“And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Matthew 13:11-12 AMPC

I think i remember the first time i read these verses, quite young and not sure i was born again (reading it from the KJV didn’t help either, especially if read out of context). The advocate in me thought along these lines: “Sounds unfair. Why would more be given to those who have and those who didn’t have much would lose even the little they have?” Well, thank God He for His mercy (pardoning my ignorance) and that He appreciates honesty; i believe He saw that beyond my ‘verdict’ was just a desire to know…

Background: Jesus at the start of the chapter narrates to a large crowd what the KJV calls “The Parable of the Sower”, where a farmer planted seeds on different kinds of ground (the chief determinant of the yield), which produced a variety of results: some never made it deep into the ground, either because birds ate them or thorns choked them, some quickly sprouted because their roots were superficial and eventually gave out. For those that sprouted and remained, a variety of yield was obtained: 30%, 60% and 100% of what was planted (Matthew 13:1-9).

Jesus did not explain to the crowd what this parable meant, so His disciples asked Him and our focus verses for today was His reply. He then went on to explain in detail to His disciples what the parable meant (Matthew 13:10-18).

Point: It seems certain truths about God and His Word are revealed to those who acknowledge Him first and then the deeper you get to know Him, more would be revealed. It’s like reading the Bible as an unbeliever, nothing much ‘makes sense’. However, when you become born again i.e. alive spiritually, even though there is still very much to know, God’s Word is a lot more easier to assimilate.

I believe what Jesus meant by today’s focus verse can be illustrated by drawing parallels to getting a job and working for a company:

Usually, an applicant who aces his/her interview and lands the job must have thoroughly prepared by having the academic and/or other requirements, together with having a sound knowledge of the company, as much as he/she could. After being interviewed, he/she is given the chance to ask questions (one a random job seeker would not get). If a job offer is made and accepted, on resumption day, the former applicant now employee would be given a tour of the company and some information. As he/she works his/her way up and gets promoted, he/she’ll get yet more privileged information that is not readily available to junior employees, and also represent the company not only on official business, but in his/her personal life to an extent (ask anyone who got fired due to a social media post that doesn’t go with company values – although this is debatable but you get the point 🙂 ).

Similarly, the disciples who simply without opposition or hesitation followed Jesus when He called them, got privileged access to Jesus that a mere crowd did not, exampled in this instance by His explaining the meanings of His parables to them (Matthew 13:10-23). This principle is further buttressed in Matthew 16:13-20, where Jesus asked His disciples the people’s opinion of who He was and they responded with names of prophets or so. So, He went on to ask His disciples their opinion of Him and Peter replied: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16b KJV. Jesus went on to bless Peter, tell the disciples marvellous things about their spiritual authority and plainly told them what would happen to Him:

“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.” Matthew 16:21 NLT

I’d like to think you’ve experienced similar in your life; at least i have. It seems when i spend more time getting to know God through His Word especially, i get more insight. However, when i choose to neglect Him, it seems what i know depletes, bringing such thoughts as ‘I was more spiritual…what happened?’

Choosing to follow Jesus allows you to experience Him more, and what you do afterwards would determine how much more you get to know of Him and your access into His heart. Decide you’ll stick with Him till the end, by the grace of God, in Jesus name, amen. Then let your actions follow through.

God bless you🙂

© Lydia Ndagilaya for PneumaWord

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