It's an Honour to Know Jesus
Matthew 13:17
Jesus was never one to shrink from the truth, even if it was unpleasant. He knew that only when people face the truth will they make necessary changes in their lives. As long as they live in ignorance or denial, they will never make progress in their spiritual lives. In Matthew 13, we find Jesus talking with His disciples about the prevailing attitude of the religious leaders of the day. In verses 14 to17 we find these words of Jesus:
“In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘They will be ever hearing but never understanding; they 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 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were blinded by their preconceptions regarding what the Messiah would be like and how he would come. When Jesus did not fit with these ideas, they didn’t even consider the possibility that He could be who He claimed to be.
They had looked without seeing and listened without hearing for so long that, as Jesus put it, their hearts had become calloused. Their ability to perceive and understand truth had been impaired. Though Jesus repeatedly acted and spoke in ways which showed who He was, they didn’t recognize Him.
After His scathing comments about the religious leaders, Jesus spoke to His followers. He reminded them of their privilege of seeing what others had longed to see, but did not, and hearing what others longed to hear, but did not. The prophets and righteous Jews of previous generations spent their whole lives waiting for the revelation which was now before them. Now Jesus was standing with them. The Messiah had come. Redemption was at hand.
In this declaration of truth, Jesus reminded His followers that they had something that others would have found very desirable. In the context of the time, Jesus was pointing back to earlier generations who anxiously waited the coming of the Messiah. In our context, Jesus’ words prompt us to look at those around us who are vainly trying to find satisfaction in other things. Christians sometimes forget that they are blessed because faith has opened their eyes and ears to see and hear the One who alone responds to all of our human needs.
