“For this people’s heart has grown dull. Their ears have become hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” (Matthew 13:15-16, MEV):
Jesus was speaking here about the people of God, and why He had to speak in parables. He was quoting Isaiah. A huge problem that Jesus was dealing with is that people did not understand Him. They didn’t connect with God at the heart level and perceive what He had for them. They didn’t share His perspective or ways. It was foreign to them so here He says that he had to speak to them in parables for them to understand.
In Isaiah 42: 18-23 (NIV) the Lord speaks,
“‘Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!
Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.’
It pleased the Lord
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.
But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, ‘Send them back.’
Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?”
It was God’s very own covenant people who did not understand. They were not in an intimate relationship with God. In their own understanding, they, like later Paul, were zealous for what they believed. So much so that they were willing to stone Jesus or anyone else they thought crossed a line in blaspheming His name.
They placed such an importance on God that they were willing to murder anyone who they felt hindered Him or their belief in Him. Yet, they only knew of Him and did not have any relationship with Him themselves. Their eyes were blind and their ears were deaf.
The disciples, on the other hand, had eyes to see and ears to hear spiritually. They were blessed to have seen and known Him personally. With some of His closest disciples—Peter, James and John—Jesus brought them up to a high mountain and was transfigured before them. It says that they “fell on their faces and were filled with awe.” (Matthew 17:7, MEV). Then when Jesus touched them to arise, “When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” (Matthew 17:8, MEV)
After seeing Jesus and beholding Him in His glory, they were able to understand spiritually what was going to happen and be with Jesus in it. Coming down the mountain, Jesus told them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” (Matthew 17:9, MEV).
In the natural, having left everything to follow Jesus, it could have been overwhelming to the disciples to learn that He would be crucified. And being raised from the dead had to sound ridiculous in the natural. Yet, they could understand with eyes of faith and embrace it fully because they stood from a place of both an intimate relationship and also awestruck dependency. Having an encounter with God in His glory, transformed them even as Jesus was transformed before them.
At their last meal together, Jesus reminded His disciples that He was leaving. In John 14:1-7 (NIV) He says to His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
How they saw Jesus mattered in receiving this hard news. Judas, when Jesus was speaking of drinking His blood and eating His flesh, had a hard heart. He was offended and left to betray Jesus. While the other disciples received it spiritually and partook in it. After Judas left, Jesus then washed the remaining disciples feet, signifying serving them and also cleansing them of their unintentional sin.
As we see from Judas, it is unrepented and intentional sin (Psalm 51:10) that hardens one’s heart. Pride (Dan 5:20), rebellion (Ex 8:15), stubbornness (Ex 7:13), unbelief (Heb 3:12), unsaved (Eph 1:18) and lover of self and putting self first (2 Tim 3:1-4) all cause ones heart to be hardened.
Jude tells us that there will come a time during difficulty where people overall will be complaining and never satisfied, fault finding with everyone (1:16). And in doing this, they are speaking against the Lord. (1:15). But for us, we are to be compassionate with those who have doubts and snatch other out of the fire to save them (1:22-23) and keep ourselves free from pollutions of gossip and complaining.
Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” and 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins that the Lord is faithful to forgive us and give us a purified heart. If we want to have a tender heart that sees and hears well, we need to continually guard our heart (Proverbs 4:23), turning away from sin (Psalm 119:37) and repenting when we do sin (1 John 1:9-10).
Proverbs 4:23 says that we need to guard our heart above all because it determines the course of our life. It is important because what we see and hear determines how we respond. A critical question is what do you see and what do you hear… who do you say He is? Jesus asks of His disciples two related questions in Matthew 14. First in verse 13 (MEV), “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” While people had saw Him, it was clear from their answer that they did not know Him. Then in verse 15 He digs deeper, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter responds in verse 16 (MEV), “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This was not a natural knowing but a revelation by the Spirit. It was revealed to Him. Peter knew it and understood it, believing it, rather than having heard and saw it with deaf ears and blind eyes. Jesus answered Peter that He was blessed for receiving this spiritual revelation by His Father and it would be the rock or foundation that He would use Peter and build His church upon.
Even in coming to know and receive Jesus, He must first be manifest and one must have open eyes and ears to see and hear. Paul says in Romans 10:17 (TPT) that faith to believe and receive is birthed then “in a heart that responds to God’s anointed utterance of the Anointed one.” He goes on to say in verse 20, as Isaiah declared, “Those who found me weren’t even seeking me. I manifested myself before those who weren’t even asking to know me!”
The word manifest hear is the Greek word emphanes and it means to appear as a bright shining light and come into view. One must have an encounter with Him to receive Him. Jesus must be revealed to their heart.
Paul had an encounter with the Lord as a bright shining light who spoke to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). He was struck physically blind and could not see for a spell while he came to the realization that in his zealousness he was fighting against God rather than for him. As he repented and received the Lord, the Lord sent someone to open his eyes.
We know that being struck blind is God’s judgement as in Actus 13:9-12, it says, “But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on Elymas. Paul said, ‘You who are filled with deception and fraud; you son of the devil; you enemy of all righteousness; will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Behold, now the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a season.’ Immediately a mist and darkness fell on Elymas. He went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he saw this happen, believed. He was amazed at the teaching of the Lord.”
Lord, I pray that, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened; that we may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
1-2. Wilkerson, David. The Measured Glory of God. World Challenge Daily Devotional. Worldchallenge.org. August 24, 2021.
3. Fire Bible: (MEV) Modern English Version. Life Publishers International. 2015.
