Thursday, 16^th Week in ordinary time – 23^rd July, 2026 – Matthew 13:10-17

Chapter 13 is the third of the five major bodies of teachings found in the Gospel of Matthew. This section has seven parables and uses examples from everyday Palestinian life that involved farming, trading and fishing.

The parables show how God’s kingdom operates in the world. They also challenge listeners to live by its principles through difficult times until God’s ultimate purpose is fulfilled.

The word ‘parable’ appears twelve times in chapter 13 and one-third of the teaching of Jesus are in parables. A parable comes from a Greek word which means ‘to throw alongside.’ That is, basic to the parable genre is the notion of comparison; one entity is set alongside something else to be illuminated by the comparison.

Scripture tells us that the parables were given ‘that same day’, namely the Sabbath which we learn of in Chapter 12. Chapter 12 narrates several narratives of Jesus’ conflicts with the Pharisees, who are now plotting to destroy him (12:14) and have accused him of working for Satan (12:24).

 By the end of chapter 12, Jesus appears to be at odds even with his own family (12:46-50). In spite of the personal attacks of the Pharisees against him in 12:24 and his own rejection by his family members, Jesus chooses to carry on teaching and working; he did not let the barbs of the religious establishment get to him.

Yesterday, because we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of Magdala and being a feast day it had privileged texts at the Eucharist. It is for this reason that the first of the seven parables is skipped and we arrive at verses 10-17.  

In the text of today, Jesus has just concluded the first of the seven parables found. The disciples ask Jesus why he speaks to a certain ‘THEM,’ when he uses parables to communicate his message. While I will address who the ‘them’ is, it would be good to hypothesize what was behind this rather curious question.

Perhaps to the mind of the disciples, the presentation of the parable of the ‘soil’ (read previous reflections why I say this) could have been presented in a more scholarly way as the rabbis did. Perhaps, Our Lord could have just dropped the storytelling and gotten to the heart of the matter.

In all probability, the disciples were referring to the Pharisees of chapter twelve as the ‘them’ in verse ten. Their question to Jesus would read, “Why do you speak to the Pharisees in parables?” The answer of Jesus fits in better if we safely assume the ‘them’ to be the Pharisees and this is with good reason, especially when we read this chapter in the context of the attacks on Jesus by the Pharisees in chapter twelve.

It is to the simple and worldly unwise, that Jesus has given the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. If you have any difficulty believing this then all you have to do is to search the annals of history to see that this is a fact. History may be written by the powerful, but the kingdom is inherited by the unassuming.

From the apparitions in Fatima to the ones in Velankanni. From the Popes who sit on the throne of Peter to this author who could not pass his standard seven math examination. God has chosen those who are considered foolish in the eyes of the world and made them his witnesses. True wisdom doesn’t require a resume, just a relationship

Christ is unapologetic with his criticism of the Pharisees. He was never interested in managing their egos, only in exposing their hypocrisy.  They have not and will not receive the secrets of the kingdom. They may claim to have ‘knowledge’ but that it seems, is a figment of their imagination; they ‘do not know the scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29). Christ is emphatic, for him the Pharisees are no more than ‘empty vessels’ who know nothing. To add insult to injury, he says that he will take away even that ‘nothing’ from them. (13:12)

It is not without reason that Christ takes on the Pharisees. These were the ‘separated ones;’ the religious elite who set themselves as desirous of being pushed to a higher calling. What they ended up being is not righteous but self-righteous. They became so consumed with looking holy that they forgot how to be human.

Christ now accuses them of, seeing (the works he has done) and yet not perceiving (who he is). Of hearing, (his words) and yet refusing to listen. The problem wasn’t that the words were too quiet, but that their hearts were too hard. They didn’t miss the message; they dismissed it. Having traded their capacity to hear for the comfort of control, they now face judgment—guilty of choosing blindness in broad daylight.

 The Pharisees were too buried in heavy theological jargon and religious traditions to find joy in a simple, down-to-earth faith. They rubbished Jesus’ parables as absolute gibberish, completely missing the kingdom secrets that ordinary minds welcomed with open arms. Heaven’s deepest secrets, it turns out, have always been kept in the humblest hands.

Christ continues to speak to us! While theologians have their places in their hallowed study halls of technicality and hair-splitting definitions of the faith and scripture, Our Lord is often heard the loudest by a humble preacher who speaks from his heart and wins over a sinner for heaven. Ink belongs in books, but the Spirit belongs in hearts.