Daily Devotions
Matthew
A Privilege Not to be Taken for Granted
Text: Matthew 13 : 1 - 23
How the hearts of the disciples must have been touched by the words of Jesus! They must all the more strain to hear every word Jesus taught. Every nuance must be caught. To neglect His word in the slightest way augured woe!
“But blessed are your eyes for they see,
and your ears for they hear;
for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets
and righteous men desired to see what you see,
and did not see it, and to hear what you hear,
and did not hear it.”
MATTHEW 13:16-17
“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear”
Another declaration of being “blessed” is added to the list of blessings already recorded as “The Beatitudes” in this statement. What a privilege it must have been to have heard and seen Jesus doing all He did.
So many had seen with their eyes, and heard with their own ears all that Jesus did and said. Yet not everybody felt that they were “blessed”. Jesus sought to heighten for His disciples the significance of their position as His followers! They must never allow themselves to take anything for granted!
“Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
It was a privilege to be called the disciples of Christ. It was a privilege granted by none other than God Himself. It was a privilege that not every body had. There were those who were adjudged unworthy of further comprehension of spiritual insights. For them the door had already closed.
Jesus spoke of people whom He called “prophets and righteous men” who lived in a previous time and era. These “prophets and righteous men” could only vaguely “see” the work of the Messiah. They would like to have lived in the days of the Messiah. As it turned out, it was not their privilege to do so. Those who did have the opportunity to live in the days of Jesus must all the more learn how to treasure the privilege of being in the actual and personal Presence of the Messiah Himself!
We may not be classified among the “prophets” or “the original disciples of Christ”, nevertheless we must not allow ourselves to take for granted the blessing of being able to comprehend God’s Word. Not everybody is able to read the Scriptures with understanding. Not everybody is able to fathom the depth of meaning that is to be found in the sacred writ. The ability to comprehend the Word of God is no less a special blessing from the Lord! Let us always stand in awe that we are able to read with understanding the Word of God!
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
Jesus knew that His disciples desired very much to understand the meaning of the parable of The Sower. However, He felt that some introductory remarks had to be made first. He then launched into an explanation of His parable.
We must be challenged to do more than just understand the meaning of the parable of The Sower. We must learn how to recognize the way Jesus used symbols in His parables. A deep understanding of the parable of The Sower would enable us to comprehend the other parables Jesus told.
“Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom,
and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes
and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
This is he who received seed by the wayside.”
MATTHEW 13:18-19
Many and varied explanations have been given to explain the parables of Jesus. It would be wise to establish certain principles from the study of the parable of The Sower so that we would not make unnecessary mistakes in our interpretation of this unique teaching method of Jesus.
1. The significance of Jesus’ explanation
We must establish, first and foremost, that what Jesus said concerning His own parables is the last word! He certainly must be accorded the right to explain His own parables!
2. Details are not unimportant
Many have sought to point out that parables have only one point! Sometimes this good observation is emphasized in such a way that details are almost reduced to redundancy. The way Jesus explained the parable of The Sower teaches us an important truth. Details are not unimportant to the overall comprehension of the text!
3. Short and Long parables distinguished
Though the dictum that a parable serves to teach a single main point cannot be easily set aside, we must also add that this is true insofar as short and simple parables are concerned.
In the case of the rather long parable of The Sower, we cannot help but note the fact that Jesus used the parable to teach a number of truths. Longer parables were probably specially constructed to be a vehicle to contain and convey a number of truths, rather than just one main point!
4. Attempts to highlight truth
The key word to note is “highlight”. Parables were used to highlight certain truths. The illustrative value of the parabolic form must not be dismissed lightly. The very concept of highlighting suggests accentuation of important truths!