Parables

Jesus told His disciples that not everyone would understand His parables (Matthew 13:10-17).  He was speaking from experience.  He was aware that some who heard His parables refused to understand them.  It wasn’t that they could not intellectually understand them, but rather, their hearts were closed to what Jesus was saying.  They had already made up their minds to not believe.  Because of our free will, God can only reveal the secrets of His kingdom to the humble and trusting person who acknowledges the need for God and for His Truth.  

“To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matthew 13:12) The life of grace is such that, once we begin to accept all that is true and then allow it to transform our lives, we’ll be given exponentially more than we ever imagined.  And, on the flip side, when we refuse to listen and understand, even the little faith and understanding we have will slowly slip away into confusion.

There was a young man who used to work for me as my assistant.  He had a lot of potential to advance with the company, but instead he was passed over for promotion several times because he wouldn’t agree with some of the company’s procedures.  He was set in his ways of performing certain tasks and no amount of training or cajoling would get him to understand that the procedures would benefit everyone, including himself.  He had closed his mind to accepting an alternative procedure simply because he believed he was doing a good job already and didn’t see a need for change.  Because of his refusal to change I had to remove him from his assistant management position and he eventually quit in frustration, telling me that he didn’t understand why I would demote him “for no reason”.    

The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge us.  If we approach them with the conviction that we already know the answer, then we, too, may “look but not see, listen but not hear or understand.”  God's word can only take root in a receptive heart that’s ready to believe and willing to submit.  If we want to hear and to understand God's word, we must listen with fear (a respect given out of love for Him and awe for Who He Is) and reverence.