15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them.

By this juncture in the disciples’ training, they should have been able to understand the parables of their Master. They had been slow to trust (“you of little faith” 14:31) and now were slow to learn (“Are you still so dull?). What caused the dullness? Did Jesus inadvertently select men of minimal IQs or with learning disabilities? Or were they lacking in basic seminary education or prior spiritual training necessary for understanding Jesus’ deep theological and philosophical insights? The example of Nicodemus negates those possibilities—he, being a highly educated Pharisee, approached Jesus under cover of nightfall and found himself on the “dull” side as well: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?’ ” (John 3:10).

The issue is not deficiency of mental acuity, but lack of spiritual acumen. The disciples’ spiritual sensitivities had been seared by long years of living under religious legalisms foisted on them by the religious hierarchy. Life was measured and the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of Israel’s religion) was watching like “Big Brother.” Lest we blame all on the Pharisees and scribes, it must be noted that the common people of Israel, for the most part, followed along willingly with their faulty view of spirituality, embracing it as a way of life.

The struggle was not only with the disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit, but continued on in the early church. Paul admonished the Galatians, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Gal 3:1-2). The Hebrew Christians likewise were rebuked, “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Heb 5:11-12).

Not judging those early Christians too harshly, we must include ourselves in the same category of “slow to learn” as well. How often does the Lord give us insight into the ignorance we portrayed in the past? Wisdom recognizes that the present may be the past we one day look back on with humility! “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Cor 13:12).

Lord, help me to grow in my understanding of Your Word. Human intellect alone is not enough, I need the enlightenment of Your Holy Spirit.