“That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”
So that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven — the Isaiah 6:9–10 citation is among the most difficult sayings in the Gospels. The purpose clause so that appears to make concealment God's intention. But the logic is better understood as the judicial hardening of those who have already rejected the prophetic message — God giving people over to the condition they have chosen. The otherwise they might turn and be forgiven anticipates the repentance and forgiveness that the parables make impossible for those who have settled into hardened resistance. The parables do not create the hardness; they reveal and confirm it.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a note on this verse
0/2000
No notes on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!