10But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12so that
| 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them."' |
This is another one that was hard for me to understand. I just looked up the meaning of the word lest in the dictionary. It means "for fear that". Is Jesus saying he wants them to see and hear but not perceive or understand for fear that they would turn to Him and their sins be forgiven? I would have thought Jesus would want everyone to turn and have their sins forgiven. I thought that is why Jesus came. He came to save everyone, especially those currently "outside" the Christian family.
Once again, there is an interesting choice of words here. It does not say he presents things in parables for the given reason. It says to outsiders all things come in parables. To an outsider, these are just unique stories. They cannot grasp the meaning or underlying faith statements. Why? Because they don't want to turn to Christ -- "lest they should turn..."
But the beauty of parables over direct instruction is they would be enjoyed and remembered by everyone, even those who don't want to learn of Jesus. Some day, they may turn to Christ and at that time these parables will already be with them and the true lessons will be revealed to them. If Jesus had gone with direct instruction rather than parables, He probably wouldn't have had as many outsiders even bother to listen.
The other thing that strikes me in this passage is Jesus' statement that "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God". This does not mean all the secrets of the kingdom of God had been revealed to the apostles. This is very clear as we continue on in the scripture and see the that apostles still didn't get it. But it does mean that we, as those who want to know and love Christ, have been given the desire and ability to grasp the meaning behind the parables. As with the apostles, God's kingdom will be revealed to us pieces at a time. Jesus says we all have been given the ability to perceive and understand His Word. That is why continuous faith education and Bible study is so important. Even rereading the same text will often shed new light on our understanding. God wants us to know the mysteries of His kingdom. He has given us the ability. We just need to study and open our hearts to what He feels we are ready to understand, or what we need to understand in our current life situation.
What I am writing here are the thoughts and reactions I have to the Bible passage I am studying. I believe that the messages and meanings I am gathering from them are the things God wants me to know for right now, for my current needs. Someone else studying these same passages may get a different message for what they need. Neither message would be wrong. In that respect, reading and studying the Bible is a very personal thing. God will talk to each of us through the Bible. It is our job to read and listen.