When
Jesus’ disciples had some alone time with Him, they asked Him what was the deal
with all the parables. Jesus tells them
something quite bluntly. To the
disciples, the Kingdom of Heaven has been given. To the people outside the group of the
disciples, the parables are given. This
is because they are “seeing but not understanding and hearing but not
comprehending.” Jesus then speaks a
quiet word of teaching to His disciples when He asks them if they do not
understand this parable how they will ever understand all the rest of the parables.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
The
Kingdom of Heaven has come to the disciples.
They are in the first steps of the path to “getting it.” But we have to understand something
here. At this point in the story the
disciples aren’t any more special than anyone else. The disciples aren’t better equipped or the
smartest kids on the block. What they
have going for them is that when Jesus called they responded. When Jesus called to them they were willing
to walk beside Him. What makes them different
is not their internal greatness, but their willingness to learn and model Jesus’
internal greatness. What makes them
different is that when they come across something that they don’t understand,
they have enough of a relationship with Jesus to ask Him about it and actually
learn.
Where
are you with respect to Jesus’ invitation?
Are you walking side by side with Jesus, learning what He has to offer
for you so that you can show it to others?
Second Thought:
To
those outside, Jesus gives the parables.
Now, let’s be really clear about this.
Jesus is absolutely saying that those outside the kingdom are given
parables that they will not understand.
Jesus isn’t giving the parables so that they will not
understand. Rather, He is giving
parables that they will not understand.
Since we talked above about what makes a disciple, let’s talk now about
what makes the crowd. They crowd hears
Jesus preach – even teach – but they never come beside Jesus for further
understanding. They don’t want to
grow. They don’t want to walk in Jesus’
footsteps. They don’t want to model
Jesus to the world. They want to hear
some sound bite. They want to see some
miracle. Then they want to go back to
their life unchanged. You don’t see them
here, hanging around to the very end just to try and understand. Because they aren’t interested in growing,
they will hear the parable they don’t understand and walk away shrugging their
shoulders. The base default attitude is “hearing
but not understanding” and “seeing but not comprehending.” They prove as much in their actions
throughout all of the Gospels.
Have
you ever heard something you just don’t understand spiritually? How do you typically respond in such a case? Does your response indicate more of a
disciple mentality or a mentality of the world?
Third Thought:
I’ve
always heard Jesus’ words in Mark 4:13 as really harsh. It has always felt like a condemnation to me
in the past. But today I am reading
these words in a new light. Jesus isn’t
condemning the disciples; Jesus is making them consciously aware of their
current shortcomings. In other words,
Jesus is exposing to them that they are not yet where Jesus needs them to
be. That doesn’t mean that they are bad
people. It simply means that they have
some growing to do before they are ready to go out into the world. Prior to Jesus telling the parable, Jesus’ disciples
are unaware of how much they have to grow.
In hearing the parable, Jesus’ disciples become aware of how much they
have to grow. To say it in a nice and
cute way: Jesus is moving His disciples from unconscious incompetence
to conscious incompetence.
{Please note, however … this doesn’t
make them competent. It merely makes
them aware of their incompetence.}
Do
you think it is necessary to become aware of your own incompetence? Why is this important? How does it really feel to become aware of
your incompetence?
Passage
for Tomorrow: Mark 4:14-20
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