Matthew 13:14-15

And in them is fulfilled, &c.— See the note on Isaiah 6:9. The prophet's meaning is, that the Jews should certainly hear the doctrines of the gospel, without understanding them, and see the miracles which confirmed those doctrines, without perceiving the finger of God in them; not because the evidences of the gospel, whether internal or external, were insufficient to establish it, but because the corruption of their hearts hindered them from discerning those evidences: For this people's heart is waxed gross, &c. In Isaiah the passage is worded somewhat differently, Make the heart of this people fat, &c. Now this form is peculiar to the prophetical writings; implying no more than an order to the prophet simply to foretel that the Jews would make their own hearts hard, sensual, proud, and stubborn; and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, &c. They would shut their eyes against the miracles, and their ears against the doctrines of the Gospel, as if they were afraid of being converted and healed; having the strongest aversion to hear or see what was contrary to their inclination. See Jeremiah 1:9. Ezekiel 43:3.Genesis 41:13. This prophesy, therefore, and its citation, are exactly the same; only the prophesy represents the thing as to happen,—Make the heart of this people, &c. whereas the citation represents it as already come to pass,—This people's heart is, &c. "This people have made themselves so wicked and proud, that they will neither hear nor see any thing opposite to their lusts, so that they appear as if they were resolved not to be converted." This interpretation of the prophesy, and of its application made by St. Matthew, is confirmed by Isaiah himself, ch. Matthew 6:11. "Then said I, Lord, how long? How long are they to be in this miserable condition? And he answered, Till the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate; their blindness is to remain, till utter destruction falls upon them as a nation, overturning the constitution of their church and state." It is confirmed also by the subjects of the parables to which our Lord applied this prophesy: For, had he told the Jews plainly,what he told them in an obscure manner by the parable of the sower, namely, that a principal part of the Messiah's office was to instil the doctrines of true religion into the minds of men, and that the chief effect of his power on earth should be to set them free from the tyranny of their lusts, that they might become fruitful in goodness; had he plainly declared what he insinuated in the parable of the grain of mustard, which grew so great, as to shelter the fowls of heaven under its branches,—that the Gentiles were to be governed by the Messiah, not as slaves but freeborn subjects, and to enjoy all the privileges of his kingdom on an equal footing with Jews; had he taught them plainly, what he insinuated obscurely, by the parable of the sown seed, which sprung up silently; and by the parable of the leaven hid in a quantity of meal;—that the kingdom of the Messiah was neither to be erected nor supported by the violence of war, but by the secret force of truth, whose operation, though strong, is imperceptible;—I say, had our Lord taught his hearers these things in plain terms, they would have rejected them, been greatly offended, and probably have forsaken him altogether; so opposite were the doctrines mentioned to their favourite notions and expectations. In the meantime, if it be asked why he handled such subjects at all, since he delivered them in terms so obscure? The answer is, it was expedient for the confirmation of the Gospel, that he himself, in hisown lifetime, should give some hints of the nature of it, and of the reception it was to meet with, because the Jews, comparing the events with these parabolical predictions, might be disposed thereby to acquiesce more peaceably in the admission of the Gentiles into the church, without subjecting them to the Mosaical institutions; a thing which they were not brought to do but with the utmost difficulty. See Macknight,and more in the note on Mark 4:11. Dr. Doddridge renders these verses, And in them is the prophesy of Isaiah fulfilled, which saith, By hearing you shall hear, but you shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, but shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown stiff with fatness, and they hear with heavy ears, and draw up their eyes [as if they were more than half asleep], lest at any time they should see, &c.