But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.The blindness and sin of the many shall not militate against the joy and blessing of those who heeded our Lord. Israel, as a nation, indeed rejected the Christ; but some of her more noble sons, including the apostles, shall receive the full measure of the heavenly gift. The principle holds for all who truly love and seek Christ. read more
For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.Here, as in Matthew 13:11, above, Christ referred to the hidden nature of God's eternal purpose for man's salvation. Paul frequently wrote of this, and a more particular attention to that "mystery" can be quite rewarding.The New Testament refers to these mysteries:The mystery of Christ and his church (Ephesians 6:32)... read more
Matthew 13:10-13. And the disciples came, &c.— See the note on Mark 4:10. The answer which our Lord here returns to his disciples is remarkable: "You, my disciples, says he, who are of a humble, docile, temper, and are content to use means, and to resort to me for the understanding of such things as I deliver, to you it shall be no disadvantage that they are clothed in parables; for, besides that I am ready to interpret every thing to you, my discourses are so ordered, as to become plain... read more
Matthew 13:14-15. And in them is fulfilled, &c.— See the note on Isaiah 6:9. The prophet's meaning is, that the Jews should certainly hear the doctrines of the gospel, without understanding them, and see the miracles which confirmed those doctrines, without perceiving the finger of God in them; not because the evidences of the gospel, whether internal or external, were insufficient to establish it, but because the corruption of their hearts hindered them from discerning those evidences: For... read more
Matthew 13:17. Verily I say unto you, That, &c.— This is what sets the disciples above all prophets, and renders them greatest in the kingdom of heaven. See ch. Mat 11:11 and comp. Psalms 119:174. Luke, ii 25, 29, 30 Matthew 10:23-24.John 8:56; John 8:56. 1 Peter 1:1-10 read more
13. Therefore speak I to them in parables—which our Lord, be it observed, did not begin to do till His miracles were malignantly ascribed to Satan. because they seeing, see not—They "saw," for the light shone on them as never light shone before; but they "saw not," for they closed their eyes. and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand—They "heard," for He taught them who "spake as never man spake"; but they "heard not," for they took nothing in, apprehending not the... read more
14. And in them is fulfilled—rather, "is fulfilling," or "is receiving its fulfilment." the prophecy of Esaias, which saith— (Isaiah 6:9; Isaiah 6:10 —here quoted according to the Septuagint). By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, &c.—They were thus judicially sealed up under the darkness and obduracy which they deliberately preferred to the light and healing which Jesus brought nigh to them. read more
16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your cars, for they hear—that is, "Happy ye, whose eyes and ears, voluntarily and gladly opened, are drinking in the light divine." read more
17. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired—rather, "coveted." to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them—Not only were the disciples blessed above the blinded just spoken of, but favored above the most honored and the best that lived under the old economy, who had but glimpses of the things of the new kingdom, just sufficient to kindle in them desires not to be fulfilled to any... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Matthew 13:14
And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them. - Isaiah 6:9,10; Acts 28:26,27Thus, as in everything... read more