Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted... For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them."
Matthew 13:11,15
Jesus is speaking to His disciples, those who are following Him, those who are committed to Him and are closest to Him. And this is what He says, that they have been granted the amazing place and privilege of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the secret thoughts, plans and will of God's very heart of hearts.
And it gets even more amazing when we realize that is our place as His present day disciples—we who are Christians—have been granted that same place of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It is a place that is ours that has been established and given to us by Jesus Himself!
The question is though, are we entering into that place… are we daily growing into the fullness of life that Jesus has purchased for us with the shedding of His precious blood upon the cross? Because in this passage He makes it very clear, that there are those whose hearts have become too dull, ears too deaf, eyes too blind to receive His revelation.
Disobedience to God and His Word—which is sin—continually makes hearts duller, ears deafer, and eyes blinder, even in us who have been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom. When we choose to sin or tolerate it in our lives, we are choosing to step out of the amazing place He has given to us.
If we allow the flesh to take over we can wind up hardening our hearts, spiritually plugging our ears, and placing spiritual blinders over our eyes—isolating ourselves from revelation and intimate fellowship with God that He has for us. But the solution and the remedy, is also made clear in this passage: Open your eyes and your heart and return, and I (Jesus) will heal you.
It is true that in midst of living for God that we can get so far from that place of intimate fellowship and relationship with Him that we at times miss the mysteries of the kingdom that He longs to share with us. We rationalize our time and say we have this and that task to do for Him, and maybe when we are done, if we're not too tired, then maybe we will give Him some time to overwhelm us with the mysteries of the of the kingdom of heaven, the secret thoughts, plans and will.
This is just a simple reminder about the place we have been granted and how we can get dull, deaf, and blind if we're not careful.
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