New Thoughts (2/7/07-2/11/07)
As cryptic as Jesus’ words usually seem to be upon first hearing, it’s interesting that He speaks quite plainly in this instance. Why has He taught by parable? The answer is right to the point. You have been granted to know, but others have not. It is in the nature of the parable to satisfy that limited grant.
We should consider the words Jesus chooses here. “It has been granted.” The knowledge of what I teach has been given to you as a gift. It has been granted to you because you asked for it. (Let those who lack wisdom – James 1:5). It has been appointed to you to understand, and so understanding shall come forth. None of these things can be said of ‘them’. The gift has not been given. Understanding has not been granted, because they have not asked to understand. (You have not because you ask not – James 4:2). It has not been appointed for them to understand. Therefore it is not possible that they would.
How we come away from this answer may well depend on how we perceive that granting. Alternatively, we may find that our understanding of doctrine colors the way we perceive that granting. As a proponent of the doctrine of limited atonement, I can point to the simple fact that Jesus declares that understanding will come only to those appointed to know. This doctrinal understanding joins with the concepts of election and predestination, which also find support in some of the verses that turn up in parallel to this, such as Jesus’ declaration that we cannot even come to Him unless the Father has granted it (Jn 6:65), a declaration He had apparently made before.
On the other hand, we might notice our own involvement in the fact that where understanding has not been given, it is because nobody asked. This, too, will find plenty of support in the Scriptures. God has never shown a great interest in sluggards. Somehow these two concepts of predestination and personal will play together. That is far more of a challenge to lay hold of than is either concept in isolation. God clearly controls who will and will not be saved, because if He does not invite them, they cannot come. What He has willed to be is to be, of course, for His word – the expression of His will – does not return to Him without accomplishing all His purpose. At the same time, we know that if we ask we shall receive of Him, for that is His promise: If we seek Him we shall find Him. He does not hide away. Oh, but how shall we seek after Him of Whom we do not know, and how shall we really know of Him if He does not grant that knowledge? We cannot see Him, not with eyes like these. We cannot hear Him, not with ears like these. We cannot comprehend our Lord until and unless He gives us the gift of comprehension. Then and only then is the soul truly free to seek after Him. Then, the responsibility has become ours in a much greater capacity.
The thing He has granted us is to know from experience what it is He has been teaching about. More than simply comprehending His parable, more than teasing out the meaning, they will experience the kingdom of heaven for themselves. They will have intimate knowledge of the kingdom He teaches about. In the closing words of the parable that leads to this discussion, Jesus declared “If you have ears, hear what I have just said” (Mt 13:9). We saw that this was active hearing, hearing with the intention of understanding what He was intentionally teaching. It was the sort of hearing that might lead to knowing by intuition and inference. When Jesus explains the sense of the parable to them, they will have a greater degree of understanding as to what He was getting at. Certainly the connection of the seed and the Word, the soil and the people, will be made abundantly clear. Yet, this is not yet the intimate knowledge gained from personal experience of the Truth.
That statement of granted knowledge with which Jesus begins His answer is a key matter for us to understand. Intimate knowledge of God and heaven cannot come apart from His granting that knowledge. Spiritual understanding is, at its root, a gift. It is a gift which God grants to whomever He so chooses, and withholds from whomever He chooses. Well, there’s something we don’t like to accept. Spiritual ignorance is a much God’s prerogative as is spiritual awareness? How does this fit with the image of a good an loving Father? It seems so unfair that our ignorance should come from Him. How is that a good and perfect gift? What we lose sight of in such assessments is that our spiritual awareness is a gift. The ignorance that comes upon those God determines to leave in the dark is not a gift. It is the just penalty for their willful choice of ignorance. The awareness we have is a gift only because we have in no way deserved it. If we deserved spiritual awareness, that awareness would not be a gift, but the just payment of what we have earned. Instead, what we have earned is the darkness of ignorance, but God has sovereignly chosen to manifest His mercy toward us by giving us the gift of intimate, experiential knowledge of His ways.
This point comes across in a particularly clear fashion in the God’s Word Translation. “They don’t even try to understand”. It is not that they are somehow to dense to understand. It is not that they suffer some physical or mental deficiency that prevents the possibility. The problem is that they don’t even try. All their senses are functional. They can hear as well as the next guy. They can see exactly what anyone else can see. But, they have willfully shut down those senses. They have willfully insisted on not understanding. Not only do they fail to try to understand, they actively try not to! This is why their ignorance is a just penalty, not a cruel whim on God’s part. A word from Zechariah will help to make this point even more clear. He writes of these people that they refuse to pay attention. In their stubbornness they turn away from God to avoid seeing Him, and they plug their ears to keep from hearing Him (Zech 7:11). They are like the child who does not wish to hear anything that runs counter to his own wish, so he squeezes his eyes shut, sticks his fingers in his ears, and starts loudly singing, “la, la, la, I can’t hear you!”
