Dig Deeper

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)

We all know that Jesus often taught in parables.  The word parable comes from a Greek word that means a comparison or analogy.  Using parables, Jesus would often make an analogy by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like …”  To understand a parable, one has to – think!  One has to dig deeper to find the spiritual application of the parable.

When asked why he used parables, Jesus said that many people look but don’t really see, or they hear but don’t really listen or understand (verse 13).  To understand Jesus’ parables, or any of the Bible for that matter, we must dig into the text, for there is often more than meets the eye.  Unfortunately, many still do not really see or understand.  Many never dig deeper themselves, and churches exist that discourage people from digging deeper.   

For example, many Christians have been led to believe that any tattoo is ungodly and sinful, for the Bible clearly says: “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.” (Leviticus 19:28).  Many Christians judge those who have tattoo’s because of this verse.  However, that very same chapter of the Bible says the following: “‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” (Leviticus 19:19).  So, if we are to judge anyone with a tattoo as sinful, then we must also judge as sinful anyone who wears clothing with two types of material (almost everyone), and anyone who has a garden with more than one type of vegetable!  

IF we were to dig deeper, we would understand why those laws were given to the Jews at that time and place.  They were given because that was the behavior of the pagans.  Now, having dug deeper, we can make the spiritual application that we ought not to be doing what the pagans do.  To judge by taking a verse out of context, however, is not seeing or understanding!

Dig deeper when you read the Bible.  Don’t take any one preacher or teacher’s word for it (including mine), but dig deeper so that you can truly see and understand. 

Posted by Ramón Torres