Matthew 13:10 – His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”  11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see.  They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.   14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,   ‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’

16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. (NLT)

In the verses that come before today’s reading, Jesus had just told the parable of a farmer scattering seed upon the ground.  In today’s passage, his disciples wanted to know why Jesus used parables.  Jesus explains that he taught the way he did so that those who were truly seeking would discover the truth.  In verse twelve Jesus states:  “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.”  I believe that there is a great lesson here for Christians today who seek to share the message of God’s truth with others.

The lesson is that not everyone is ready to receive God’s truth.  Perhaps we should note that we cannot just walk up to our friends who do not have a relationship with Jesus and say, “Jesus saves,” and expect them to believe this truth.  God’s truth does, indeed, save.  God’s truth does offer to us our ultimate healing, but not everyone is ready to receive this truth (verse 15).  Our challenge is to develop relationships with those who do not know God’s truth.  We develop relationships with them so that over time we can share the Gospel.  We must be careful in how we speak this truth.  As we develop relationships, we will be able to find opportunities to use events in life to gently reveal God’s truth. 

We are blessed because we have heard, and we believe (verse 16).  Yet we know that we are not blessed so that we can keep God’s truth to ourselves.  We are blessed to share this truth.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.”  As those who are ambassadors for Christ, we should take our lesson from Jesus.  Jesus knew that the ‘spiritual soil’ had to be cultivated within a person in order to fully understand God’s truth.  Let us be aware of this and let us do our part in cultivating the spiritual soil of those who are ready to listen.  They may not be able to understand the full message at one time, but cultivating soil often takes time and effort.

As Christ ambassadors, let us always be ready to give that time and put forth that effort. 

Posted by Ramón Torres