In a child, such behavior will generally bring loving, if stern, correction from the parents. In an adult, though, such behavior is more likely to result in legal penalties. Try such a response when the officer pulls you over for a traffic violation. The correction you receive will be stern, certainly, but hardly loving. Continue in this vein long enough, and you will no longer have to worry about being reprimanded, for you will have been remanded to custody.
God is not capricious in His choosing of who receives His gifts and who does not. He is wise beyond our wisdom, and His plans are perfect in a way ours never will be. He probes the depths of the heart, and measures the ways of man. In each instance, He chooses the course that will best display His glory, whether through mercy or through justice.
Another bit of doctrine that I think must be recognized in this passage is that of limited atonement. That doctrine does not teach, as some would say, that God’s power is limited by our choice. In fact, it does not declare any limit upon God’s power. What it declares is the sovereignty of God’s will. It is His call who shall receive His atonement and who shall not. The general opposition to this doctrine insists that His offer is given to all and that it is up to us whether we shall accept His offer or not. That sounds reasonable. It certainly fits well with the image we have of the God of love. What it doesn’t seem to fit with so well is the image God has given of Himself. He presents Himself in a much more complete and balanced light. He is perfectly honest with us, declaring that He brings both blessing and calamity. He does not deny His wrath in declaring Himself the God of love. Neither does He deny His love in declaring that vengeance is His prerogative, and His alone. If God is sovereign Lord of all, if His Word does not fail to accomplish His Will, then how can we think our will is going to stymie His plans? That view smacks of the ‘enlightened’ humanism so popular in the world today. It reflects a worldview that still refuses to give God top billing. It is a doctrine only fitting in the temple of self worship. It declares, ‘my choice is law’, and leaves God’s will as no more than a non-binding resolution, which we can accept or reject without consequence.
It’s a pleasant conceit, I suppose, but it’s only a conceit. God’s declaration on the matter seems to be rather vehemently opposed to that view. “None can come to Me unless the Father grants it”, says Jesus. Where is your choice in that? “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work”, says Paul. Look closely at that! It is only by His work that you are even willing to come to Him, and it is by His work that you are able to fulfill what He seeks in you. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and vengeance on whom I will have vengeance”, proclaims the Father. It is a key to understanding God and to understanding the kingdom of heaven to recognize that most fundamental of doctrines: “I will.” Even Jesus bowed to this. “I have my opinions on the matter, but Your will be done.” God’s will will be done. Far better for us when we join Him in pursuit of His will than when we insist on our own way! Even then, though, we ought to recognize that His will is being accomplished – even in our rebellions. We ought to recognize that truth and tremble! If nothing else brings repentance, surely this ought to! Oh! How we should fear for our future when we are allowed our little rebellions! How we should cry for the swift yet merciful hand of Godly correction! How we should sigh in relief when we are called to remembrance that He is faithful to complete what He has begun in us!
As I was going through the parallel verses for this explanation that Jesus provides, I was returned to a verse from First John that one might hear used as an excuse for avoiding church attendance. John writes that we have an abiding anointing from God upon us. Therefore, he says, we need no teacher. After all, God’s anointing teaches us everything, and we can rest assured that His teaching is true (1Jn 2:27). Well, if this is the case, why should any of us listen to any other teacher? So, the reasoning goes. Allow just two points in that regard, though. First, what the Spirit teaches, being true, is certain to align with what the Scriptures, the Word of Truth, teach. As we have in writing the plain declaration that we ought not to walk away from the communion of saints that is found in the fellowship of the Church, we cannot really believe that God would then teach us to go it alone. God does not call upon man to go it alone, ever. He was so clear on this matter that He provided the first helpmate to man to ensure that there would be no need for such a solo act.
Second, we who are taught by the Spirit ought to be quite aware that though He abides within us, He often speaks and teaches from without. By denying the need for other teachers, we are not honestly claiming a sole dependence on the Holy Spirit to teach. We are really declaring our own thoughts so far above everybody else’s that there remains nothing that they could say that would be any improvement. In plain point of fact, we are really saying that even the Teacher we claim to hear is incapable of teaching us anything, for we refuse the possibility that He has taken voice in the mouth of another for our benefit.
