Matthew 113:1-17; That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea. 2 But such great crowds gathered about Him that He got into a boat and remained sitting there, while all the throng stood on the shore. 3 And He told them many things in parables (stories by way of illustration and comparison), saying, A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil; and at once they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they dried up and withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil, and yielded grain—some a hundred times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears [to hear], let him be listening and let him [a]consider and [b]perceive and comprehend by hearing. 10 Then the disciples came to Him and said, Why do You speak to them in parables? 11 And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will [c]be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because [d]having the power of seeing, they do not see; and [e]having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand. 14 In them indeed is [f]the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive. 15 For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them. 16 But blessed (happy, fortunate, and [g]to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men [men who were upright and in right standing with God] yearned to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

In this sermon on Matthew 13:1-17, Lord Jesus uses the imagery of a sower and different types of soil to illustrate the varying responses of people to the gospel. He emphasizes the importance of having a receptive heart to fully understand and benefit from the message of the Kingdom of God. It is very important to know that some people’s hearts are like hard paths or rocky ground, unable to fully grasp or retain the word of God. Others are hearts that are choked by worldly cares and riches, while only those with good soil that is with receptive hearts, are able to understand and grow in faith, bearing good fruit in their lives. What does Matthew 13 teach us? “For the seeds of faith to sprout in our lives, we must avoid Satan's grasp.” We also need to prepare our own heart seedbed of faith. To do this we need to always plow the soil of our heart through or with daily humble prayer, asking our Lord God Almighty for strength, guidance and forgiveness and the foresight to move on with life on earth. How would you teach a crowd? The popularity of Lord Jesus has continued to grow. We are told in Matthew 13:1 that Lord Jesus is sitting by the sea and great crowds gathered around Him. In fact, the crowds become so massive that Lord Jesus gets into a boat that is nearby and sits in it. The whole crowd drew near and stood on the beach. This is your moment, Lord Jesus may have said in His mind. You have a large crowd. You have your moment to teach the people. What are you going to tell them? What will be the teaching you will focus on now? What should be said to the masses who have come? This is exactly the kind of thinking that is always in the mind of a real good spiritually anointed individual! I want you to notice what Lord Jesus taught. Matthew 13:3 says that Lord Jesus told the crowds many parables. Lord Jesus told them spiritual stories. But I want you to consider that Lord Jesus did not preach simple parables with easy explanations. You might have noticed this when you studied the parables in the past. The parables are not always easy to understand. To illustrate this, Matthew records a parable about a sower in verses 3-9. The Parable of the Sower (13:3-9); So listen to the parable of the sower. Lord Jesus says that a sower is casting seed. Some of the seeds fell on the road and birds ate those seeds. Some of the seeds fell on ground that was full of rocks and not much soil. So the seed sprouted, but since there was no depth of soil, the plant was scorched by the sun and withered away. Some of seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew around the plant and choked it out. Some seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some of the grain produced 100 times what was sown, some 60, and some 30. Then Lord Jesus ends the parable with these words. “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (13:9). That is it. That is the end of the teaching. That is all Lord Jesus says. It is a strange story when left at this. There is a sower and he casts seeds that end up in different places bringing about different results. But then Lord Jesus ends by telling the people that they need to pay attention to what He just said. Why Parables? (13:10-13); Is this the way you would teach a crowd? Is this how you think you would capitalize on your teaching moment? It is not the way the disciples would teach the crowd. They are confused. They do not understand what Lord Jesus is doing. Notice in verse 10 that Lord Jesus’ disciples come to Him and ask, Master, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Why do you teach this way? Why are you telling parables to the crowds? Do you think that they are understanding you? Lord Jesus has a good reason for why He is teaching in this way. Verses 11-13 reveal what Lord Jesus