Matthew 13:14-21

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL HEAR and KEEP ON HEARING, BUT NEVER UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL LOOK and KEEP ON LOOKING, BUT NEVER COMPREHEND; FOR THIS NATION’S HEART HAS GROWN HARD, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE [tightly] CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND TURN [to Me] AND I WOULD HEAL THEM [spiritually].’ [Is 6:9] But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. [Luke 10:23, 24] I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. “Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower: [Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15] When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once welcomes it with joy; yet he has no [substantial] root in himself, but is only temporary, and when pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and falls away [abandoning the One who is the source of salvation].