Telling stories was a skill Jesus mastered. Most often, I think that His stories were designed to give people a tiny glimpse of what the kingdom of God means, what God is like and how God desires people to respond to Him.
In these two chapters, the Story of the Scattered Seed really exemplifies that. But it's interesting how some people just don't get it...even after Jesus explains what the story means. He tells the disciples:
"You've been given insight into God's kingdom—
you know how it works.
But to those who can't see it yet,
everything comes in stories,
creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight.
These are people—
Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Whose ears are open but don't understand a word,
Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."
Sometimes I think Jesus could have been frustrated. If I would have been in His shoes, at times, I would have wanted to say, "HELLO? Don't you people get it yet?!?"
But He had this overwhelming love for people. He had insight and understanding to try and meet them where they were at. I think in some cases, He felt saddened by their disarrayed states of blindness, deafness or stubborn pride. He made an effort to connect with these people through stories...hoping that the simplicity of examples would help them to see, hear and turn toward the truth.
Tomorrow: Mark 6-7
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