“And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”” Mark 4:11-12 ESV
Reflection: why does God appear to make a difference between people, some being given the secrets of the kingdom, while others on the outside are not?
Do you remember the parable of the sower? We see in the parable that the Word, the truth, is sown generously, but only some bear fruit from it. Why is that? We have just studied the first three chapters of Mark, and in chapter 4, we see a shift. Mark covers only a few select parables, starting with the sower. And Mark makes a point that Jesus spoke extensively to the crowds using parables “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.” Mark 4:33-34 ESV. Why would he do that? Why not explain the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to everyone, to the crowds?
This is such a difficult concept for us to think through.
Because on the surface it seems to make God somewhat “exclusive” as opposed to “inclusive”. But looking at the focus verses, Jesus is clearly saying that, while many receive the word, only some are chosen for the kingdom of heaven. That thought seems to go against much of our general thinking of God, such as “““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV. (Just to clarify, the word “world” is the Greek word kosmos, which has multiple meanings. God doesn’t love the world system; the reference here is to the multitudes, the inhabitants of the earth). And, Jesus came as a savor of the world, the multitudes, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” 1 John 4:14 ESV. The new covenant that He established, the “New Testament”, was for all mankind, who receive Him; who believe in His name.
So how do we reconcile this?
Jesus gave us another parable that might help us better understand. He said ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”Matthew 13:45-46 ESV. There is a deep idea here of understanding the value of the treasure found in the gospel, to the point of being willing to give up all else for this treasure. And, the more we understand of the value of the treasure, the more is being revealed. It is in a way God sharing a bit at a time with us, and, in a way, observing how we handle it. And this idea is really not that foreign to us, when we start thinking about it.
Say you have just made a new friend. You might share a little bit about yourself to this new friend, to start building a relationship with them. And, depending on how they handle your trust in them, you might share more and more, until you have established a deep relationship. It is iterative, it is how we build relationships. And, a bit in the same way, we see Jesus doing the same here, as He tells His closest followers, His disciples “And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables”. With that in mind, we can better understand the parable of the sower. Let’s read it.
““Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”” Mark 4:3-8 ESV. We can see here all sorts of truths about spiritual battles, about our own responses to receiving the truth (the seed), and what we do about it. And, we see that, although God generously spreads the truth, so many are missing the whole point of the truth given to them by God.
So what is the whole point?
“so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”” Mark 4:12 ESV. It is all about being able to receive and accept the truth, the pearl, to turn around and repent, in order to receive forgiveness. To be “saved”. To become a disciple of Christ. Jesus called His disciples, and they chose to follow Him. They were “chosen”, because of their response to His calling. He didn’t reveal everything to them at the beginning. This was iterative, it took them quite a while for them to start getting it. As it is with us. And, then He shared more with them as they were ready. But, even being that close to the truth, to Jesus, one of them rejected Him and even betrayed Him. For those who refuse or reject the truth about themselves and God, it almost has an opposite effect on them. They see but cannot perceive, they hear, but cannot understand. Their hearts become hardened, or “fattened”, as Isaiah wrote.
So many are rejecting the truth, or it is being distorted and taken away from them. How are you responding to the truth He is revealing to you?
