Matthew 13:1–58

May 03, 2012

Jesus sat in a boat while teaching. He taught by telling stories and His followers came to Him and asked Him why He did that.

I've been thinking about His answer since yesterday. He said, "You have been chosen to know the secrets about the kingdom of heaven, but others cannot know these secrets." (Matthew 13:11) How does someone get chosen? By believing, surrendering and obeying. Jesus goes on, "Those who have understanding (those who "get-it", who get the God/man relationship) will be given more, and they will have all they need. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them. This is why I use stories to teach the people: They see, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really hear or understand." (Matthew 13:12–13)

Then Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9–10*

"You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn. For the minds of these people have become stubborn. They do not hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed."

*See my writings for Isaiah 6 on July 20, 2011. The Spirit of confusion and delusion. They have no idea they are disillusioned. None. They think they see—but they are blinded. They think they hear—but they are deaf. They think they have understanding—but they don't. This doesn't "accidentally" or "innocently" happen to someone. They aren't "victims" of an angry God. They are reaping the consequences of their choices. But oh, what a horrific thing to watch happen. It isn't something you would wish on your worst enemy.

Jesus continues, "But you are blessed, because you see with your eyes and hear with your ears." (Matthew 13:16) It all goes back to the excerpt from Simple Faith by Chuck Swindoll in the Life Lesson for Proverbs 2. I just find it very disturbing to understand that some people truly cannot see, and truly cannot hear. We have asked the question—Why don't they "get-it"? Matthew 13; Isaiah 6; and Proverbs 2 explains the reasons why. 

I want to stay on the narrow road, and I want to stay in the center of that road. I don't ever want to make the choices that would eventually lead me down the path where I would no longer have understanding and lose the ability to see and hear.

Jesus then tells the story about planting seed. Some of the seed:

1. Fell by the road, and the birds came and ate is all up;
2. Some fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much dirt. It grew fast but the roots didn't go deep and when the sun came out the plant dried up;
3. Some fell among thorny weeds which grew and choked out the good plants;
4. Some fell on good ground where it grew and produced a crop. Some made 100 times more, some 60 times more, and some 30 times more.

"You people who can hear me, listen." (Matthew 13:9)

Addendum:  12/7/15 ~ This morning as I was entering into Blogger what I wrote for Matthew 13:1–58 my entry said: "*See my writings for _____". I had written that so I would remember to go back through my journals and look up the dates for my Isaiah 6 entry. (It so much easier to do now that I have my entries transcribed into Blogger!) I looked up Isaiah 6 to add the link to this entry and I am shocked—again.

We are in the thick of the battle right now. A Settlement Conference is scheduled.  Our lawyer asked to me to go through our files and find some information for him. He has all of it in the twenty some boxes he has, but in order to save us expenses he will often let me do the tedious work. So... if you could only see our living room right now!! I am buried under a mountain of paperwork. All those boxes we had stored away are back inside and I am going through everything! I'm putting my eyes and hands on it all so we can both be assured that we haven't missed anything.

I'm in the mire of the lawsuit, I'm recording my writings for Matthew 13, and I'm sent to Isaiah 6 (which was entered into Blogger on the 7th anniversary of God's promise of restoration given to us through Jane's lips) just as we are preparing for the Settlement Conference. God's faithfulness is beyond measure. Thank you, Jesus. 


Next Entry: Grateful!