The Sower and the Seed - Part II

Luke 8:9-10

“Eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear (or understand).”

When a phrase is repeated by so many biblical writers, it starts to carry special weight. This saying is expressed in Deuteronomy 29:4 by Moses, and by three prophets: Isaiah (6:9), Jeremiah (5:21), and Ezekiel (12:2). In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted as saying it in all four of the Gospels (Matthew 13:4, Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10, and John 12:40) and by Paul in Acts 28:26 and in his own writings in Romans 11:8. Whew! Sounds like we better listen up!

It is easy to get to the place where we think we understand when we really don’t comprehend at all. God’s voice to us becomes like so much water off a duck’s back. It doesn’t stick. We no longer listen, treating it as just familiar background noise.

In each of these passages, the message is being given to people who are used to hearing God’s voice. And the message, especially in Isaiah 6:9 from where Jesus is quoting, is that if you don’t heed God’s voice when you hear it, you will eventually stop noticing it. In fact it will become hard work to listen to God.

In this passage in Luke, Jesus has just told the parable of the Sower. As with a couple of his other parables, the disciples stop Jesus and ask him to explain. We get the picture from Mark that the disciples take Jesus aside to inquire privately. Even there that private hearing is not limited to the Twelve. But we get the idea that it is not the whole crowd.

The poor, who make up Jesus’ normal audience love hearing Jesus teach and they grab hold of his parables like they are manna from heaven. They “eat” willingly because they are starving for truth, even though they may not follow it all.

The usual followers of Jesus -- meaning the Twelve, the women and others -- probably catch on to much of what he is saying. But there are times when they don’t quite get his point. At those moments, they either just file it away among “obscure ideas to be explored after the Day of Pentecost” or they just come out with it right then and there: “Jesus, what on earth do you mean?” They aren’t fighting Jesus’ point, they really want to understand it.

This is one of those what-do-you-mean moments. So he careful explains that he is willing to speak clearly to them concerning what he calls “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God,” but to others he speaks only in parables. It is not that Jesus is trying to hide truth from people. He is merely following his own principle of “not feeding pearls to pigs” (to quote Matthew 7:6) or, in plainer words, not dispensing truth to those who have no regard for the truth.

So does Jesus play favorites? Why does he speak plainly to some and not to others? The answer lies in the very parable he is now explaining. The seed goes freely everywhere, but some receive it more willingly than others. In a minute, they will hear Jesus tell them that to those who receive what is given to them, more will be given (verse 18). For now he is saying that understanding comes to those who are willing to listen, who do not shut their ears to God’s truth.

Jesus has many followers. Some eventually leave him, even one of the chosen Twelve. Why do they, who have seen and experienced Jesus up close and “unplugged,” to use a contemporary expression meaning “off-stage,” why do they later reject Jesus? How can you hear the truth, really hear it, and reject it? There are a zillion things that happen inside each one of us, so there is no way to say it is always this thing or that. But Jesus is explaining that when we continue to hear God’s word and reject it, we stop listening. The best way to keep receiving more from God is to accept what He’s already given to us. To those who refuse to eat, food eventually becomes toxic.