Why not simply “arrive” where it comes to spiritual growth? Why take a journey that we know it is possible to complete in the twinkling of an eye? It is easy to blame God for the delay, or perhaps develop doubt there is a God, because of the delay. One of the effective arguments atheists and nominal Christians make, is that people have been talking about the “soon coming return” of Jesus Christ since the days of the disciples and over 2000 years have passed in that time. Oh sure, if you stack that against time in Universal measurements or against the stars it is short, but against human life spans, it is well beyond any of them. A belief in “soon” that does not come true, can sometimes equate to a belief that transformation just takes too long, and there are too many failures that keep occurring along the way. Perhaps transformation too is just one of those “soon coming” things that for me will never seem to arrive; always to be lost in the journey. There comes a time when even progress is not enough, the destination is just too much what we long for. Not the destination of heaven, so much as the destination of perfection, even in the here and the now.
And if our “standard” is no less than perfection, we cannot just shrug it off, and act as though it is “OK” that we are imperfect. It is never “OK” with God that we carry the cancer of sin, that we suffer from the pain and death it brings and causes. God longs to give us the cure. So when our failures teach us we are obviously not cured yet, we return to the question of why, or as with His long awaited return; how long? And if knowing it must be a journey is not hard enough, it turns out the other complicating factor is … us. What we believe, and how certain we are of our beliefs, can delay the journey entirely. Even the beliefs that we are taught from the church, or from spiritual leaders we trust, or things we seem to have discovered on our own. It is not even the incorrect beliefs that are our problem nearly as much as the certainty to which we cling to them. We hold the mind of the unconverted even while we occupy the pews of the church we call home. And because of it, our journey takes even longer.
This is not new. There was an example provided in the gospel of Matthew in the thirteenth chapter. Right in the middle of telling parables about the Kingdom of God, and salvation, and heaven; the reason why stories are being used is provided. And those reasons are just as applicable today as they ever were, so much to sorrow over it. Matthew picks up in verse 10 with the most obvious question … “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” This is the gospel after all. We are not just trying to explain how to build a kite; we are trying to save lost souls here, trying to provide the roadmap to doing it right. But instead of providing direct, frank, and explanative words; Jesus chooses to tell stories to get the point across. And it looks as though no one is getting it, sometimes even the disciples are having a hard time admitting they too, are not getting it.
Ever ask the question, if Jesus wanted us to know what to do about [insert some modern problem here] why didn’t He just say that in the New Testament? The question about Sabbath observance is sometimes put in this category. What you can do or not do. Or which day is the right one. There is a lot of other scripture to answer these questions, but it might have been nice since Jesus knowing what would happen later, if He would have just given some direct counsel on the matter in question – rather than bury it among tons of other texts that must be read in context to even get close to answering it right? Homosexuality is another idea floated this way. While the Bible is full of condemnation for it, Jesus never said one word in first person against it. If Jesus is our final authority why not just state what His position is? Instead we have stories, historical events, and societal prejudices that influence our ideas on any given topic we research in the Bible. Seems like the lead is buried.
But Jesus answers this question picking up in verse 11 saying … “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. [verse 12] For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. [verse 13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” So a little flattering that the disciples are going to be the privileged few who get to understand the mysteries. We take that by extension to mean “us” as well since we get to read the written works of those disciples where it comes to the gospel. The idea that to those to whom it is given, will be given even more in abundance sounds really good to us. We think that must mean - to church folk, to folks who are searching, or are already in the aisles and pews. But we missed one subtle word printed plainly there that perhaps our brains just wanted to miss. To him shall be “given” more abundance.
The remainder of the answer of Jesus applies to those who believe they already know what they need to know. They have learned it through joining a church, or having conducted years of study on their own. They might have learned it by going to a Christian school system, or Christian University. They are not newbies, but people long-in-the-tooth where it comes to spiritual matters. They are not the nominal believers who never “do” anything, but they are the people who act on their faith and make it a point to get out there and serve in the plain light of day. These are the people who hath … not. Their eyes work or function, but they see not. Their ears can hear just fine, but they hear not. And worst of all, they, or rather “our” comprehension and understanding is poo-poo. To “us?” shall be taken away even what little even what we have.
That reads like a punishment. It reads like a punishment for well-meaning folks. But again, this is actually about salvation, and what is needed here for “us” is exactly that. We need a reset of what we are so certain about. We need a reset of what University, or our local church has been pushing into our heads for so long we can nearly rote repeat it. We must unlearn what we have learned, and be taught what we should know through a mechanism we have least tried out (becoming a direct student of Jesus). Matthew reminds his audience this entire scenario was predicted long in advance by the prophet Isaiah, lest we think this only applied in the days of Christ, or will never be relevant again. He continues in verse 14 saying … “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” The prophet Isaiah had a relevant message to his people in his day of the same phenomenon that Jesus fulfilled in His own. And that prophecy had no time stamp on it. The same plague moves forward through time through the same people even within the true churches of God.
