Fat Hearts

And the disciples approached and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 

He answered and said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 

For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: 'Hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive. 

For the heart of this people has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn back, that I should heal them.' 

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
Mat. 13:10-16.

Dull Hearted People

To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more shall be given.  It is easy to read this as though God has called some to know the mysteries and others have not been given that opportunity.  However, that is not what is meant.  About the Jewish people, Isaiah said their eyes have they closed. Isaiah 6:10.  The choice is always the human's; they chose to live with their eyes and minds closed.  Christ's disciples, right from the start, were willing to accept His teachings and consequently to the disciples more shall be given.

but to them it has not been given.  In this case, He was probably speaking of the Pharisees because they were totally against the Messiah's doctrines.  The Pharisees are by no means the only people with closed minds; we run into this in any church setting; people who know their church's statement of faith will cling to it without ever studying what it actually means or why the creed designers chose the words they did; even what they have shall be taken away from them.

• For the heart of this people has become dull (in place of dull the KJV has is waxed gross which means, to fatten (figuratively stupefy or render callous). Strong G3975. 
• and their ears are hard of hearing, 
• and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 
• lest they should understand with their hearts and turn back, that I should heal them. 

They purposely did not listen to any new doctrine brought by Christ; they closed their eyes to the truth; they did this because they were afraid they might change their minds and finally see the truth. The status quo is much more comfortable and easier than thinking and rearranging one's beliefs.  

Believe what you believe is right but not without studying what you say you believe.  If it is buried, I must search. The gold is not going to un-dig itself. Focus on the Kingdom; Nov. 2017.  A simple look at church theology shows us that theologians have a knack for being wrong.  Why do you believe that your own pastor is doctrinally faultless?  Study the Bible to check out what he/she preaches.  If you do, Christ will say to you blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

A Change of Scene

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gadarenes. Mark 5:1 

And when He got out of the boat, immediately there met Him from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs. 5:2-3

But seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran and worshipped Him, and crying out with a great voice he said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? 5:6-7

And he was imploring Him many times that He would not send them out of the region. 5:10-13

Then they began to implore Him to go away from their region. 5:17  

The Demon's Request

But seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran and worshipped Him, and crying out with a great voice he said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, (the name Jesus is omitted in many manuscripts), Son of the Most High God?

Demons know their place and they know that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God.  The demon did not like it that Christ came to his territory.  It sounds as if the demon is saying, I did not come to bother you in your country so why did you come to bother me in mine?

When Israel captured Palestine, after wandering in the desert for 40 years, half of the tribe of Jacob's grandson, Mannessah, took possession of the land East of the Sea of Galilee.  Later when the Assyrians conquered the northern tribes of Israel some of the Assyrians moved into that part where half the tribe of Manasseh had been at home. 

The Jews of that area had already left the worship of Jehovah in exchange for foreign gods but the arrival of the Gentiles made it official that they were a heathen nation.  The people of that area were called "The Gadarenes". 

We had that short look at history to set the stage.  Christ went across the Sea of Galilee into Gadara and immediately He met a demon-possessed man and Christ cast a demon out of that person.

However, it was not quite that straight-forward.  

The demon requested Christ not to send him out of that country.  It seems strange that a demon would care where he lives.  It has been suggested that the demon felt more at home among the Gentiles than he would have in the land where some people still worshipped Jehovah.

We, North Americans, on the whole, have left off worshipping Jehovah.  We have no qualms with jesting about evil spirits; we love to watch movies about them; We think they are a joke.  

That will change when the presence of God's spirit is even more diminished in our society than it is now.  The demons will feel at home and move right in and inhabit humans.

When we hear of those individuals who purposely slaughter as many people as possible it is hard not to believe that they are demon-possessed.

Then they began to implore Him to go away from their region.  When the people of Gadara heard that the man who had been demon-possessed had been cured they came to see Jesus and while they were there they asked Him to leave their country.  People then, as well as people now, must either accept the teachings of Christ or they will feel very uncomfortable in His presence and they will tell the Christian teacher to leave.