Imagery Helps Us Understand

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟏𝟗:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟗-𝟏𝟏, 𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐃𝐧 𝟑:𝟓𝟐-𝟓𝟔 “𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟑:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟕

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 13:16)

           In today’s Gospel narrative, Jesus begins using parables principally because of the lukewarm condition of the hearts of the people at the time. Thus, Jesus made it necessary to use examples of imagery that so the people can readily identify themselves to his teachings and to give them the opportunity to discover for themselves the deeper meaning behind the parables.

          Christ quoted 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟔:𝟗-𝟏𝟎 to explain why he was using parables – the hearts, ears and eyes of the people have become dull, hard and blind. By using parables, Jesus was simply reigniting the excitement and curiosity of the people – those who were desirous to know the truth.

          But He was also hiding the truth from those with rebellious spirits, and He would not even cast these pearls of truth before swine (𝐌𝐭 𝟕:𝟔). The parables did not keep people from learning the truth, rather these parables excited their interests and encouraged them to learn. This is a fulfillment of 𝐌𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟓 – the proud will not see, but the young will learn the truth and be saved.  

         The verses 𝟏𝟔 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟕 are also probably among the most difficult passages throughout the whole of this chapter 13 in Matthew’s gospel account. We believe, however, that these two verses have been made part of our Gospel reading in our liturgical celebrations because of its relationship in our search for truth.

         The truth at times is something that we need to search for not only to satisfy our curiosity but to satisfy our own longing for that which will give us peace. And while there is truth to what we at times hear, there is still that desire to search for the truth ourselves.

         This is the reason why Jesus preferred to use parables as his method of preaching and teaching because he wants the people listening to him to discover the truth themselves because he knows that there are pieces of information that have been kept hidden from some of those who hear him speak which were given to others.

         Those to whom the Word was hidden are the Pharisees who despite their vast knowledge of religion have persisted in their unbelief in the truth that Jesus brought into the world. Contrast this with the attitude of the ordinary people who ingested all the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus. Where the Pharisees branded his miracle as the work of evil spirits, the ordinary people have nothing but awe and gratitude for the healing that takes place whenever Jesus is in their midst.

         The purpose of using a parable is for the people to draw a picture of the truth based on what they see and what they normally do every day, and this is why Jesus told his disciples “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓.” (𝒗.16) The secrets he was referring to here are the mysteries of faith that they learn from Jesus because they follow him and which the Pharisees have rejected.

        In other words, what Jesus was saying was that we can only understand what the Kingdom of Heaven would be like if we are to spend time with him. And if we are to draw a picture of this scenario, what Jesus was saying was that Christianity can only be understood from the inside meaning we need to immerse ourselves with knowing Jesus because we can never become a Christian if we will just stay on the sidelines and learn from there.

        To those who want to know the truth, they will easily understand the parables told by Jesus but to others who come to listen but do not hear because their mindsets differ with what Jesus taught, these parables will remain meaningless to them.

        Jesus also teaches us in this Gospel reading that there is also a responsibility that corresponds to hearing the Word of God. Jesus expects us to use our gifts so that others may also benefit from what we heard, and we are assured that he will keep on adding to what we have already heard because the more that we want to know the Lord, the more that he will keep adding to what we already know of him.

         To establish a connection with this Gospel passage, we need to look at 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟔:𝟗-𝟏𝟎 from which Jesus quoted from. And here we can see how both Isaiah the greatest of all the prophets and Jesus who was sent down from heaven to make all things divine have experienced pain in the pursuit of their respective ministries.

         Jesus as with Isaiah brought with Him a message from God but which the people could not understand and this also rings true for us in the Community who teach, shepherd and lead when the receivers of what we speak treat us with disbelief and lack of understanding and worst, with indifference.

         And in both readings, Isaiah and Jesus have been given to despair which is like what we experience when we see inconsistency in the way our Christian communities are growing. It is painful when we see members moving out instead of remaining in. Worst is when the leaders themselves become the reason why members leave and seek spiritual growth elsewhere.

         A renewal ministry I am familiar with started out like a rocket hurled to space but soon retrogressed when personal ambition and animosities set in. What made matters worse was that instead of trying to look inwardly to discern where it could have gone wrong and listen to what God may be saying, this ministry went into a denial mode, and it was all downhill from there with recycled leaders offering little or no hope at all.  

         Palliatives were and are still being applied but the most basic orientation that make a ministry stand the test of time was shunted and that is to listen with the heart to hear the words that Jesus has proclaimed. What was forgotten was the need to turn the ministry around by encouraging its members to use the Gifts that the Holy Spirit has poured on them for it is only through these gifts that Christian disciples can bear fruit.

         At the end of the day, what is needed is for Christian disciples to once again be inspired by the Word of God. We need to humble ourselves that we may put to death our worldly nature and be transformed and renewed. In other words, we need to pursue what is referred to as “radical faith” which is to abandon our lives to Divine Providence.

         We must remind ourselves that we are servant leaders whose mission is to serve God by serving men. We need to perpetuate the image of Christ in the church and not our image. Others must see Christ and not us. And it presupposes that everything that we do must be founded on the Word of God and that is to “𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔” and not create our own disciples.

         It is only then that we can be empowered to pursue a radical kind of faith that will allow us to be on fire again. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 24, 2025)