Upon first reading, it sounded like Jesus didn't want certain people to convert, but that didn't make sense. After further immersion into the original Isaiah passage in the NASB, what I gathered is that simple recitation and memorization of the scripture is not the way to serve the Lord. You have to understand God's word to live it.
As an example - does anybody truly heed the Pledge of Allegiance? Would you lay your life down to protect a piece of cloth? Many have and will lay their lives down "to the Republic for which it stands", but the Pledge is an AND proposition - the Flag AND the Republic. You're saying that you will give or take a life in order to protect a piece of cloth. You say it twenty times a month or so. Blindly. Rotely. Rhythmically. It means jack squat.
The same thing can happen with Bible verses. Reading and memorizing them is all fine and good, but if you don't consider what they mean, all you're doing is filling up your mental hard drive. In Biblical times, back before literacy was a popular thing, the only way for the masses to remember scripture was through memorization as repeated by their temple leaders. Since they spent all their mental energy on memorization, many of the citizens failed to comprehend the meaning. Through the generations, those who memorized the scripture most accurately were promoted through the highest ranks of the temple, which compounded the problem of emphasis on memorization over understanding more and more throughout the generations until Jesus came to set the record straight.
Isaiah told you kids to watch out, but when Jesus came along... well... your Father came home.
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