While I have been studying this response in Matthew’s Gospel alone, there are parallels in the other accounts for the point that Jesus makes here. In particular, where I find that idea of more being given or taken away in Luke’s text, it is preceded by this thought: “Therefore take care how you listen” (Lk 8:18). Of course, that ‘therefore’ points us to the preceding message for its reason, not to the giving and taking away. The giving and taking away is really spoken out as a result of how you listened. That is in perfect keeping with the way Jesus uses it here in Matthew. It is because of the way people listen to the parables that they either extract the real meaning and grow, or give it no thought and walk on in darkness. But, as He promises there in Luke, there is nothing that shall stay hidden, nothing that shall not come to light and become known (Lk 8:17).
What really brought this to my attention, though, is reading that conclusion from Luke, “Therefore, take care how you listen”, following on the heals of the passage from First John. “You have His abiding anointing teaching you everything, and teaching you truly. Therefore, take care how you listen.” (1Jn 2:27, Lk 8:18). In fact, add another thought from Luke’s account. “For, from him to whom much has been given, much is required” (Lk 12:48). If you have been given the abiding anointing of the Holy Spirit (and that, added to your salvation!) what more could you expect to be given? How much, then, do you suppose He shall require of you, when you have so thorough and accurate a Teacher at your call every moment of every day? How dare you claim no need for help, when even this has failed to make you stand free of sin? If the same God who gave you this wonderful live-in Teacher also blessed you with the fellowship of the saints to keep you strong and secure; if that same God declares that having given so much to you, He is expecting great things of you, what penalty can you expect if you reject His teaching in whole or in part?
What is that but rebellion? It is rebellion, if I am seeing this connection clearly, that leads to the blindness and deafness that the majority suffer from. Ezekiel was told this. “You live in the midst of the rebellious house”, God told him. “You are surrounded by those whose eyes do not see and whose ears do not hear because they are rebellious” (Eze 12:2). Towards the start of this study, I said that both the capacity to understand and the incapacity of spiritual ignorance are matters of God’s choosing. I mentioned that in the case of spiritual ignorance, it is not just God’s whim, it is His just response to sinful choices by man. The rebellious spirit plugs the ears when God speaks. It is the rebellious spirit that hears His voice and declares that it was only the thunder. It is the rebellious spirit that hears the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost and declares that it is only a bunch of drunkards at their bottles. It is the rebellious spirit that convinces us to close our eyes to the unpleasant truths that God shows us about ourselves. Because, in our rebel condition, we choose to cover our eyes and plug our ears, God justly provides us with our expressed desire. He, too, covers our eyes and plugs our ears, granting us our apparent wish, but not as a blessing. It is the ironic hand of Justice come upon us for our sinfulness.
If, then, we are able to see ourselves as we truly are – at least occasionally; if we are able to hear God’s voice as correction and not as condemnation; if we are able to acknowledge to call to repentance and respond by repenting: all these are signs of God’s grace. The hearing, the seeing, the understanding and the willingness to submit are all evidence of His gracious gift to us. He has sovereignly determined that we shall be saved. He has sovereignly done what was necessary to make it so. He has sent forth His Word, and His Word did not return to Him until He had accomplished the whole of the Father’s desire. We do not always see it thus, but that is the reality. We who are given the gift of time in which to grow and change are often challenged to recall that He who provides the growth and the change is outside time. What is to us a work in progress is to Him a finished masterpiece. That is the way He looks upon His children. For, He is the God who declares the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). That is not a matter of being able to discern the difference. It is a matter of knowing the conclusion at the very outset. From the very first moment described to us in the first few words of Genesis – “In the beginning, God” – He was absolutely aware of all that would unfold in the history of man in general and in the history of each man individually.
He is the God who declares, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jer 29:11). He is the God who declares, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and I appointed you” (Jer 1:5). He is the God who declares, “You are My workmanship, created for good works. I have prepared you, and I have prepared those works for you to do” (Eph 2:10). He is the God who declares, “I AM at work in you, that you may both will and work for My good pleasure” (Php 2:13), and He is the God who declares, “I will perfect that work I have begun in you” (Php 1:6). He has a plan which I have been created and appointed to pursue, and because He continues to work in me, I know it shall be done. For, HE is faithful to complete it!
This is the assurance I have from my God, that He is faithful. It is not about me. I shall stumble. I shall certainly have my failings, as does every child of God of whom we have record. But, He is faithful, and because He has chosen to manifest His glory by mercy upon me, I can rest in the assurance that He will yet complete the work of sanctification in me. This leaves me hungry to speed the day. For, to know what I ought to be and to know myself far from being it, this is a pain and a sorrow to me. Yet will I trust Him, for He is faithful. Lord, God, glorify Yourself even in this humble life.
