Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus told His disciples, “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that he has. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand”, and in chapter thirteen and verse fourteen of his book, Matthew wrote how Jesus tells His disciples about Isaiah's prophecy concerning, “hearing … and seeing” where we read:
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive:
The verse reads, “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand;” Matthew began with the words, “and in them” which means “and within the multitude surrounding Jesus” “is fulfilled” or “is made full, accomplished and supplied” “the prophecy” which means “the discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden” “of Isaiah” or “belonging to Isaiah whose name means Jehovah's help and was a famous Hebrew prophet who prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah”, “which says” or “that utters, proclaims and declares”, “by hearing” which means “through the means of hearsay, report or rumor” “you shall hear” or “will the people be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf, attend to, understand and perceive what is said”, “and shall not understand” which means “but will not comprehend or consider”. Matthew wrote how Jesus began to refer to Isaiah chapter six and verses nine through ten to show how people would “hear” the audible sounds of the word of the Kingdom of God, but would not comprehend the message.
The verse continues, “and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive:” Matthew added the words, “and seeing” which means “and discerning, perceiving, discovering and noticing with the eye” “you shall see” or “the people will discern, perceive, discover and notice”, “and shall not perceive” which means “but will not notice, discern, discover, pay attention to or observe”. Matthew shared how Jesus continued to share Isaiah's prophecy as He told how people would “perceive with their eyes” the Kingdom of God but would not pay attention to or observe it's principles.
When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see yet another place where Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of the Old Testament prophets. He proclaimed the Kingdom of God, but the multitude hearing and seeing the kingdom could not comprehend it and did not want to observe it's principles. God desires to have a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and although He makes His Kingdom evident daily, many only acknowledge it but do not submit to Him through “faith and trust” in His Son Jesus. Indeed there are individuals who have been exposed to the “Kingdom of God”, and they have aligned with Isaiah's prophesy in hearing and seeing but not comprehending or observing the ways of God.
Next time Matthew shares how Jesus told His disciples those who are “this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
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