is doing. First, Lord Jesus points out that His disciples already have an understanding that the crowds do not have. It has been given to them to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. They already have some elements of divine understanding, and more will be given to them as seen in 13:12. More will be given to those who have and less will be given to those who do not have anything. What does Lord Jesus mean by this? We can better understand what Lord Jesus is saying here after we look at the rest of Lord Jesus’ answer. We do not want to misunderstand what Lord Jesus is proclaiming about the knowledge of His disciples. So we will come back to these verses shortly. Let’s look at the rest of Lord Jesus’ answer in verse 13. Lord Jesus says that the reason He is speaking to the crowds in parables is because they have eyes but they do not see. They have ears but they do not really hear or understand. Let me illustrate what this means. There are times when I am looking for a particular food in the pantry or the refrigerator. I am looking around and looking around and I can’t find what I am looking for. My wife will ask me what I am looking for and will in a moment she will find what I have spent so much time seeking but not finding. Why is she able to find what I am looking for and why was I unable to find what I was looking for? I was looking, right? Sure, but I was not really looking. I was not looking hard enough for it. If I really wanted it, then I would have started unloading the refrigerator until I found what I was looking for, which was exactly what my wife took time to do. But I was unwilling to do it. In short, I was being lazy in my looking. It was not a careful looking. And so it is with many of us in the way we do things! This is what Lord Jesus is saying about the people and their ways of doing things. They all think that they are looking, but they are not really looking. They all think that they are hearing, but they are not really hearing. They think they understand, but they really do not understand. Now that is quite an indictment on us in general. If my wife had verbally said that I was not really looking, then I would argue back that I was. I think that I am looking. But in truth, I was not looking in such a way to find what I was looking for and my wife had to demonstrate it to me. This is exactly what Lord Jesus is using this in a spiritual way to teach us. You really think you are looking but you really are not. You really think you are hearing but you really are not. You really think that you are understanding but you really are not. This is why whenever you are doing things and it is not working and someone tries to point out where we are not doing properly, it is wise we listen and think!

Now Lord Jesus is going to prove what He is saying about the people by quoting from a prophecy from Isaiah. Isaiah spoke through prophecy over 700 years earlier or ego which said the same thing. Look at verses 14-15, Isaiah said that the people would see and hear but never really understand. Now Isaiah was not speaking about the first century in the days of Lord Jesus. Isaiah was speaking about his own day and time. But Lord Jesus is showing that nothing has changed with the hearts of the people since prophet Isaiah’s time. These people are acting in the same way as did the people of Isaiah’s days. So why are they seeing and hearing but never understanding? Look at verse 15. The hearts of the people were dull. They had hard hearts. Further, their ears were hard of hearing. They have closed their eyes. If this was not the case, then their eyes would see, their ears would hear, and their hearts would understand which would make it possible for Lord Jesus to heal them. Notice that Lord Jesus does not say that they cannot look. Rather, their hearts are dull, their ears are shut, and their eyes are closed. They are not looking and that is why they cannot be healed. If they would truly open their eyes, open their ears, and open their hearts, then they would be able to see, hear, and understand. So now, the question we should be asking ourselves is how or in what mood will someone be that will make him/her to be looking, listening and not see or hear? When you are absent-minded, carnally-minded or not interested about a thing! So how does this explain why Lord Jesus is teaching in parables? Why would you use parables to talk to the crowds? Lord Jesus spoke in parables to see who would want to look deeper. Lord Jesus spoke in parables to see who would want to try to understand what Lord Jesus is saying. Lord Jesus tells a spiritual story but ends it by asking, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” In other words, who wants to understand what I just said? Who wants to figure out the important things I am teaching? Who wants to go beyond a surface level seeing and hearing? Let him/her put up some efforts! Let him/her do some battles with their understanding mind/heart! What Lord Jesus is not dumping down the gospel for the crowds! Rather, He is doing the opposite. Lord Jesus is telling God’s truths in such a way to see who will be dismissive and who will want to try to understand. This