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16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ~ Matthew 13:16-17
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus taught the people using parables. A parable is a common understood story that eventually renders a spiritual truth. Since we were born sinful, we had to be rescued from the clutches of sin in order to have a relationship with God. Our sin separated us from God. This is why the Lord Jesus came to pay the penalty for sin. He did this in order to free us from the clasp of the devil. Once we are "born again" we are positioned to enter into a personal relationship with God. As time goes on, we discover we are getting to know the Lord for ourselves and to understand His teaching. This scenario always begins with a heart that is receptive to the voice of God. The Lord Jesus taught in parables in order to enable those who sincerely seek the truth to discover it and even more truth. He also taught in parables in order to hide the truth from the insincere.
In the parable of the sower that preceded today's passage, the Lord Jesus used the illustration of the farmer to describe why He came to this earth. In this parable the farmer spread His seed or the secret to the kingdom of God. First, His seed encountered shallow soil. Due to the shallowness of heart, these people are those who never enter into a personal relationship with God because the truth never penetrated their hearts. To them, the truth was never really a priority.
The second type of soil, the rocky soil, describes those who showed interest in the truth and even expressed joy over its discovery, but, only for a short time. Initially this person got excited about the Gospel, but his excitement waned. His problem was he got excited about the truth but it was not important to him. So, he missed the reality of the Gospel and he never entered into a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The third type of soil describes the person who showed some receptivity to the truth but it really never penetrated his heart because the deceitfulness of riches choked the truth out of his life. For this person the seed was smothered out by the weeds which prevented it from maturing. The root system of the weeds represented the hard times that came to aid the development of his potential faith. Since He did not prioritize the truth of God or the God of truth in his life, he did not benefit from it. He was turned away by the fertilizer of trials.
The fourth type of soil describes those who have good and productive soil. This is the person who hears the word, receives it, and the word bears fruit in and through his life. These reveal that to the degree that they invest in God's culture will be the degree that will they will reap of God's fruit in and through their lives. The key to it all is the willingness of the heart to yield to God and His truth. And then, it is up to God to produce the results which He has promised He will do only if we allow Him.
In v.16 of today's passage we read, "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."
The blessing of God is attracted to the heart that desires Him. Seeing and hearing are always involved in the revelation of God to our hearts, but it is always more than seeing with our physical eyes and hearing with our physical ears. Our hearts must be involved. Giving our heart to God is not a one-time occurrence, it is an ongoing process. As we do this, slowly our souls come more into line with the will of God for our lives. Prayer and the study of God's Word are essential to this process which enables us to embrace change when it comes. Remembering the faithfulness of God is key in this scenario. When we look back and focus on the track record of God in our lives, we will be reminded of those times when God was true to His promises to us. This is the fertilizer needed to move forward into deeper intimacy with God.
The message of the Bible is that our faith is not of us, it is the gift of God. Without the faithfulness of God, there is no faith. The message of the Bible is that we were made alive to God not of our will, but of the will of God. The message of the Bible is that God is the only One who has revealed in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the truth. For those who respond to the truth, we must never forget that it was due to the graciousness of God that we came to understand our need for the Savior. Through the blessing of divine revelation we come to see the utter emptiness of the self life.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "For assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."
All of the Bible points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophets wrote about Him and His coming. They longed to see it come to fruition. Of course, hundreds of years, even thousands, transpired before He came to this earth. The morning the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, two very sad and discouraged disciples were slowly walking along the road to their hometown of Emmaus. As they walked, the two were going over and over the events of the last several days. They had believed the Lord Jesus to be the Messiah. They had placed all their hopes on Him. Then, in a gut-wrenching turn of events, He was suddenly arrested, tried like a common criminal, and crucified on the cross. All of this, even though He was completely innocent of the slightest sin! He had to be innocent to fulfill His calling to redeem wretched mankind. At some point along their journey, a man in traveling clothes, whom they thought to be a stranger joined them and walked along side of them. They soon discovered it was the Lord Jesus. Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He revealed to them how the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures points us to Him.
Sadly, the only thing that can prevent us from receiving divine revelation is the stubbornness of the fallen human heart. But, for those hungry and thirsty enough to be blessed to be given revelation from God, these recognize the futility of all other explanations for this life. Back to our brothers on the road to Emmaus. It was then that the Lord Jesus opened their thinking that they might understand the Scriptures. No-one would understand the Scripture were it not for the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit in the process. He opens the ears of the deaf and He opens the eyes of the blind, those humbled enough to cry out to Him for help. The darkest hour is always just before the dawn, so we should always be people of hope and prayer, not gloom and defeatism. The Holy Spirit has a great track record of turning situations on a dime only if we let Him.
