When We stay Close to Jesus. Thursday 16th week Ordinary Time

Breakfast With the Word 16th week Ordinary Time of the year

 

Matthew 13:10-17

 

When We stay Close to Jesus

 

It is not a new thing today that having a good time with the Lord and coming close to Him has been seen by many as burden and waste of time.

 

True worship of God is becoming only by mouth and not by deed. The only way to know God and understand Him is to be close to Him. It is good to stay close to Jesus. It is when we come close to Him that His true nature, love, and will for you will be gradually revealed.

 

They went up to Him to Ask Him

 

Today the disciples of Jesus went up to Jesus to ask Him the reason He speaks to them in parables. And Jesus responded to them with intimate attention. Just like they asked him “Lord teach us how to pray” ( Luke 11:1-13).

 

The disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’

 

Jesus replies to them that ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to them, but they are not revealed to others.

 

Jesus says that the  reason He talks to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:

You will listen and listen again, but not understand,

see and see again, but not perceive.

For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,

their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,

for fear they should see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their heart,

and be converted

and be healed by me.

Then Jesus says to the disciples

“Happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

 

The Pointer

 

 

The point here is that Jesus loves His disciples and responds to any quest to increase their faith. When we stay close to Jesus, He satisfies our deepest hunger to know Him. It is good to stay close to Jesus. He will take you as His own. He will love you and teach you the secrets of the kingdom.

 

To You has been given the Secrets

 

1. The secrets of the kingdom are inner mysteries on the knowledge of God, understanding his salvific work, and realising the nature of God’s love for us. These are not meant for everyone but for those who humble themselves to be close to Him.

 

2. This indicates that understanding the gospel is something that is not made known by flesh and blood, but by the Spirit of God. This is a gift, given by the Spirit of God. It is not something you will wake up to interpret something we do not understand. We need the Holy Spirit. Many do not have time to listen to those trained in the Word of God but will be fast to download everything someone wakes up to write against Christianity. It is a pity. We need the Holy Spirit. When we stay close to Jesus, He will give us the Spirit of knowledge and understanding.

 

When We do not Understand

 

 

We look but do not see, hear but do not listen or understand because we are like the crowd, following Jesus up and down without inner disposition to know who he is. We do not understand because we are like mere church goers, but lack true and sincere devotion.

 

 

Sometimes, We go to God only for signs and wonders but when problems come, we turn our hearts away from God to find solution elsewhere because we are not true disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

When we understand that He loves us, nothing will make us lose faith in God.

 

Those who stay close to Him are blessed. It is then our hearts and spiritual eyes will be opened, we develop the hunger to eat his word daily.

 

When we stay close to Jesus, Like He always responds to His disciples, He will satisfy our hunger to know Him and then we begin to understand God in a different dimension.

 

Then, the way we talk about God and the way we see reality then begin to change. We can then stand firm despite the challenges and oppositions because we understand He who is our Shepherd.

 

Always stay close to Jesus, you will never regret it 

 

May God bless you dearest and give us the grace to continually come close to Him and encounter Him especially in our moments of crisis. Amen