“The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” – Matthew 13:10

Why indeed. Jesus, the rabbi everyone is talking about, the one performing miracles and causing such a stir, comes out of the house and sits down by the lake. It is unclear how long he sits there before he has crowds gathered around him. Crowds. It is a big enough group of people that ochloi (ὄχλοι) is translated to crowds or multitudes, as the Greek word is in the plural form. (Note: I could only find a couple of translations, Good News and New Living Translation, that use the singular “crowd”).

At some point, the crowds became so large that he got in a boat to get some space from the multitudes. From that position, in a boat just off the shore, he sat and addressed the crowds who were standing on the shore.

I wonder what they were hoping to hear. Maybe some expected to hear another Torah-based rebuttal of Pharisee challenges to his actions, miracles, or proclamations. Maybe some were just there for another amazing miracle. Maybe some came bringing friends with infirmities or had infirmities themselves that they sought to have healed. Maybe some wanted to hear another teaching, or another profound instruction. Maybe some were hoping for an explanation of his recent statement about his mother and brothers – did he really mean to condescend his own family?

“A farmer went out to sow his seed.”

I wonder how many times people didn’t hear Jesus over the interjections of others in the crowd. “I didn’t come to hear about a farmer.” “Let’s try to go around the other side to get a better view.” “Do you think he’s going to do another miracle?” “Quiet, I’m trying to hear the rabbi.”

“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up,” Jesus continued. “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

And that was it. Jesus was done. Later in Matthew 19 we find a rich young ruler who left a meeting with Jesus sorrowful because he didn’t like the answer he received. Here, on the shore, with these crowds gathered all around, I wonder how many of them similarly went away sorrowful – or at least confused. The disciples, who were almost constantly by the side of Jesus, watching him, and watching the crowds, must have noticed this. It is very likely they too didn’t know why Jesus was talking about a farmer, but by this point they had heard Jesus speaking in stories often enough. He would speak in stories and just leave it at that.

Jesus explains to the disciples why he speaks “to them” (meaning those who are not his disciples) in parables.

In this explanation, which is found in Matthew 12:11-17, we have a section of the gospels that is so often glossed over. It is so much easier to just skip to the part when he explains the parable. It makes for a better, smoother sermon. After all, it is a powerful message about evangelism that is relatable to, and important to, Christians everywhere. And verses 11-17, like much of my writing, is an interjection that can be difficult to navigate and still get back to the meaning of the parable itself.

In what seems like a rare occasion where Jesus gives a direct answer, he explained why he spoke to the people in a parable. “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” I feel like so many Christians wish Jesus was simpler and more direct in some of his answers, but then he does this. It is a simple and direct answer – just not the one we want.

“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance,” Jesus continues to explain. “Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

This is not the inclusive message our culture wants to hear.

This is even sounds like the foundations for a Gnostic heresy where only a select few are given the secret knowledge. And a message of God taking things away from people who don’t have anything doesn’t sound like the loving God whose grace is for everyone.

Then Jesus quotes a prophecy from Isaiah that says understanding will be withheld from those whose hearts are calloused, who don’t want to listen, and don’t want to see the truth. Talk about a difficult scripture to preach or teach on. All those sinners who don’t want to hear about God or Christ or salvation or this gospel stuff – Jesus will withhold understanding from them. Why? Because, if they understood “they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them,” Jesus explains.

Wait. What? Hold on just a minute here. Jesus is keeping them from understanding because if they understood they would turn (repent) and he would heal them (save them). And here I thought, from almost every salvation sermon or evangelical preacher I have ever heard, saving sinners is exactly why Jesus died on the cross. What am I missing here?

Jesus continues, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

There it is. The disciples are blessed because their eyes and ears are open to seeing and hearing what Jesus has to show them and say to them. There is no secret knowledge. There are just those who want to learn and those who don’t. There is no exclusivity to the gospel. There are just those who desire righteousness and those who don’t.

Jesus explains his parable.

Because they want to see, they want to hear, and in their hearts, they want to understand. So many prophets and righteous people who came before the disciples longed to be right there where they were. The crowds, however, who gathered to see this amazing, mysterious, controversial rabbi, so much so that he was forced onto a boat to speak to them – they all left.

As harsh as it may sound, we cannot get around the truth that Jesus isn’t going to provide the “knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” to those who don’t want to know. Instead, this knowledge is for those who seek the truth and want to know about the kingdom of heaven. The “secrets” are only kept secret from those who don’t want to know. Essentially, Jesus will honor their decision, and he won’t tell them what they don’t want to know.

But, for those of us who desire the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven Jesus says, “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means”.

Many will come because they hear about the kingdom. They will be excited – willing. There will be deep emotions that spring up, and a desire at that moment for a change, but they won’t understand. They won’t comprehend what it really means to give your life to Christ, to devote your life to righteousness, and to give up all for the sake of the cross. For them, it will be simple for the evil one to whisper doubt, confusion, and lies that they have no defense against.

Others who come will receive the knowledge of the kingdom with joy. They will hear about this kingdom, and … that is it. Nothing more. They will not invest in the kingdom. They will not take the time or make the effort to dig into the Word of God. They will be happy with knowing the basics and have no desire to learn more. They stay like this until trouble or persecution comes along. Then they fall away. Some leave the truth all together. Others leave the truth, but they fool themselves by believing a fallacy and calling it Christianity. Becoming the ones Jesus speaks of who say Lord, Lord, but to whom Jesus replies “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Isaiah’s prophesy is more of a constant truth than a prediction of a future state.

I believe that what Isaiah prophesied was not a description of a time to come, or a people who would live hundreds of years after his time. I think that Isaiah’s prophesy was a truth about people, period. In every time, in every culture, there are people whose hearts have grown dull, whose ears can barely hear, and whose eyes have closed.

These are the ones whose hearts are hard like the packed sand of a path, or like rocky ground, or full of thorns. These people may take to Christianity at first. They may even take to it with a passion that looks like they are on fire with the Spirit. They do not, however, have ears to hear, eyes to see, or hearts to understand. At some point, they stop seeking God and fall away.

This desire to know more, to learn more about the kingdom of heaven, about our Lord and Savior – this desire to grow in the faith and knowledge of God – this is what we need to nurture in ourselves to continue in our walk with Christ. The sad truth is that the seed that is sown in the lives of so many fails to take root, grow, and produce fruit.

• When the disciples asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” Jesus answered that question, and other questions that they didn’t ask.
• Why does Jesus speak to the people in parables? Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have not been given to them.
• Why have the secrets of the kingdom of heaven not been given to them? Because their hearts are calloused, their ears hardly hear, and their eyes are closed.
• What if the secrets of the kingdom of heaven were given to them? Then they might see, hear, understand, and repent. If that happened, Jesus would heal them.

Why does Jesus explain the parable to the disciples? Because they are eager to hear, understand, and obey. Because they are good soil, ready to produce a crop thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.

Continuing in faith comes down to being a person of good soil. You see, when you read and try to understand all of what Jesus is saying here – not skipping over the hard part – you find that Jesus explains the parable to those with good soil. The good soil is “the one who hears the word and understands it.”