is an important truth that differentiates two types or groups of people. Our mission is not to merely preach and teach the easy parts of God’s word. We must teach all of God’s word, even the hard parts. But what if the crowds don’t understand or don’t want to understand? What if people do not understand the harder books of the Bible or the harder teachings in the Bible? Do we see what Lord Jesus is saying? Lord Jesus is telling us that those who are really looking are going to try to understand and they are going to seek. Those who are not truly looking are going to be dismissive and not seek to understand. Lord Jesus is using His complex parables to strain out the true seekers from those who think they are looking but are not really looking. Lord Jesus is sifting out who has dull hearts and closed eyes from those who really want to know. Why Disciples Understand (13:16-17); Now look at what Lord Jesus says to His disciples in verses 16-17. They are blessed because their eyes truly see and their ears truly hear. These are the things that many prophets and righteous people were so desirous to see and understand. But the disciples are able to see and understand. Why? Because the disciples of Lord Jesus are the ones who go beyond a surface level seeking. The disciples of Lord Jesus are those who hear hard things and want to understand, not walk away. The disciples of Lord Jesus are those who are not turned off by depth but seek to reach those depths in their spiritual understanding. Let me bring you back to verses 11-12. Why was it given to the disciples to understand the secrets of the kingdom? It was not because they had a special revelation or special insight. It was given to them to understand because they were truly seeking. They are the ones asking questions. They ask Lord Jesus why He is speaking in parables. They are the ones in verse 36 who come to Lord Jesus after telling a complex parable, asking for His explanation. They seek and, when teachings are hard, they ask. They really wanted and making efforts to know more. Now verse 12 makes sense. Those who have been truly seeking and understand, more will be given. There is even more to grasp and God is going to give that to you when you are seeking for more. But to those who do not have, that is, who do not understand because they are not truly seeking, then even what you have will be taken away. You are never going to see, hear, or understand because you do not have the heart/mind to look harder and look deeper. The dismissive will miss out and lose even more. The challenged will seek and prove themselves to be His disciples. So What About You;? So what about you? Are you a seeker or a dismissive! Lord Jesus did not make His teachings easy and simple but used parables to make it difficult to grasp because He wants to showcase these all important different types of people on earth. There are concepts and teachings that require more than a minute of reflection to grasp except because you have to think deeper. But Lord Jesus did this to see who is just surface level looker/thinker, as they are looking and thinking in the pantry and to see who is willing to unload the pantry to find divine understanding. In short, Lord Jesus is asking us to consider our hearts/minds today. If we find Bible studies hard, then this is God challenging us to see if we have a heart/mind that wants or is zealous to know or if we are not really wanting to know being dismissive. If we find sermons complex, not because the speaker is unclear, but because the concepts are difficult, then God is challenging us to see if we have a seeking heart/mind or if we just want to think or just want to look and hear not really being interested. God gave us hard books of the Bible, hard teachings, hard concepts, and amazing depth to His word so that we would know who we really are whether real seekers or dismissive. Do we really and zealously want to know about what God has to say about Himself in hard prophetic books like Ezekiel and Revelation without being bored? Or will we walk away and become dismissive because it is hard and we are not willing to unload the pantry to find His great truths inside for our good in life? God never gave us things in His Word to bore us down; rather He gave us something He knows are for our good! What about you? There are many people who think they are looking, but they are not really looking with interest. Many people think they hear, but they are not really listening with zeal. Many people think they understand, but they really are not understanding with critical thinking. When confronted with the complexity of God and His word, they are just going to walk away. Lord Jesus is looking for sincere seekers. Is that you? Can we help you learn more about Lord Jesus and His word and how it applies to your good? Can we help you truly see, truly hear, and truly understand? True disciples truly seek. God is not keeping you from understanding. Only you are keeping yourself from understanding because you are not a true seeker. What about you? It’s a big question which all of us must try to answer and answer it good as to if in reality we are God’s people as we claim or profess!