Key Passage
The followers came to Jesus and asked, "Why do you use these stories to teach the people?" Jesus answered, "Only you can know the secret truths about the kingdom of heaven. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. The person that has {some understanding} will be given more. And he will have even more than he needs. But the person that does not have {much understanding} will lose even the little {understanding} that he has. This is why I use these stories to teach the people: The people see, but they don't really see. The people hear, but they don't really understand. So these people show that the things Isaiah said about them are true: 'You people will listen and you will hear, but you will not understand. You people will look and you will see, but you will not understand what you see. Yes, the minds of these people (the Jews) are now closed. They have ears, but they don't listen. And they refuse to see {the truth}. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed.'"
— Matthew 13:10-15 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
As Jesus' ministry has progressed, hostility and rejection has risen. The crowds who came for miracles are also now full of skeptics, critics, and enemies. This group will hear his words, but then refuse to really listen to the message. They see great acts of power, but refuse to believe that Jesus is from God. The time has come for Jesus to invest and equip his followers for what lies ahead. Jesus will continue to minister to the crowd, but he will no longer try to teach them because they refuse to truly listen. His message in stories, parables as they are sometimes called, allows him to conceal the power and radical claims of his Kingdom from those who will not believe and do not seek the truth. At same the time, his stories reveal the powerful message of God's Kingdom to the hearts of those seeking truth and following Jesus. The point for us is that our ability to hear and believe is based more upon our hearts than our hearing! It has to do more with what we're seeking than in the flair of what is being said. Jesus' words are a great reminder of how important words are, especially his words.
Prayer
O God my Father, give me a heart that longs and seeks after you and your truth. Don't let Satan harden my heart to your truth. Forgive me of personal sins, which I openly and fully confess, and liberate and protect me from Satan's power to use them to destroy and debilitate. Father, help me hear with my heart and not just my ears. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
At one time you were separated from God. You were God's enemies in your minds, because the evil things you did were against God. But now Christ has made you God's friends again. Christ did this by his death while he was in his body. Christ did this so that he could bring you before God. He brings you before God as people who are holy, with no wrong in you, and with nothing that God can judge you guilty of. Christ will do this if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope that Good News gave you. That same Good News has been told to all people in the world. I, Paul, help in telling that Good News.
— Colossians 1:21-23
Then Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I praise you because you have hidden these things from the wise and smart people. But you have shown these things to people that are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because this is what you really wanted to do. "My Father has given me all things. No person knows the Son—only the Father knows the Son. And no person knows the Father—only the Son knows the Father. And the only people that will know about the Father are those people the Son chooses to tell.
— Matthew 11:25-27
It is like this: No person knows the thoughts that another person has. Only that person's spirit that lives inside him knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God. Only the Spirit of God knows those thoughts. We did not receive the spirit of the world. But we received the Spirit that is from God. We received this Spirit so that we can know the things that God has given us. When we speak these things, we don't use words taught to us by the wisdom that men have. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use spiritual words to explain spiritual things. A person that is not spiritual does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks that those things are foolish. That person cannot understand the things of the Spirit, because those things can only be judged spiritually.
— 1 Corinthians 2:11-14
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2017. All rights reserved.
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The followers came to Jesus and asked, "Why do you use these stories to teach the people?" Jesus answered, "Only you can know the secret truths about the kingdom of heaven. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. The person that has {some understanding} will be given more. And he will have even more than he needs. But the person that does not have {much understanding} will lose even the little {understanding} that he has. This is why I use these stories to teach the people: The people see, but they don't really see. The people hear, but they don't really understand. So these people show that the things Isaiah said about them are true: 'You people will listen and you will hear, but you will not understand. You people will look and you will see, but you will not understand what you see. Yes, the minds of these people (the Jews) are now closed. They have ears, but they don't listen. And they refuse to see {the truth}. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed.'"
— Matthew 13:10-15 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
As Jesus' ministry has progressed, hostility and rejection has risen. The crowds who came for miracles are also now full of skeptics, critics, and enemies. This group will hear his words, but then refuse to really listen to the message. They see great acts of power, but refuse to believe that Jesus is from God. The time has come for Jesus to invest and equip his followers for what lies ahead. Jesus will continue to minister to the crowd, but he will no longer try to teach them because they refuse to truly listen. His message in stories, parables as they are sometimes called, allows him to conceal the power and radical claims of his Kingdom from those who will not believe and do not seek the truth. At same the time, his stories reveal the powerful message of God's Kingdom to the hearts of those seeking truth and following Jesus. The point for us is that our ability to hear and believe is based more upon our hearts than our hearing! It has to do more with what we're seeking than in the flair of what is being said. Jesus' words are a great reminder of how important words are, especially his words.
Prayer
O God my Father, give me a heart that longs and seeks after you and your truth. Don't let Satan harden my heart to your truth. Forgive me of personal sins, which I openly and fully confess, and liberate and protect me from Satan's power to use them to destroy and debilitate. Father, help me hear with my heart and not just my ears. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
At one time you were separated from God. You were God's enemies in your minds, because the evil things you did were against God. But now Christ has made you God's friends again. Christ did this by his death while he was in his body. Christ did this so that he could bring you before God. He brings you before God as people who are holy, with no wrong in you, and with nothing that God can judge you guilty of. Christ will do this if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope that Good News gave you. That same Good News has been told to all people in the world. I, Paul, help in telling that Good News.
— Colossians 1:21-23
Then Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I praise you because you have hidden these things from the wise and smart people. But you have shown these things to people that are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because this is what you really wanted to do. "My Father has given me all things. No person knows the Son—only the Father knows the Son. And no person knows the Father—only the Son knows the Father. And the only people that will know about the Father are those people the Son chooses to tell.
— Matthew 11:25-27
It is like this: No person knows the thoughts that another person has. Only that person's spirit that lives inside him knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God. Only the Spirit of God knows those thoughts. We did not receive the spirit of the world. But we received the Spirit that is from God. We received this Spirit so that we can know the things that God has given us. When we speak these things, we don't use words taught to us by the wisdom that men have. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use spiritual words to explain spiritual things. A person that is not spiritual does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks that those things are foolish. That person cannot understand the things of the Spirit, because those things can only be judged spiritually.
— 1 Corinthians 2:11-14
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2017. All rights reserved.
