Matthew 13: 10-17

Matthew 13: 10-13 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

The part that says whoever has will be given more, doesn’t suggest a kind of privileging in which, “the rich get richer”. Rather, it expresses a relational or spiritual truth: People who commit themselves to Jesus will grow in their understanding of God and ability to keep God’s law; those who refuse to commit themselves to Jesus will discover their interest in the ways of God withering.

Matthew 13: 14-17 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Jesus is further contrasting the uncommitted crowds with His disciples by citing the verses from Isaiah 6:9-10. Their ears were hard of hearing because they didn’t want to hear. That would have meant repenting and turning their lives over to God.

More Thoughts on Parables

Jesus called the parables “secrets of the kingdom of heaven”. He also said these secrets had been hidden through former ages even from God’s choicest prophets who prophesized, but often didn’t understand the meaning of their words.

In the Bible, a mystery is not secret hidden knowledge, but instead a truth that one can only come to know by God’s revelation. We can’t discover it on our own. So Jesus is saying, “I am revealing to you the mysteries, these vital truths.”

God’s intention was always to reveal these truths when the time was right. In Colossians 1:26 Paul refers to “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but its now disclosed to the saints.”

So while Jesus was disclosing mysteries, which had been hidden for ages, there would be people who heard the parables and wouldn’t understand them.

There are many people who don’t understand the Bible and therefore deny its power. It’s hidden from them because they depend on only human reasoning and experiences. They oppose God’s truth and as with the parables they are either too lazy or too indifferent to spend time studying it.

Why Did Jesus use Parables so Much?

Matthew chapter 13 shares 7 of Jesus’ parables. Why did He make it so hard for people to understand what He was saying?

Matthew 13 is a time in Jesus’ ministry when He changed the way He was doing things. At the beginning of His ministry Jesus preached in synagogs. This became increasingly difficult because the Pharisees and Sadducees were watching Him and ready to tear apart His message. So from this point on Jesus began speaking on seashores, in the desert, in homes and on the roads.

Jesus used parables to teach publicly, but veil the full meaning from all, but the people who really wanted to know.

Many of the people who were flocking to hear Jesus speak were basically indifferent to His message when it conflicted with their whims. According to Matthew 13:13 they heard with their ears, but chose not to respond with their hearts. The crowds were coming to see Jesus perform in a sense. To hear the latest “philosophy” or watch another miraculous healing. But, then they walked away without it having impact their lives.

This happens in church today too. Someone walks out the door and half the eyes in the congregation follow him. We nod and smile at the pretty music and then plan our afternoons during the sermons. Not always of course. Sometimes we get really caught up in it all and really do feel like we are worshipping God. But, do we take that feeling out the door with us? Are we listening, actively, with open hearts and minds? We need to hear the word of God and we need to put it into practice.

Parables draw the listener in. They cause him to really think, to discover the truth. I read somewhere once that His use of parables represented both judgment on a majority of His listeners and grace. Judgment because the parable conceals the truth from those too indifferent or prejudiced to understand its meaning. But, also an act of grace because He was still speaking to these people and parables were apt to stimulate a waning interest. Parables draw out a person’s desire to discover truth personally instead of being spoon-fed. So Jesus was giving His listeners another chance to respond to Him.