I Believe to Understand

By Samantha Rodriguez

“The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell 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.”’”—Matthew 13:10–17 (NIV)

All throughout Matthew and the other gospels, you see crowds form around Jesus constantly. The difference between Him and a celebrity; however, is that Jesus was “famous” because of His radical teaching of truth that shifted the culture and His radical compassion on everyone around Him. Even with all the crowds and increasing popularity though, not everyone truly understood that He was the Messiah. Many of these same people would soon shout, “Crucify Him!” His own disciples were often left surprised and baffled at His miracles and sayings.

Because of their closer proximity and following, Jesus would take time to teach them in a bit more detail. It still wasn’t until after the resurrection that most of the disciples fully comprehended that Jesus was truly the Son of God and Messiah. But in today’s Scripture, we see Jesus give them some extra insight as to why He speaks in parables.

Jesus has just finished giving the parable of the sower, which is where He explains the different kinds of soil that His seeds might land on. Three of the soils are not conducive to true growth, and only one is. The three bad soils are the result of thorns, dryness, or rockiness. The only good soil is the one that receives the seed, roots the seed, and produces a crop. Right after saying this parable, Jesus says something that’s important to today’s passage, “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matthew 13:9 NIV). When the disciples go to Jesus and ask why He speaks in parables, most likely because they are not always easy to understand, Jesus replies in a way that may seem unfair. He says the knowledge He shares is not for everyone and that “whoever has will be given more.” But what does He mean by whoever has? Whoever has what exactly?

If you continue reading, Jesus begins to talk about seeing and hearing. He quotes Isaiah who prophesied that though they see and hear, they do not see or hear. In the rest of the text, Jesus then uses the words understand and perceive to explain that not all who see and hear will actually understand and perceive who He is! This can be explained by the line that says people’s hearts grew calloused. Jesus is looking for faith. He’s always calling out the faith of people who trust Him beyond what makes sense, who trust Him wholeheartedly, who are seeking to trust Him even when their emotions are fluctuating. Because Jesus is looking for faith, He knows that only those who have soft hearts willing to take steps of faith despite not understanding everything are the ones who will actually gain true understanding! This is why He speaks in parables, to call up faith in people. Even a small seed of faith can go a long way!

I believe Saint Augustine said it best: We must “believe in order to understand.” And that’s what Jesus is looking for in us. “Having eyes is not the same thing as looking, and looking is not the same as seeing. The soul therefore needs three things; eyes which it can use aright, looking, and seeing” (Saint Augustine).

May we seek to have faith and believe even though we may not fully understand. I pray we’d have ears to hear, a soft heart, and even just a small amount of faith because whoever has will be given more!

Pause: How have you experienced God grow your faith? Reflect on experiences where you had a little bit of faith and God showed up and helped you see Him more clearly.

Practice: Write down a few things you’re having trouble understanding with God right now. Pray over them and ask God to help you trust Him even though you don’t understand.

Pray: Faithful Father, You are constant! You’re perfect and I’m not. My faith is weak at times, and I need Your grace and help. I ask You to increase my faith, Lord. Jesus, help me to hide Your words in my heart so I may not sin against You and instead be transformed by You! I give You all the parts of my life I’m struggling with. I trust You and I want to seek faith before I seek understanding because my relationship with You is my priority. Amen.