“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15).

Jesus in His early ministry ran into stubborn opposition from the scribes and Pharisees. So, he told the people about heavenly truths in veiled stories that only the believers could understand. His reason (v.11) was that “it is given unto you [believers] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Another function of these parables was to fulfill prophecy, as in verse 35: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

Here is a verse that explains the progressive nature of God’s revelation to man. There are certain times when new knowledge is given as man is able to handle it. He then can use it to grow in grace if he is prepared for its application in his life. Or, he can willfully turn it off and it becomes a vehicle of condemnation.

We should pay attention to the sequence of such misunderstanding. Because a man’s heart (the central directory of information) has grown callous, and his hearing dull, and his eyes closed, vital information cannot be perceived by this senseless being. Raw stimuli from the outside world cannot get into the soul to alert it of impending danger, much like a drunken man’s reaction to crises around him. Perception is lost; discernment is gone. Life becomes an endless bumble. What a breakthrough that we are allowed to change, to turn in our way and be healed. If God’s gift of Jesus is still an enigma, we should cry out for restoration that we may be healed and blessed. KBC