Lest They Should Turn and be Forgiven
Jesus had just finished telling a very large crowd of people the parable of the sower. When Jesus “was alone, his followers, along with the twelve”1 came up to him to ask him to explain what he was talking about. Jesus responded by saying:
“Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?2
Jesus went on to explain the parable to them, (remember this point, we’ll come back to it) but first he explained why he taught the people in parables:
for those outside everything is in parables,
12 so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”3
In this verse Jesus seems to be saying he purposely speaks in parables so the people will not understand him. If they do not understand him they will not turn to be forgiven. It sounds like Jesus is hiding the truth from some people because he doesn’t want to forgive them.
Could this possibly be true? Is it possible there are people that Jesus does not want to forgive? Is Jesus hiding the truth from some people? Jesus said he would never turn anyone away who comes to him,4 but now it sounds like he is trying to prevent some people from coming to him.
Let’s dig into this a little deeper.
Quoting the Old Testament
First, we need to recognize that Jesus is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10:
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
This came during Isaiah’s commissioning as a prophet and it appears to be a condemnation of the people for their already hardened hearts. It is a state of the nation speech, for lack of a better term.
The first five chapters of Isaiah are a warning of the coming judgment of God because of the people’s hardened hearts, with a prophetic hint of the Kingdom to come for the remnant that is faithful.
In chapter six God commissions Isaiah as a prophet to warn the people. However, God knows the hearts of most of the people are too hardened for them to heed the warning from Isaiah, but God is telling him to keep speaking his word anyway.
God seems to be telling Isaiah to go and spread the word of God, and if they continue to ignore or reject it they have no excuse when they are judged. God is putting culpability on those who reject the word due to their hardened hearts.
I think we get another hint of this in Ezekiel:
19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”5
None of them will have an excuse for not listening, both to Ezekiel in this case and to Isaiah in the former.
Back to the New Testament
Jesus was quoting Isaiah, and like Isaiah he was also speaking about the hardened hearts of the people. But it’s more than that, in Matthew 13:14-15 we see that Isaiah’s prophesy has been fulfilled through Jesus because the people’s hearts have indeed remain hardened.
14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
In Matthew we see that Jesus would heal them, he would forgive them, but because the prophesy of Isaiah has been fulfilled most of the people no longer want, or believe they need, to be forgiven.
Jesus is speaking in parables but the real problem is the people do not have the heart to try to understand what he is saying. They were not honestly seeking him, just as they were not seeking God in Isaiah’s time.
Revelation
This idea of culpability did not end when Jesus ascended into Heaven. It carries right on to today, where the hearts of many people might be more hardened than ever, and it will carry on through to the parousia.
After John had written most of the book of Revelation, with all of its woes and tribulations, trumpets and bowls, wars and famines, the Angel of the Lord told him not to seal the book.
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.6
Again, there is this idea that the people have been warned and the culpability for their actions is on them. Even after all that has happened in Revelation they still refuse to listen.
God has been warning us throughout the Bible that there will be judgment, and nobody will be able to claim ignorance. People know what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil because the law is written on their hearts. If they choose to continue to live ungodly lives they will be judged harshly.
The idea of judgment is not popular in today’s feelings-based world of subjective morality, however judgment is coming and nobody will escape it.
But there is good news.
Turn and be Saved
What it comes down to is this: yes, Jesus does want to forgive people. However, they must want to be saved. Jesus understands that not all people will turn to him to be saved. Not all who call out to Jesus saying Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom.7 Only those who truly have Jesus in their hearts.
Now we come back to the point I asked you to remember at the beginning. When Jesus’ followers, along with the twelve, came up to him and asked him to explain the parable he did. Why? Because these were the people who were honestly following him. They were the ones who were seeking him. They were the ones who turned and have been forgiven because they were part of the faithful remnant.
Forgiveness is ours for the asking, all we have to do is confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.8
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, or does your heart remain hardened? If you have not, will you turn and be saved? Or will you face the judgment you have been warned is coming?
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