"And He began to teach again by the seashore. And such a very great multitude gather before Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and all the multitude were by the seashore on the land. And He was teaching them many things in parables." (vv. 1-2a)
"And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to the, ‘To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return again and be forgiven.’" (vv. 10-12)
"And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them as they were able to hear it; and He was not speaking to them without parables, but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples." (vv. 33-34)
"Life eternal have but perish not should him in believes whoever that Son begotten only His gave He that world the loved so God for." Do you agree with that? Did you hear what I said? Did you really hear? Sometimes we hear but don’t hear. What you just heard were all the words to John 3:16, backwards. You heard them. They were all there. But you really didn’t understand. You weren’t tuned in to what I was doing. Your mind is programmed to hear those words in a different order. You would have understood what I said had I said it forwards instead of backwards.
Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." It is possible to hear with our physical ears and not hear with our ears of understanding. We’ve all experienced this in many ways. Sometimes it can be rather dangerous. For instance, when your wife informs you of an important event, and you grunt to acknowledge the sound reaching your ears, but never really heard, it can cause problems.
Ears to hear are what we need to understand the spiritual truth necessary to live our lives. Not everyone has ears to hear. Our ears can become clogged by the wax of worldliness to the extent that we fail to hear what the Spirit is trying to communicate.
As we look at our text, we find that Jesus, up to this time, had been teaching openly to His disciples and the crowds. But suddenly, He changes His tactics. Instead of openly declaring the truth in plain language, He begins to teach the masses in parables. In this chapter, chapter 4, it says that "without a parable He did not speak to them."
But why did He change? What happened to prompt Him to begin to use this method of teaching? Why should He suddenly change His presentation? Surely there could be no more effective way of declaring the truth than with words easily understood.
There is much we can learn from this account about human nature, and how we respond to God. There are a number of important lessons in this passage of Scripture which will help us to not only hear with our physical ears, but to hear with the ears of understanding. Contained in this passage of Scripture is important instruction which can enable us to tune in to God’s channel. We can become spiritually discerning if we heed the lessons found in our text.
In order to fully understand why Jesus began to teach I parables, we need to read not only the account in Mark, but also the parallel passages in both Matthew and Luke.
"And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ And He answered and said to them, ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, "You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn again, and I should heal them." But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’" (Matthew 13:10-17)
"All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He was not talking to them without a parable, so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.’" (Matthew 13:34-35)
"And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable might be. And He said, ‘To you it is granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables; in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’" (Luke 8:9-10)
"Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, in order that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that shall not be evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. Therefore take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he things he has shall be taken away from him." (Luke 8:16-18)
The first thing we need to see is a principle of revelation. The purpose for which Jesus taught was to impart revelation to the people; revelation of who God is, and revelation of His redemptive purpose.
In verse 11, Jesus speaks of two classes of people. "And He was saying to them, ‘To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables.’" There are those to whom is given the secret of the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that to them, the disciples, was given the secret of the Kingdom. They were the first class of people. We shall see in a moment why they were granted such special privilege. But there was also a second group. These were those who were outside. They could only be taught in parables. Jesus would not reveal the secret of the Kingdom to them openly, but they would have to deal through the veil of parabolic teaching. But why?
The answer is that their hearts had grown hard. In verse 12, we catch a glimpse of the reason Jesus changed His method of teaching. It is only a glimpse because we must look to the fuller account of Matthew for the complete view. Matthew tells us that the hardness of heart was the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied years earlier. Matthew 13:13-14 says,
"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, "You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the hearing of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn again, and I should heal them."
The people had turned away from hearing and obeying the word of the Lord. That is what it means when it says that they heard and did not hear, saw and did not really see. They did not want to really hear and see the truth of God because they might have to do something about it. They might have to repent of their sins and be healed.
It is amazing that someone would not want to be healed. But, in fact, many do not. It is not that they like to remain in their sins, but they just do not want to obey the voice of God. They want to go on doing their own thing, walking their own way, serving their own self. So their heart grows hard to the word of the Lord.
That was what had happened to the people. Their hearts were not open to the truth, so Jesus could not reveal it to them plainly. But the disciples were open to it. That is one of the reasons He called them. And incidentally, that is what sets apart those who go on with the Lord from those who do not.
Jesus desired to impart the revelation of the Kingdom of God to the people. Some, whose hearts had grown hard were rejecting the plain teaching of that truth. So Jesus changed His method of teaching from one where He spoke plainly to one where He spoke in parables. He did this both to reveal the truth to those whose hearts were opened, and to hide the truth from those who were unwilling to hear it.
We have seen the revelation Jesus desired to impart and the resistance to that revelation on the part of those whose hearts were hard. Now, let us look at the principle of receptivity to the revelation of God.
Only those who are open to hear can hear. That is a truth we must understand. In verse 25 it says, "For whoever has, to him shall more be given. . ." Only as we are open to God to hear and receive and act upon His word can we ever receive further revelation from Him. You may have heard it this way: "We will only receive new light as we walk in the light we already have." It means the same thing. And it is a principle of the Kingdom.
