Tuesday March 26

Matthew 13:1-23

Tom Lund

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

This is a difficult passage for me because it sounds like Jesus is intentionally keeping secrets from the crowds who come to listen to him so that they will not understand his message.  But the part of Isaiah he quotes is God lamenting the Israelites’ rejection of him. God speaks not in anger, but in sorrow, saying, “If only they would look with their eyes, listen with their ears, and understand in their hearts, they would turn to me and I would heal them.”

The “prophecy” in Isaiah is not a foretelling, but a present call to the people to change their ways and return to the God who led them out of Egypt.  And Jesus has found that the people of his day have exactly the same issue. They had rejected God by turning him into an entity that demands not love and compassion but ritualistic, thoughtless obedience to man-made rules.  Note that no one in the crowd asked Jesus to explain the parable. It was only the disciples who cared enough to ask, “What are you trying to tell us?”

We can each ask ourselves if we are truly seeing, listening and understanding the things that Jesus is still trying to teach us.  Love God. Love your neighbor. If I really get it, I will not be able to live my life of comfort and plenty, ignoring the pleas of those who shiver in the cold and ache with hunger.  I will continually ask, “What more can I do? With my resources, my talents and my time, can I live, can I give, as God demands? “

Questions for Reflection:

• Do you ever find yourself listening to Jesus’ words without really taking them to heart and letting them change you?   (Join the crowd.)

• Being a follower of Jesus is not easy.  Is there some way you can try harder?

Prayer:

Lord, help us to turn to you and accept your healing touch.  Write your law in our hearts so that we can see, and listen and understand.  Amen.