“And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” Luke 8:9-10 ESV
Reflection: why are some still blind to the gospel, to secrets of the kingdom of God?
Jesus has just taught one of the most well known parables in all of scripture – the parable of the Sower. You have probably heard it, and we will look at some of it. But after he has spoken to the crowd, the disciples asks him to explain what the parable means. And Jesus first gives this somewhat cryptic response, from the prophet Isaiah, “And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’” Isaiah 6:9 ESV.
Does God reveal himself only to some?
At first glance, this seems very unfair, to some and not to others. I have struggled with this in the past, as it seems so counter to who God is. That is, only on the surface. But when we dig a bit deeper here, we will uncover a beautiful treasure, a truth about who He is.
You might be familiar with a similar strange phrase to the churches in the book of Revelation, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’” Revelation 2:7a ESV. To the one who has an ear, hear, is pretty obvious. Hard to hear without having hearing. We get that. But here is the key. Notice he says “what the Spirit says”. This is about hearing “in the Spirit”, what secrets the Holy Spirit is revealing. Notice also that he is speaking here to the churches, so clearly not all who say they are following have ears; meaning not all has the Spirit.
Now, let’s circle back to the parable of the Sower again. While Jesus spoke “to the crowd”, not everyone was actually interested in truly understanding what the parable meant, interested in the truth of it and the application into their lives. But the disciples were. And they therefore “asked him what this parable meant”. And here we get a deeper clue about their hearts, as Jesus tells them
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God”
We have seen man trying to distort truth from the very beginning. The revealing of the secrets of the Kingdom of God is therefore not granted to all. He only grants to those who truly seek, from a pure heart. Jesus said ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 ESV. It is God who sees to the motivation of our hearts. And if you think about it, why would He reveal something so pure, so holy as his Kingdom, to someone who would not honor it and glorify Him?
If He has revealed Himself, His kingdom to you, thank Him, thank Him, thank Him for granting this. And use your knowledge of the secrets of His kingdom, to honor Him and glorify Him, in everything you do.