Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“[Jesus said] ‘Let anyone with ears listen!’”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, January 24, 2020
by R. Fergus Moir, Clergy Stuff
The disciples had ears, but they still didn’t get it. They had to pull Jesus aside and ask him to explain the parable of the sower, and lots of other parables after that. The writer of Matthew then goes into a bizarre explanation of why Jesus spoke in parables, in which Jesus said that only those who are chosen will be able to understand them. But this seems a complete contradiction, since those who are chosen seem completely mystified until Jesus explains things to them.
The truth of the matter is that God is a mystery. That no human being, so-called “chosen” or otherwise, can comprehend God. This mystery is an invitation to all of us to dig deeper, to ask questions, to get to know God through reading the Word in community, hearing it preached, struggling with its sometimes challenging passages, like this one.
Thus no one should ever be tempted to think that he or she is among those “chosen” to understand. Instead, each of us should approach God’s Word humbly, accepting of our own inability to fully grasp God.
O Great Mystery, continue to invite me to discover you in the Word. Amen.
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