My sermon this Sunday (Nov 12, 2023) is on Matthew 13:9-18. Here are some of my own observations and applications. You can post your own thoughts about the passage in the ‘Comment’ section below. You can find the sermon videos posted here.

1. The disciples are confused why Jesus is speaking in parables. Why is he making it hard for people to understand his message. Why is he not being clear and to the point?
2. Jesus explains that they know or have something that everyone else doesn’t. They see and hear and understand in a way that the others don’t. So what do they know, what do they have? Why do others not know or have this?
3. It is not WHAT they know or have, but WHO. They are with Jesus, they walk and talk with Jesus. They can ask him for clarification, discuss and even debate with him. They are in a personal relationship with Jesus, their hearts are open and eager and receptive, and therefore they continue to receive more.
4. Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, describing people who have eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear. In other words, the people see and hear Jesus, but for some reason they are not all coming to him with open, eager and receptive hearts. Their hearts are closed to Jesus… their hearts are calloused.
5. So why does he speak in parables? At first glance a parable leaves a person confused. But when confused, we can respond in one of two ways: with arrogant, impatient anger (‘I’ve not idea what he’s saying, this is a waste of time!’) or with eager, curious humility (‘I can’t let this go, I must know more!’).
6. Jesus’s parables – and the whole bible – are challenging so that those who are closed will walk away from it, but those who are open will dig in deeper. Because I know Jesus, the challenge of the bible does not drive me away, it draws me closer to Jesus so he can help me understand it better.
7. It seems to me that the most important thing is that we are in a personal relationship with Jesus. The biblical word for “knowing’ is not just knowing about, but knowing closely, personally, intimately (the Hebrew says that Adam knew his wife Eve, and she became pregnant, Genesis 4:1). That is KNOWING!
8. Being in a personal relationship with Jesus does not mean we understand everything, or even that we agree with everything. The first disciples did not understand or agree with Jesus on everything, but they refused to leave Jesus. They walked and talked with Jesus, learning along the way. This is what discipleship still is today.
9. How do we walk and talk with Jesus today, if we cannot actually see or hear him? We relate to Jesus by his Spirit in us, and we relate to Jesus through the stories recorded by his first followers. As we read the Jesus stories (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), its like we are with Jesus, hearing him and seeing him. The Spirit enables us to talk to him (prayer), and the Spirit speaks to us in our hearts and minds (guidance). We ask Jesus questions in our hearts, and Jesus answers us in our hearts.
10. But the key issue is: are our hearts open, or are they closed (calloused)? Do we long to see and hear him, like the many prophets and righteous people from the past? If we did long to know him, if we did pursue him with eager, curious humility, we would be “given more” in “abundance” (v.12). We would see with our eyes, hear with our ears and understand with our hearts, and Jesus would help and heal us.
11. The parables are designed to reveal who has ears (and hearts) to hear. Do you know the secret of God’s kingdom? Do you want to know it and have it? “It” is a “who”, it is Jesus. Do I know Jesus? Do I want to know Jesus?
12. What about “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (v.11)? According to Genesis 1:26-28, the kingdom of God (heaven = God) is this world under God-like human rulers. Imagine what this world would be like if everyone lived with God-like love. Humans have failed to live this way, which is why our world is such a mess. But in Jesus we have a God-like human living God’s way in God’s world. Jesus and the way he lived is the secret of the kingdom of God.
13. Knowing Jesus is not about how we get into heaven when we die. Knowing Jesus is about knowing how we can live heaven-like lives here on earth… for the kingdom of God. Those who seek this way of life will find it, and will also inherit it when it comes fully. It is through knowing Jesus that we are able to change how we live today. And it is through our changed way of living that Jesus changes the world. This is the harvest Jesus is talking about in his parable.
14. If knowing Jesus does not lead to showing Jesus (reflecting the love, character and way of Jesus) in our lives, then our knowing Jesus is the problem, it is weak, shallow, deficient, and needing to change.
15. Showing (or living) the Jesus life is not something we can produce in our own strength; we need to know Jesus in a close, personal way so that we can learn and grow and be be supported in living the Jesus way. As we embrace Jesus with our hearts (like seed embraced by the soil), the seed grows and produces through us.