‘Response-able’ to respond

Hard sayings
Jesus’ parables were not stories that illustrated a preaching point, but sermons demanding a faith response from his listeners.

Verse 12 (quoting Isaiah 6:9,10) is one of those ‘hard sayings’ of the Bible. It may seem as if the disciples had been granted an unfair advantage denied to the crowds (v11). But it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to capture the tone of voice on the printed page.

Sowing without ceasing
When God sent Isaiah to a stubbornly unrepentant people, he spoke with irony, but also despair, yearning for his people to repent, yet realising that they were so hard of heart that they would not. The heart behind the harsh words was hurting and breaking, yet God keeps sending and speaking.

The Sower sows without ceasing.

Responding to Jesus
Yet Jesus recognises this same spiritual dullness in those who have rejected the invitation to become insiders in God’s kingdom. Responsibility equals response-ability.

We are each ‘response-able’ to respond to Jesus, and what Jesus demands is not superficial hearing or shallow acquiescence (vs 16–19), but acceptance leading to obedience (v 20).

 

‘Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those I do understand’ (Mark Twain). What have you understood today, and which you will obey?

We have seen that large numbers of people were attracted to Jesus, but it now becomes clear that only a few of them were ready to move beyond this initial attraction and draw close. Together with the apostles, these few made up the small band of Jesus’ first disciples, and it was to them that he explained the meaning of the parables (v 34).

Verse 12 may seem to suggest that God is making it impossible for some to welcome the good news of the kingdom of God. However, this makes nonsense of Jesus’ exhortation to everyone to listen carefully (v3). A more compelling explanation, in keeping with the original context of these words in Isaiah, is that they describe a consequence, not a cause. Those who continue to resist Jesus’ message will render themselves less and less able to comprehend it. In other words, it’s ‘a statement about judgement and not about predestination’¹ – a case of reaping what we sow. Paul’s warning in Galatians 6:7–11 provides an instructive parallel.

Church history demonstrates the prophetic quality of this parable, as does our own experience. We know people who fit the descriptions in Jesus’ story, and indeed we ourselves are vulnerable to the threats described by Jesus. This is why you and I have to take these warnings so seriously. What will prevent our faith in Jesus from being overwhelmed by these enemies? I doubt that it will be our friendship with other Christians, no matter how meaningful. Nor will it be our theology, no matter how sound. What is critical is our rootedness in the loving presence of Christ. This alone will teach us that no alternative will truly satisfy human need. To go elsewhere is futile, for only Jesus has ‘the words of real life, eternal life’ (John 6:68, The Message).

1 Ronald J Kernaghan, Mark, IVP, 2007, p88