In Matthew 11:25, Jesus says, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes." The revelation of the word of God is reserved for the babes; those who come to Jesus open and trusting, ready to receive from Him all He wants to give. But those who think they know, those who have it all down pat, they do not see or hear. It takes humility of mind and heart to receive from God. And the measure of truth we get is the measure of truth we walk in. For only as we walk in what we know do we get more. What measure do we live in? That measure, we get.
This is what some call the "Law of Use." Let’s look at the entire context of this law.
"And He was saying to them, ‘A lamp is not brought to be put under a peck-measure, is it, or under a bed? Is it not bought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you; and more shall be given you besides. For whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.’" (vv.21-25)
This passage is talking about hearing the truth and what you do with it after you have heard it. Jesus is saying that He has not come to hide the truth, but to reveal it. But there is a condition. It takes ears to hear in order to hear that truth. In other words, we must have a receptive spirit towards God. But even when we hear, we must do something with what we hear. Luke says, "Therefore, take care how you listen." How you hear and what you do with it will determine what you receive. It’s the Law of Use: use it or lose it.
It is like trying to use your arm after having it tied to your side for several months. If you do not use it in that period of time, it will atrophy. In other words, you will not be able to use it, no matter how much you try. You either use your muscle, or you lose the ability to use it. In order for muscle to grow strong, it must be used. In order for faith to grow strong, it must be used. In order to keep from losing the light, you must walk in the light.
The word of God itself will become an offense to us if we do not obey it. The Bible says, "They stumble at the word, being disobedient."
God has built these principles into the Kingdom. When we neglect to exercise ourselves spiritually, we lose the use of the spiritual dimension in our lives. When we are hearers of the word only and not doers, we deceive ourselves and lose the measure of truth we think we have. I like the way Luke puts it. In Luke 8:18, it says, "Therefore take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him." You see, it is only what he thinks he has that gets taken away, because he does not really possess it unless he practices it.
The principle of receptivity says that unless we are open and receptive to hear and do the word, we will never even hear it. We will never be tapped in to the secret things of God unless we are really willing to do His will. Hearing the word is not a function of our physical senses; nor is it even a function of our intellect. Rather, it is a function of the condition of our heart. If our heart is toward God, if our will is surrendered to Him, then we will hear the word. The truth isn’t intellectually discerned; it is morally discerned. When our hearts are right with God, God will impart His truth.
Let’s turn our attention now to something I call the principle of reappraisal. The disciples were privy to the secrets of the Kingdom. Their hearts were open toward God. Many of the religious leaders were not privy because their hearts were hard. But what about the masses who were simply confused? Would this parabolic teaching confuse them even further? If they could not understand the plain teaching of Christ, how could they understand His teaching in parables? Didn’t Jesus care about them? Certainly He did.
It is precisely because of their condition that He changed His method, so that they may come to the truth. You see, Jesus did not want the multitudes to perish. He did not hide the truth in these word-pictures so as to deprive them of it. Rather, He veiled the truth slightly so that they might look into what He was really saying and see the truth more clearly. Jesus’ parabolic teaching was really motivated by mercy.
Remember, the crowd had been rejecting the plain message. It was too straightforward for them. Their hearts would not allow them to see it. So Jesus gave them a new way to see it; a way which was graphic and easy to remember – the parable. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this was a word-picture. Perhaps as they became interested in the meaning of it, they would come to a realization of the truth of the parable and their hearts would be turned to the Lord.
Jesus stimulated their curiosity to discover the secret meaning of the parable. Perhaps these inquisitive people would muse over the parable until the Spirit spoke to their hearts about the Lord.
When Jesus was speaking openly, the Scribes, Pharisees and other religious leaders were picking at the plain meaning of the words, trying to discredit or trap Him in an error. Now, through this veiled method of teaching, perhaps the truth could become real to the multitudes as their hearts became open to the Lord. It was out of His mercy that Jesus changed his method of teaching the multitude. Jesus desired that through this new and strange teaching, the multitudes would reappraise what they were hearing and turn to Him.
We see, in this context, a number of important lessons for us as believers. The first is that we should be careful how and what we hear. In verse 24, we are told to be careful, or to take heed of what we hear. In Luke, the same statement says to be careful how we hear. They are much the same. Both taken together imply that we control what and how we hear.
Hearing is a function of our inner attitude toward God. The words Jesus spoke up to this time to both the disciples and to the Scribes and Pharisees were the same. But what the disciples heard and what the Scribes and Pharisees heard was different. Each heard based on his attitude toward God, and we do the same.
Another lesson is that what we do with what we have determines what we get from the Lord. The Law of Use applies to us today as well as it did to them. If we want more of the Lord, we must give more of ourselves to Him. There is no other way to receive than to give. The Bible says, "Give and it shall be given unto you." As we give ourselves to the Lord, the Lord will give Himself to us. As we commit ourselves to hear and obey His Word, He will give us more revelation. As we open our hearts to do His will, He will not only reveal that will to us, but give us the strength and power to accomplish it. God desires to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom to us. As we are open and receptive, He will give us ears to hear. May God give us soft hearts and open ears.
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