Matthew 13:13

“Therefore do I speak to them in parables.”

And it is because these truths are given to those whom He will (Matthew 11:27) that He speaks in parables. But it should be noted that it is with discrimination. There is no suggestion that some of those who ‘have' will be denied more truth, and it is clear that those who do not receive do not ‘have' at the same level. Thus parallel with God's revelation through Jesus to those who are His own comes that fact that there is something additional within them lacking in the majority of mankind.

Nevertheless it is impossible to escape here from the fact that God is fulfilling His purposes on His own terms in His own way in those whom He has chosen. Compare Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:3. But that is His right. On the other hand all men can respond to Him if they so will. The point is that they will not so will. They are not interested.

The Majority Neither See Nor Hear As The Scriptures Have Prophesied (13:13-17).

Jesus then explains the spiritual deafness and blindness of the people, and it is confirmed from the teaching of Isaiah.

Analysis.

a “Because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matthew 13:13).

b “And to them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says” (Matthew 13:14 a).

c “By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand (Matthew 13:14 b).

d “And seeing you will see, and will in no wise perceive” (Matthew 13:14 c).

e “For this people's heart is grown gross” (Matthew 13:15 a).

f “And their ears are dull of hearing” (Matthew 13:15 b).

g “and their eyes they have closed” (Matthew 13:15 c).

h “Lest it happen that” (15d).

g “They should perceive with their eyes” (15e).

f “And hear with their ears (15f).

e “And understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them” (15g).

d “But blessed are your eyes, for they see (Matthew 13:16 a).

c “And your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16 b).

b “For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men

a “Desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them” (Matthew 13:17).

In ‘a' the people do not see and understand, while in the parallel the disciples do. In ‘b' the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, and in the parallel it is because what the prophets had longed to see they were now seeing. In ‘c' the people's ears were close and in the parallel the disciples' ears are open. In ‘d' it is the same with the eyes. In ‘e' the people's hearts have grown fat and unresponding and in the parallel they do not understand with their hearts. In ‘f' their ears are dull so that in the parallel they do not hear. In ‘g' their eyes are closed, and in the parallel they therefore do not see with their eyes. Centrally in ‘h' all that has been previously described has been in order to avoid them responding.

“Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

And this is why He speaks to them in parables, because they are unseeing and unhearing and unreceptive in their minds. That would mean that any truth He taught them would either not be understood, or would merely anger them, or would be misinterpreted, or would be transformed in their minds into what they wanted Him to say. (There is nothing more exasperating for a preacher than to be congratulated on his sermon for saying the exact opposite of what he actually did say, due to the presuppositions of the listener). However, by receiving the truth in parables they will be saved from all three. They will receive whatever their heart is open to receive, they will not receive teaching parrot fashion, and if they want to know more, they will be able to ask. Meanwhile they will not have insulated themselves from the preacher's words by having a constant ‘reinterpretation filter' built into their thinking.

One of the great problems for the preacher or evangelist today in Western countries is that very often his listeners think that they know everything to do with what he is talking about because they have a smattering of vague and often completely wrong ideas about what Jesus did teach. And, if they bother to think about it at all, they interpret everything in that light. One good example of this is the idea of the Fatherhood of God. Most people today would consider that they know exactly what Jesus meant by that, and most of them are completely wrong. But they will never be convinced of that fact, unless God enlightens them, for it suits them to believe it. It had been better for them if they had never been taught it, or had been taught in parables.