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Hearing, But Never Understanding
The Parable of the Sower
Introduction: Among Christians, this parable is probably the most well known. At first the message seems simple, straightforward. But on closer examination, there are some significant challenges in the text. When the disciples asked why Jesus spoke in parables to the crowd, his reply was, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”
Jesus goes on to quote Isaiah 6:9-10 in verses 14-15. But listen to the how Isaiah recorded God’s words: “Go say to this people: keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
What is your conclusion from these words? There are some people that it has not been given to know the gospel message. There are some people that God has made their hearts dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes blind, lest they understand and be saved. Now, is the parable of the sower simple? Is it possible that some of us have not been given to know the secrets of the kingdom?
Further, Jesus stated in Mark 4:13, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
- Getting Ready to Hear the Parable
- Jesus told five parables to the crowd. In each of them following the Sower he began the parable with, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” There should have been no question in the minds of the people that Jesus was talking about the kingdom and that his stories were intended to give them pictures of the coming kingdom.
- Though Matthew places the question of the disciples and the explanation of the Sower following the parable, their inquiry and Jesus’ explanation was not given until after all five parables had been delivered to the crowd.
- In Mark’s account, Jesus is even more bold in explaining why he speaks to the crowd in parables: “But for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear but not understand lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11-12)
- Remember, everyone in this crowd are believers in God. All these people are Jews who listen to the scripture being read each Sabbath and participate in worship to God. As Jesus has often done, he is differentiating between believers. Some will fail to attain to the kingdom. We are therefore mistaken if we read the parable and conclude that none of us could be wayside ground, stoney ground, or thorny ground. Attending worship periods does not mean we are exempt from being the first three soils. After all, these people came to hear Jesus.
- Now go back to the quoted text in Isaiah: Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- How would the teaching of Isaiah and Jesus intentionally make it so this people would not be saved? And why would the Lord keep people from being saved?
- Both Isaiah and Jesus are preaching a standard of serving God that the people refuse to accept. It is an expectation of high commitment to the Lord & his ways as is illustrated by the parable.
- It shouldn’t be difficult for most of us to put ourselves in the position of this Jewish multitude. They have grown up believing something they are sure is the truth. Their parents and grandparents believed the same thing. They are sure they are right; but they are wrong. They are not a little wrong; they are so wrong that if they don’t change they will be lost. Is anyone here concerned that you could be wrong? I hope your answer is yes, because with that answer, you will not be one of the first three soils.
- The Parable and Jesus Explanation
- The question, why do you speak to them in parables, has the sense of, why do you speak to them in hidden messages; why not spell it out?
- Jesus’ answer explains why the parable is so important in teaching dull people. The parable does not carry the meaning on the surface, and therefore challenges the hearer to search, investigate, and most importantly, give serious introspection. Remember that later this day Jesus will tell parables of the hidden treasure and pearl of great price which teach the need to search and sacrifice all we have to attain the kingdom.
- Though Jesus speaks of “insiders” and “outsiders,” the goal of the parable is to get people to repent; to recognize their dull condition and actually see with their eyes and hear with their ears. The conclusion of the parable: “He has ears to hear, let him hear!” With this we would conclude that Jesus’ response is not that Jesus is trying to keep people from being saved, but that he is weeding out people who do not have the heart he desires.
- The point of teaching by parable is that it can easily be dismissed or shrugged off as a story of interest but quickly forgotten. It is a test for the hearer. But it is not just the parable; God has revealed many truths in his word that we might look at briefly and then just shrug off because it does not immediately peak our interest. Our problem is that when it is God’s word, we cannot afford to allow that to happen. As opposed to other things in life, there are eternal consequences to dismissing biblical truths that do not interest us or we do not understand.
- Let’s focus on the quotation Jesus uses from Isaiah. Note the whole text: 6:9-13.
- Notice especially the question of Isaiah, “How long, O Lord?” The answer is, until the whole nation has been taken away and destroyed because they do not hear and understand so that they Lord can heal them. Can you imagine preaching to the people that long and not getting a response?
- Isaiah made the heart of the people “dull” because they were not impressed with God’s ways. The more Isaiah preached, the more his preaching sounded like the “same old message.” We have Christians who have heard the “same old message” for so long that it has made them dull. It is truly an old message; it is not fresh and new every time they hear it. Therefore, the more they hear it, the more “old” it becomes and the less likely it will ever turn their hearts to passionately love God. We can get into a habit of hearing but never seeking or doing. “I love to hear the old story?”
- Evidence of this is seen in our passions. It is seen in the goals for our life. If a person on your job or in your school asked you what your goal is for your life, how would you answer? Would it be the career position you would like to attain, the wealth you would like to collect, or the status you find desirable? If so, you have not grasped the secrets of the kingdom. You have eyes to see, but do not see; ears to hear, but do not hear.
