But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:16-17 ESV

In Matthew 13:10, we read of the disciples coming to Jesus and asking Him a question, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” His response helps us to understand the fulfillment of prophecy given by Isaiah hundreds of years prior to Christ’s earthly ministry, telling of the people of Israel not seeing or understanding and being dull of heart (Isaiah 6:9,10). Jesus quoted this very passage to the disciples in His explanation to them. They had been given the secrets of the kingdom, which would be the understanding we now have recorded in the New Testament. They were blessed in seeing and hearing what those in the Old Testament had longed to see come to fruition through Jesus Christ. Though the Old Testament prophets were saved by grace through faith in Christ, they still did not have the full understanding of the life and death of our Lord and Savior. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” What a beautiful picture of the apostles and prophets ministering the Word of God, testifying of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God!

To those who were unable to see and to hear, Jesus spoke in parables as an instrument of judgment, and these parables demonstrated both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Some expositors have stated that should those who had denied Christ were able to hear and to see with understanding, a greater condemnation would have come upon them. Therefore, the veiling of the truth from those who would not hear or see with understanding was a demonstration of God’s mercy. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary in reference to the word parable, “For unbelievers, understanding and refusing to believe increases personal responsibility and the consequent execution of God’s justice at the end.”

Personal Bible study along with great commentaries, study Bibles, Lexicons, and other reliable resources help us in our understanding of Scripture. It helps when we take time to take notes whether during a Sunday corporate service or while listening to our favorite minister online. Having our Bibles open and reading along is important. Context is important. Cross referencing related verses provides even further insight. We are to be students of the Word, and after reading Matthew 13 and spending time studying the passage, there is better understanding of what is written in black, white, and red. There is nothing hidden for mystical purposes.

So, what if I told you of a teaching on Matthew 13 stating the disciples were able to see and to hear from Jesus Christ because they had a prophetic lens to do so and that this could be deduced from reading Matthew 13:10-17? What if I told you the reason Jesus spoke in parables to certain people was because they were unable to see and to hear prophetically? What if I said to you, “Our lack of a prophetic lens has resulted in God not being able to talk to us the way He wants and that we could be holding God back from what He wants to do by not prophesying and following through with other actions?” I hope you would open up the Bible and say to me, “Chapter and verse, please.” I hope you would search the Scripture for yourself to make sure what I was saying was indeed so, or in this case, not so.

I say this because I recently heard a teaching on this very passage with these very statements mentioned. (Prophetic pop up) As I took time to listen to this teaching, I thanked the Lord for the understanding of His Word and for the ability to go to the Word and to read it for myself in the proper context. It did not take long to see the discrepancies in teaching and the emphasis more on self than upon Christ in this corporate gathering. I did a more in depth study into this teaching from this recent corporate service (click link on photo for full podcast).

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Listening to this teaching caused me to ask two key questions I will ask myself in the future when listening to teaching from Scripture or teaching said to be derived from Scripture. The first question is, “Do I understand the Word of God better after listening to a particular teaching than before I heard it?” The other question I will ask myself will be “Would I have read the selected verses and come to the same conclusion before hearing this teaching?” I hope these questions may be helpful for you as you study the Word of God while testing everything against Scripture.

Also, check out this article from Christianity.com concerning parables.