ISAIAH 6:9-10 in the New Testament

This passage is used in the New Testament to state the purpose of the parables… …and parables are Jesus’ primary teaching tools! Why Isaiah 6:9-10?

Isaiah 6:9-10  And [God] said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.” (NRSV)

So where do we find it in the New Testament?

Mark 4:10-12  When [Jesus] was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’” (NRSV)

Mark 4:10-12  Isaiah and Mark were speaking to similar audiences  “The passage may have been composed after many people to whom the word had been proclaimed had rejected it. This discouraging situation is made bearable by interpreting it in terms of an authoritative text and by accepting it as a part of the divine plan.” (Hermeneia: Mark, 249)  Ultimately affirms that God’s plan is sovereign, even if God’s people do not respond

Mark 4:10-12  Do the parables “serve to harden outsiders” (Beale & Carson, 151)?  Beale & Carson connect this passage to Mark 3:23 (“How can Satan cast out Satan?”) and state that these together “indicate that the eschatological division of Israel has begin, and it all turns on one’s response to Jesus” (155)

Matthew 13:13-15  The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn – and I would heal them.’ (NRSV)

Matthew 13:13-15  Focuses on Israel’s “lack of seeing” (Hermeneia: Matthew 8-20, 247)  Matthew’s use of μήποτε (“so that”) “maintains Israel’s guilt and not God’s predestination. If Israel were to repent, then God would truly heal it!” (247)  Matthew does not want to let human beings off the hook for hearing God’s word (Beale & Carson, 46)

Romans 11:7-8  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a sluggish spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” (NRSV)

Romans 11:7-8  More in line with what Mark says  “Hope of future redemption” (Beale & Carson, 670)  If God brought about the inability to see and hear, can’t God remove it as well? (ibid)  “Because Israel’s heart is hardened, the eschaton is delayed, giving opportunity for the good news to go out to the Gentiles. The hardened heart, therefore, far from indicating failure, reveals God’s wisdom in bringing about a universal salvation.” (To Seek and Not Perceive, 89)

So many options, so few pages… IIsaiah & Mark IIsaiah, Mark & Matthew IIsaiah, Mark, Matthew & Romans IIsaiah, Mark & Romans IIsaiah, Matthew & Romans IIsaiah & Romans OR TThrow Luke and/or John in there somewhere

My Questions o Isaiah & Mark o Isaiah, Mark, Matthew & Romans o Isaiah, Mark & Romans  Is there value in looking only at Mark?  What are the benefits of comparing just the Gospel texts to one another?  Is it more valuable to present two different uses of the text or similar uses in two different passages?  If looking at two different uses: What are the ramifications of each?  If looking at two similar uses: Why do these sources agree?