Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
For the past two Sundays, the gospel reading has been from Matthew Chapter 13. This is a unique chapter because in it there are seven parables altogether. Over the last two weeks and today we have heard all of them – Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat, Parable of the Mustard Seed, Parable of the Yeast in the Dough, Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, Parable of the Treasure in the Field, and the Parable of the Net Thrown into the Sea. Because these parables so rich and meaningful, they draw all the attention. Sometimes, though, we have read between the lines.
However, between the seven parables are sayings of Jesus that are as important as the parables themselves. Today, instead of focusing on the last three parables, I would like to focus on three of these sayings and then connect them to today's three parables.
“Why do you speak in parables?”
After the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, the disciples asked “Why do speak in parables?" (Mt 13:10). Jesus’ answer is rather lengthy and some of it might puzzle us. There are three different answers. First, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Mt 13:11-12). No commentary I referred really addresses if this means that God is partial and unfair towards some. Partiality would compromise what makes us human - human freedom. Moreover, Scripture tells us that God cares for all. Hence, Jesus could not have meant that God is partial. We have to look at another explanation.
The Gospel of Matthew was written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. It was a tragic turning point in the history of God’s people. But it also raised the questions: “Why did it happen?” “Has God rejected God’s own people?” Once Christians were gradually excluded from the synagogues, they believed that they did not need the Temple because the death and resurrection of people ushered in a new era, new Covenant, and a new dispensation, and a new way to worship. But the question still plagued their mind. Why was Jesus rejected in the first place? Why was his ministry and message not received by some? Why was he crucified and killed?
The early Christians interpreted Jesus' parables of the Sower and the Seed and the parable of the Weeds among the Wheat to answer these questions. The reality was that Jesus came not just to save the Jews but the whole world. The Word of God was preached to all peoples just as the sower spread seed everywhere. But he was received well by some and rejected by others. Many of those who rejected him were God’s own people, whereas Gentiles being were receptive to his life and ministry.
Jesus gives a second reason for speaking in parables: “because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand’” (Mt 13:13). In other words, Jesus was trying to make the message of kingdom of God easy to understand for those who were finding it difficult to grasp. For example, the parable of the mustard seed or yeast in the dough, or the field with the treasure, or the pearl of great price are meant to help people understand what God was doing in their midst. Jesus is the yeast or the mustard seed whose life transformed the whole the world. Jesus is that pearl of great price. Through the parable Jesus was simply trying to get through so that those who look may see and those who hear may understand.
But Jesus was also saying that it is one thing to look and hear with eyes and ears but quite another to see and hear with the mind and the heart. Jesus' life, ministry, and message required a deeper level of looking, hearing, and understanding. Some did this and blessed are they. They left everything and followed him. For this, the disciples were blessed. They had become richer. Thus Jesus says, "To anyone who has more will be given; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Mt 13:12). There are the ones who did not go deeper than they could, even if they could. Jesus spoke in parables so that even people who did not go deeper might look beyond what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears.
“Whoever has ears ought to hear”
Twice between the parables Jesus says, “Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Mt 13:9,43). Biblical hearing is not merely hearing words. It is not even merely taking to heart. Biblical hearing requires a response. Clearly there were people who responded. The disciples were one such group of people. They left their boats, tax collectors posts, families, home and followed Jesus. Hence Jesus said to disciples and Matthew is saying to his community, “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt 13:16-17).
“Do you understand these things?”
At the end of the chapter, Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you understand these things?” they said, “Yes!” (Mt 13:51). Then, Jesus said, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old” (Mt 13:52).
Scribes in Jesus’ days were very influential people. While they had great knowledge of the Law and its interpretation, they also became the greatest obstacle for Jesus’ life and ministry. But there were scribes who has become disciples and who were, as Jesus said, “instructed in the kingdom of heaven.” They understood the newness that Jesus has brought. They admired the ancient Law and they understood Jesus fulfilled the old. They can bring out from the storeroom both new and old. There were able to see the continuity of God’s salvation from Abraham to Moses, to Jesus – the new and the old. He wanted the disciples to be like the scribes who were good at the Old and the New. Hence, he asked them, “Do you understand these things?” They said, “Yes.”
Three things to take home:
- Jesus and his reign are the treasure buried in the field. He is the pearl of great price. We cannot be like those who look but don’t see and hear but do not listen and understand. Our lives must revolve around Jesus and his mission. Let us people who have ears and hear.
- Our life is like a net in the sea. As we navigate through the world, our life is affected by both the good and the evil. Keep what is good, respond to God's work in the world with our lives, and let God handle the bad for you.
- If Jesus had to ask you, “Do you understand these things?” what would you say?” Let us keep our origin and our destiny in sight as we navigate the present meaningfully and with faith. Then we will be like the scribes who have been “instructed in the kingdom of heaven.” Then we can truly say, "Yes!"
- Fr. Satish Joseph