The reason is heartbreaking to hear continuing in verse 15 saying … “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Queue the weeping and gnashing of teeth please. We are “tired” of hearing. We have closed our eyes to “The Truth”. And perhaps worst of all, and the most telling sign, our hearts have waxed gross, we love very little anything that does not resemble ourselves. And it appears that understanding will only come through the heart, which in this case has grown cold. All of the signs of people or believers who would have made excellent members of the Sanhedrin in the days of Jesus. People certain of their spiritual knowledge and completely unwilling and not inclined to submit that “knowledge” to the higher power of Jesus Christ. Our journey is stunted because we refuse connection with Jesus that could have resulted in our conversion, and our healing. Could sadder words ever be uttered, particularly when they are squarely directed at “you?” or “me?”.
So what made the disciples different? … They were stupid. And they knew it. And they depended on Jesus for their wisdom, looking to learn anything HE had to teach them, never even daring to teach Him anything. The only beliefs they brought with them from before Jesus and they ever clung to, were WRONG!! And those beliefs were taught to them by the church. Freedom from Rome was not in the cards from a Messiah bent on freeing them from sin, freedom from sin was more important. But the church disagreed. And it still does. So many churches continue to teach that freedom from sin is nothing more than forgiveness bundled with a license to continue sinning. Dangerous doctrines that equate infinite forgiveness with the ability to infinitely keep sinning with nothing but a little guilt. Or worse, they teach us that freedom from sin comes only when “we” try hard enough. Neither is true. But we cling to error in our beliefs about salvation that stunt our journey and prevent us from a connection with Jesus that would in fact actually save us, from us. We don’t need a partnership with Jesus, we need a hostile take-over by Him (us out, Him in). We do not have permission to sin because God “understands” our weakness. We need a cure from God as we direct our weakness and everything else about us to Him in full surrender of what “we” think needs to be done about it.
Recognizing one’s own stupidity has an upside. Seeing our true need has benefits we cannot imagine as Matthew continues the words of Jesus picking up in verse 16 saying … “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. [verse 17] For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Being willing to be taught by Jesus begins by recognizing we have nothing to offer Him, and everything to gain by listening and being taught by Him. And on that score, “church” is not the same as personal submission and surrender to Jesus Christ. Before accepting what others say about scripture (including this author), pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, group think, or who you think may have a point, may not. Jesus does not want to leave you blind to His word. Nor is His word dangerous to you. But your pride in your learning is dangerous to you. Being unwilling to expand, alter, or change your mind about what you know when something new is brought to you by Jesus is very dangerous to your journey. It can stunt it badly.
We have the wealth of scripture, not only of the New Testament, but of the Old Testament as well. BOTH are views of our God’s intense love for us, and His work to redeem us. If the OT does not read that way to you yet, you need to view it more through the lens of Jesus Christ. If what you get out of the OT is a vengeful God who wipes people out because He feels like it, you have entirely missed the lens of Jesus Christ. For the life of Christ was in full submission to His Father’s will from day-one to day-last. He never did His own thing, and what is more, all those acts of love were His Father’s thing for you. That intense love for you is not only from Jesus but from the Father as well. That means when people die in the OT, it was not a time for joy, but a time for GREAT sorrow. If the embrace of sin had to be cleansed; you should know that it made God sorry His efforts to redeem were so soundly rejected. It did not give Him glee. Jesus was saddened at the hearts of the Sanhedrin who would rather have killed Him, than learn from Him. Have you joined those Sanhedrin ranks some 2000 years after they fizzled out?
Or, are you ready to see the stupid in you, you call certainty of knowledge. Are you ready to be taught, that is to be the perpetual student ever willing to give up an incorrect belief for the right one as Jesus reveals them to you? Pay no attention to the vehicle for The Truth, only insure it is Jesus you follow, even if the messenger is flawed or not what you would expect, or through a means you otherwise never thought possible. Or has your heart waxed gross, have you decided you have enough love for your lifetime and could not possibly need more. Have you grown ambivalent to need, particularly the need of others you hardly know. Have you closed your eyes to the new, believing the old will save you? Have you shut off listening because you do not like the method or messenger the sound comes from, an imperfect vessel like yourself. And we wonder why we need a journey, and why it takes so so long for us to learn to trust and fully surrender our own will. Because what we “know” is likely the thing we need to relearn. How desperately we need that connection to Jesus.
And the parables were not over yet …
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