16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:16–17 ESV)
Jesus previously pronounced an oracle of blessing upon His disciple in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:1-12). He invoked a similar blessing in today’s text. It is because of God’s grace that New Testament believers in Christ are doubly blessed.
Today, believers in Christ live in the era in which many of God’s promised are fulfilled. These are promises of which Old Testament believers earnestly longed and hoped (Heb. 11:39-40).
“Some Jewish texts describe how the righteous in the Old Testament longed to see the era of messianic redemption and a fuller revelation of God. Making a statement about someone (here, Jesus) by blessing someone else (here, those who saw him in contrast to the blind of 13:15) was an accepted rhetorical technique of the day,” explains commentator Craig Keener.
Jesus’ disciples saw, heard and believed while the religious leaders did not see, hear, or believe. This is because of the Lord’s enablement upon His disciples. He gave them spiritual eyes to perceive and spiritual ears to understand the truth of the Gospel. This is because God regenerated their hearts by the monergistic work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:1-8; Titus 3:1-5). He continues to do so today.
“We have been given the unspeakable privilege of knowing Christ and His saving sacrifice through God’s revealed Word (Eph. 1:17–21). Through the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1–17, we learn that from Christ (the sower) we have been given the seed (the Gospel) to deliver it to the soil (the hearts of men). And we learn that all of this has been freely given to us by God who opened our hearts (Matt. 13:11a). Also, consider this privilege in light of its alternative, which is that this truth would be concealed (Matt. 13: 11b),” explains John Cobb of Ligonier Ministries.
“This privilege is unspeakable because God Almighty, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has chosen to open our eyes and ears, so that we may be able to see and hear the truths of His Word (Matt. 13:16). We are clearly shown that we are not saved by anything that is in us, but that the Lord Jesus has saved us by grace alone. This overwhelming and incomprehensible truth about our sinfulness and God’s grace should humble us to the point where we feel like Job and place our hands over our mouths and speak no more (Job 40:4–5).”
Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 