The block of teaching recorded in Matthew 13 is prompted by the presence of the large crowds that were beginning to follow Jesus. In response to his popularity Jesus does a strange thing. He starts speaking in riddles beginning with a story about a sower. The people would have had no idea what he was talking about. When his disciples asked him why he was doing this he told them, in summary, that the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven is not given to spectators but to those who are really willing to change. True knowledge is not knowing about the truth but an experience of the truth through appropriation and involvement. This does not depend on intellectual ability but on a willingness of heart. If you are not willing to be involved in the Kingdom and to submit your life to the Kingdom agenda, then you shut yourself out of it. It remains a secret to you. Jesus used parables to create a polarisation effect. He will only speak to those who are willing to know. The disciples were willing, clearly, because they had made this the top priority for their lives. They had given themselves to God’s agenda. So, Jesus says, “I am speaking to you because you are willing to know. The spectators are listening but they are not willing to hear, so I am not going to speak to them.” If you want God to reveal himself and his truth to you, he will. But you must be willing to change. Your ability to hear from God is only ever as great as your willingness to be changed.
Ask God to enable you to receive his truth.
Read Matthew 13:1-17
