Earthly Stories/Heavenly Meaning

“And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given.  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.  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not; neither do they understand.”  Matthew 13:10-13

Jesus’ disciples were curious and wanted to know Jesus’ reason for speaking to the people in parables, those earthy stories with a heavenly, or spiritual meaning.  Up until this time in Jesus’ ministry, He had used parables sparingly, but going forward, Jesus began to use parables quite frequently when speaking to the crowds of people who gathered to hear Him.  The disciples had been privy to be on the receiving end of much more straight forward teaching.  I guess they wondered why He didn’t speak to the multitudes in that same manner.

Jesus told them that they were privileged to hear Him as He revealed to them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but God had chosen to withhold this same privilege from the people.  When the Pharisees had blasphemously accused Jesus of working miracles by the power of Satan, a spiritual “line of demarcation” was drawn between Jesus and the majority of the nation of Israel.  A “line of demarcation” denotes an act of limitation or separation between two opposing entities.  Those on the wrong side of this spiritual dividing line would not have the privilege of understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  These mysteries were not something that were incomprehensible, but were those things of God which had previously been concealed to be revealed at the proper time.  Among these mysteries was the plan of salvation of which all the events necessary to accomplish had not yet occurred.  The great majority of the nation of Israel was too worldly minded to be spiritually attune to Christ’s purpose and mission.  They wanted an earthly king who would free them from Roman bondage.  They were really no different than their forefathers who clamored for an earthly king and suffered the consequences for rejecting God as their King (I Samuel 8:1-22).  The Jews of Jesus’ day were rejecting Him as the Messiah sent by the Holy One of Israel.  In light of these facts, it is no wonder God chose not to reveal His plans to them.

Jesus continued His explanation to His disciples by telling them that the one who has will receive a great deal more, but the one who has not will have whatever he does have taken away.  One who has what?  The “what” is the sincere desire to know God and to worship and serve Him.  The one who truly seeks God will be blessed in his endeavor.  Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:7-8) for folks to “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”  In the same portion of Jesus’ sermon, He addressed those who have no interest in spiritual matters: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6).  God doesn’t bestow generous gifts of spiritual knowledge and insight to those who will trample them or use them to bring glory to themselves.  This is purely logical.  If you gave money to someone who had no food for their family, and they used the money to buy beer and cigarettes, you would think long and hard before giving them more money.  Actually I doubt they would get another penny from you for they had trampled your good intentions to help them in their time of need.

Jesus continued His explanation to His disciples by telling them that the people looked upon Him and His words, but they really didn’t see nor understand.  They listened, but they didn’t hear.  Had He spoken to them like He spoke to His disciples, it would have gone in one ear and out the other.  They were not looking at Jesus as One who would show them how God expected them to live righteously and in service to Him, but rather as a conquering hero who would eliminate Roman power over them and set up an earthly kingdom where everyone would be blessed and happy.  As for now, under Rome’s power and under the power of their own sin, their hearts had become so hardened to God’s word that they didn’t want to hear or see or understand the very word that could heal and save them.  It is no different today.