Matthew 13. The parable of the sower, the parable of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the dragnet.
Wow! Jesus could make a person think! Not only that, Jesus can take a person like me and open the eyes of my heart and make my ears able to hear what He is speaking to me. Verse 11--" . . .because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven . . ." Verse 16, " But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear."
Notice that being able to understand what Jesus is saying is a gift and that person has been blessed. It is not by some work of righteousness on my part. It is all through Him.
Does this mean that God has excluded others? Were they unable to see and hear? No, think back to Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." I think we choose to seek after God or pursue our own meaningless pleasures. Look at Matthew 13:15, "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."
It seems to me that the people Jesus was referring to in verse 15 were those who allowed their heart to grow dull and their ears to not listen. They closed their own eyes. They closed off their own hearts and were unwilling to turn (repent) and follow God's ways so He could heal them.
It happens today and it happened in Jesus' day. Look at verses 57-58 "So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.' Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
Unbelief equals shutting down the mighty works of God in my life. God, help me not to harden my heart. Help me to always listen to what You say to me. Help me to be willing to turn to Your ways. Amen.
