What follows is the Lord’s explanation of why He spoke in parables. The people would not see while seeing. We have previously discussed that what they saw has a deeper meaning. They saw the Lord in a ship, from the sea, speaking to the land. That is a depiction of our time, in which Christ is among the nations (Col. 1:27) and the word comes from the nations to Israel.
This was hidden from the Hebrew prophets and is a reversal of what was openly foretold by the prophets. After all, Israel would be the head of the nations (Jer. 31:7) and through Israel the Kingdom would be established over all peoples (Dan. 2:44; 7:27). A promise that will still be fulfilled in the future.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, that seeing they will not see; and hearing they will not hear, neither will they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you will hear, and will not understand; and seeing you will see, and will not perceive.
15 For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they hear heavy, and they have closed their eyes; lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
hearing not hearing
The people would not only ‘seeing not seeing’ but also ‘hearing not hearing, nor understanding’. They heard a story about a sower, but they did not understand the meaning of this story. What they saw and heard was indeed registered by their senses, but they did not understand anything of it.
fulfilled or supplemented?
The word translated here as fulfilled is a different word than the one usually used. When prophecies are fulfilled, the word pleroo (G4137) is usually used, which has to do with making full, making complete (e.g. Matt. 1:22; 2:15).
The word used here is anapleroo (G378), and that is elsewhere translated as supplemented (1 Cor. 16:17).
multiple fulfillments
The idea is that speaking the parables is a fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 6:9-10. And if Israel had accepted the Messiah, this would have been the only fulfillment. But Israel rejected the Lord as Messiah twice. First during His life on earth and then after His resurrection. It is later, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, that Paul gives these words of Isaiah a definitive and complete fulfillment.
salvation to the nations
In the book of Acts we see how Israel and the Twelve increasingly disappear into the background and Paul and his gospel for the nations increasingly come to the fore. In Acts the door is closed for Israel. As a prisoner in Rome, Paul calls the chief of the Jews to him and then quotes the same prophecy of Isaiah as Jesus does in Matthew 13.
Acts 28
25 And they, disagreeing with each other, departed, when Paul spoke this one word, The Holy Ghost well spoke by Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and they hear hard with their ears, and shut their eyes; lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn, and I should heal them.
28 Let it therefore be known unto you, that this salvation of God was sent unto the Gentiles, and they shall hear.
until
In the time of Israel’s unbelief God would gather unto Himself a people out of the Gentiles (Acts 15:14). But in the future, Israel will come to repentance and be restored. We also find this in the prophecy of Isaiah 6. Isaiah asks God there: “How long, Lord?” How long would the people be blind and deaf in unbelief? God answers him and says: “Until…” (Isaiah 6:11)
Romans 11
15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?