A non-Christian once observed while talking with me that the Bible does not always address matters in a straightforward plain manner. Being reasonably intelligent, he was puzzled and wondered aloud why this would be. Others may have also wondered why the Lord would speak to us in a manner that requires intelligent men and women to exercise their mental faculties before discovering and understanding truth. In the past I, too, would have questioned this interesting phenomenon. Today, the issue is now clearer.
On one occasion when Jesus was teaching great multitudes (Matthew13:1-9), He communicated His message through the use of parables. His disciples consequently asked, “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” (13:10 KJV). His response was both instructional and that which arrests our attention. Initially, He said, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (13:11). We are hereby compelled to ask why some would be blessed with an understanding of the truths that can be known only by revelation while others are not so blessed. Surely our Lord is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35).
The verses following (13:12-15) are truly enlightening. Not only do they address the problems of the day in which they were spoken, but they as well reveal one of the root causes behind so much misdirected religious commentary that may be found either in or out of the body of Christ today. A tragic error would occur if we were to assign to our Lord responsibility for the failure of some to come to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord, being One who would have all come unto repentance (2 Peter 3:9), has not denied and will not deny anyone access to truth by which one may be saved (Mark 16:15-16). Rather, the responsibility for a failure to come to a knowledge of the truth often times squarely lays at the feet of men and women who are characterized as described in the verses following. As He introduced the basis for the declaration in verse 11, He declared that “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.”
When the Lord said, “For whosoever hath,” He did not specify the object of possession under consideration. A contextual analysis is necessary to understand its identity. Accordingly, my seasoned judgment holds that He spoke of a specific inward attitude of heart wherein one is genuinely committed to searching out truth while unencumbered with prejudices that would prevent the discovery and understanding of truth (good soil). Therefore, the declaration of verse 11 is founded upon the premise that the one having a genuine desire to know truth will be the one who shall be blessed with a discerning heart, thus able to come unto a knowledge and an understanding of truth.
Conversely, the one not having this genuine desire to know truth will lose his powers of discernment, thus limiting access to greater knowledge and understanding. This problematic heart condition is further revealed when He said, “because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (13:13). Subjectively, they both see and hear. From their clouded individual viewpoint, they are convinced that they both see and hear. In reality, because they are not open to truth and have set their feet steadfastly in error, they cannot objectively see, hear and understand. This is confirmed in their condition of heart described as “waxed gross” (13:15), an attitude of the lack of responsiveness that causes one to be dull of hearing and to close one’s own eyes. They are self-blinded by their condition of heart. Never is there one so blind than he who refuses to see!
Every generation faces the task of taking truth to a lost and dying world and to edify the saved in the Lord’s church. Everyone will not be receptive to the message of truth. May we, as children of God, be the first to exemplify the positive condition of heart portrayed in this passage (13:12a) so that we can lead others by our attitudes as well as by our teaching. May we show others that we value truth so much that we will weigh and measure teaching carefully before we reject a message when it contradicts some long held personal viewpoint. May we always rely on a “thus saith the Lord” and be willing to change any and every religious viewpoint that cannot stand the test of biblical examination. May we never so close our minds that we become like the self-blinded religious leaders in the days of Jesus. May we truly open our minds unto the Lord and allow Him to be our fullness!
