“10 When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that
‘they may look and look,
yet not perceive;
they may listen and listen,
yet not understand;
otherwise, they might turn back —
and be forgiven.'”
Mark 4:10-12
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This is one of those passages where, at first glance, Jesus sounds like He is purposefully leaving people out. It sounds like He is telling parables to keep people from understanding why He is teaching. But what we have to understand is that what Jesus is teaching at this moment is not some esoteric knowledge that anyone could have come up with through much study and research, but it comes by a revelation from God.

Jesus wasn’t keeping the mystery forever away from them. This passage in Isaiah reveals their heart condition and inability to hear what God has to say. The Kingdom wasn’t going to be some riddle that they could discern on their own, but a gift from God, a grace they couldn’t say they had earned through their works.

The disciples, uneducated in comparison to the Pharisees and scribes, were being given an insight by God that gave glory to Him and not to them. Once again, it wasn’t about us, but about God and His glory. Jesus was teaching in parables so that the understanding of what was being said came from God, not because of some human understanding or because they learned at the feet of Rabbi So-and-so. It’s not about prestige or titles, but about the mystery of God being revealed to mankind for the glory and honor of God Himself.

When we GoLove others, sharing the Gospel with them, we need to understand that they will not come faith or a knowledge of God because we have a fancy vocabulary or a convincing verbal repertoire. Any understanding humanity has of God comes from Him and the revelation of mystery that He affords. We simply need to be faithful in our delivery of His message and allow Him to do His work in His way in His timing.