- This is where the parable comes in. The parable describes different ways people become dull, ears that are heavy, eyes that are blind, and hearts that do not understand.
- Some believers are like the first soil. They read the scriptures but never really understand (penetrate their heart) its importance in the sense of the priority it ought to be in their life. Thus the devil snatches it away, and though they are still “religious,” they go through the rest of their lives unimpressed.
Notice also that Satan is involved in the wayside ground heart – “he snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” This implies an urgency of response. Christian, do not delay. Delay is disobedience. And delay allows Satan to snatch it away. - Some Christians are like the second soil. They were initially excited about their salvation, but never grow beyond that initial stage of just being glad to be saved. Since their knowledge remains superficial, the difficulties of life exacted a toll on them so that they lost what it meant to thrive, grow, and be strong as a disciple. Again, they are still religious, but they are dead.
When trials cause our faith to wither, we have proven Satan’s argument to God concerning Job. We have demonstrated that we do not really love God for who he is. We just want the “goodies” he provides. - There are also Christians like the third soil. They are happy to come to Christ for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons was never that Christ was the source and the true meaning of life for them. Because of life’s demands, distractions, and pursuits, they never quite have the time to invest in bearing fruit for the Lord. Their life is choked with so many things that they do just enough so that your plant is alive; but it is impossible for it to have true worth for the Lord. These have lost sight of why we have Bible classes or meet Sunday evening. Eph. 4:11-16 – so much to get done – 4 hours out of 168!
Choking out our time for God, family, and our spiritual family are the important, eternal things. Everything else is under the “urgent” category. Jesus’ principle is plain: Don’t let the urgent crowd out the important in your life. - Those who know the secrets of the kingdom are the good soil. These are opposite of the crowd who were not interested enough in Jesus teachings to seek an answer. The crowd came to hear a sermon, but they never understood and never sought to understand. Some would call Jesus a bad preacher; he didn’t make it plain to everyone. But Jesus called the people bad listeners!
- Some believers are like the first soil. They read the scriptures but never really understand (penetrate their heart) its importance in the sense of the priority it ought to be in their life. Thus the devil snatches it away, and though they are still “religious,” they go through the rest of their lives unimpressed.
- If the day comes where we understand everything taught & preached, that teacher or preacher will have failed. God’s words are not given in such simplicity that it can be easily scooped up and digested. His words reveal his mind, and his mind is not simplistic. Even after we have heard it, it will take desire, seeking, and work to truly grasp its full meaning and assimilate it. That is the responsibility of us the listeners.
- The parable also teaches the principle of not discounting or immediately disagreeing when we hear a teaching that is new to us. Most Jews never did grasp the concept of the kingdom. Even the disciples, though accepting of Jesus’ teaching, gradually came to understand it. We too often quickly disregard a teaching that does not immediately fit into our “pre-understanding.” Consider how we feel about people in the religious world who quickly reject a plain passage about baptism. We can’t believe they are so hard-hearted, so undiscerning! And yet, I have caught myself doing that with other truths and I have watched Christians throw something out after considering it for 10 seconds. This is very dangerous!
- To the One Who Has, More Will Be Given
- Verse 12: Jesus lays down a principle of multiplication – “to the one who has more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” This statement summarizes all that Jesus has said. When a person’s ears are so dull as to not hunger for spiritual insight, to not seek to find the answers to what the Lord has revealed, and to be satisfied to just know some biblical facts as did this crowd, even that which they have will be taken away from them. In other words, their dullness will only get worse.
- Notice that those who came into the house wanted to know the answer to the parable now. They saw the urgency. That urgency is exactly what the wayside heart did not have. You and I know what happens when we do not take opportunities to learn when it is fresh on our minds; we forget and something else replaces our interest. It also speaks to the clutter that has filled our minds that comes from the world. It is this clutter of worldly interests that Satan uses to “snatch the word sown in our hearts.”
- Listen carefully to 13:19, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it…” Okay, what do you do when you don’t understand something taught from scripture? That is exactly what happened when Jesus gave these parables. No one understood it. Simply not understanding was not the problem; the problem was what they did about it. Some walked away while others sought the answer. The devil couldn’t touch the seekers. The seekers got the answer and were “given more.” Those who walked away were in the majority and the devil snatched it out of their heart. So, what do you do when you don’t understand? How long have you been at your present knowledge of scripture? Will we claim that God made it too hard, or will we seek until we find? That is why Jesus spoke in parables, to divide seeker from the dull of hearing.
- What then does the Lord desire? That we have a burning desire to know him and understand all about him from everything he has revealed, and from that, love him with our heart and soul and mind and strength. “And Jesus called out, ‘He who has ears, let him hear!’” (Lk. 18:8)
Berry Kercheville