How's Your Hearing?

Jesus is famous for His parables - The Parable of the Sower, the Mustard Seed, the Weeds, etc. A parable is a story with a spiritual or moral point. At a certain point in His ministry Jesus spoke only in parables. His disciples, not known at the time for deep thinking, scratched their heads and had to come to Jesus for an explanation.

At one point they asked: (Matt 13:10-14) "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not,  even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because  seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."

Why would Jesus purposefully hide the truth? Didn't He come to save the world? Why would He keep that news away from people then?

Well, here's one answer. Jesus was not interested in groupies, He wants disciples. The people got fed and healed and thought Jesus was a great genie. But Jesus is Lord. If you think you can just come to Jesus when you need something then you miss the entire purpose of His coming: to give dead people new life.

So you really have to think when you hear a parable. You have to dig deep and do what the disciples did - ask questions, get answers, and respond.

So how is your hearing? When you hear the words of Jesus are you only thinking in terms of what you get or in terms of what He is offering to do in your life?

Pastor Tom