Q: I read Mark 4:11-12 (New Living Translation) where "Jesus says 'You are permitted to understand the secret about the Kingdom of God. But I am using these stories to conceal everything about it from outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled'."
My question: It’s not clear to us why Jesus wanted to prevent outsiders from understanding. He says it’s so the Scripture might be fulfilled, but it still seems like we’re missing the full meaning. Wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to understand His teaching? Is it because the timing wasn’t right yet? (i.e. Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross yet to establish the new covenant).
A: Matthew gives a bit more context by quoting Isaiah more fully:
You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.
Which is from Isaiah 6:8-13, in which the context is Isaiah’s willingness to go and speak on God’s behalf: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
In the context of the passage, Jesus is talking about people who hear with their hearts. The parables, it seems, were written in a heart-specific language – the hearing is for those whose hearts are seeking God. To the one with even a little bit of an inclination to hear what God was saying it was granted. Those who are not seeking Him will not hear Him, even if he were to make it abundantly clear. Those who do not have a God-directed heart simply hear an interesting story that they will reject. In fact, their complete understanding could prove dangerous to the fulfilling of all Scripture.
How so? Wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to understand His teaching in plain language? Perhaps, except for those who, when they understood His claim of Deity, would seek to kill Him. The plan of God was not to be fast-tracked. The Pharisees and leaders were quick to seek Jesus’ death whenever His claim was clear.
My question: It’s not clear to us why Jesus wanted to prevent outsiders from understanding. He says it’s so the Scripture might be fulfilled, but it still seems like we’re missing the full meaning. Wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to understand His teaching? Is it because the timing wasn’t right yet? (i.e. Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross yet to establish the new covenant).
A: Matthew gives a bit more context by quoting Isaiah more fully:
You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.
Which is from Isaiah 6:8-13, in which the context is Isaiah’s willingness to go and speak on God’s behalf: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
In the context of the passage, Jesus is talking about people who hear with their hearts. The parables, it seems, were written in a heart-specific language – the hearing is for those whose hearts are seeking God. To the one with even a little bit of an inclination to hear what God was saying it was granted. Those who are not seeking Him will not hear Him, even if he were to make it abundantly clear. Those who do not have a God-directed heart simply hear an interesting story that they will reject. In fact, their complete understanding could prove dangerous to the fulfilling of all Scripture.
How so? Wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to understand His teaching in plain language? Perhaps, except for those who, when they understood His claim of Deity, would seek to kill Him. The plan of God was not to be fast-tracked. The Pharisees and leaders were quick to seek Jesus’ death whenever His claim was clear.
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