For the next three Sundays we will hear several different parables from the 13th Chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Today we have the Parable of the Sower; next Sunday we have the Parable of the Man Sowing Good Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. And on July 26 we will hear Jesus presenting the Kingdom of Heaven as a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price and a fisherman’s net.
Perhaps the most important section in today’s Gospel is the answer Jesus gives to the disciples’ question, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus responds with a quotation from Isaiah, “because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” At this point in his ministry Jesus has been rejected by the Pharisees. They have thrown him out of the synagogues (refusing to see, hear, or understand) and are plotting to kill him (Matthew 12).
So, Jesus takes his message about the Kingdom of God to the people in the streets, the fields, beaches, town squares, in their homes, anywhere they will listen. He wants to make sure they understand his message so he tells them stories using common and concrete examples from their daily lives: farming, fishing, shopping, cooking and relationships. And he compares these everyday activities to his message of truth – The Kingdom of God is here, now and available to you. For the disciples who had the opportunity to see and hear Jesus and all others (including us) who take the time to hear and understand what Jesus is telling us, we receive a blessing: “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
God of the heavens,
God of the earth,
all creation awaits your gift of new life.
Prepare our hearts to receive the word of your Son,
so that we may hear it and understand it,
and bear fruit a hundredfold.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
God of the earth,
all creation awaits your gift of new life.
Prepare our hearts to receive the word of your Son,
so that we may hear it and understand it,
and bear fruit a hundredfold.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
