Mark 4:10-12

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” -Mark 4:10-12

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What the heck is going on in this passage?  It almost sounds like Jesus doesn’t want people to understand his parables.  Is Jesus actively working to keep people from understanding him?

Of course not!  

Jesus reached out to the lowly and the rejected in society.  He reached out to prostitutes, Wall Street type who has cheated people of money, and so on.  Jesus wants everyone to be in a right relationship with God.  That’s why he came to earth and died on the Cross for our sins and resurrected.  

So what’s going on in this passage?  When Jesus says “those on the outside” he is talking about those who have already hardened their hearts toward God and His message of love.  To those whose hearts do not want anything to do with God, they are simply getting what they want—a lack of intimacy with God.  Remember that Christianity is a love relationship and any love relationship requires both parties to CHOOSE to love the other.  Choice is implicit in love.  Otherwise, it’s not love, it’s robotic and programmed.

This passage is describing those who have chosen to reject God’s love relationship with them.  They don’t want God so God doesn’t force them into the relationship with Him.  Notice the grace and mercy of this passage.  Everyone hears the parable!  Everyone is invited into a relationship with God, but some accept it’s truth and obtain “the secret of the kingdom of God”—salvation through Jesus—and others reject its truth and as a result they never get the blessings and the joys of an intimate relationship with God.

If you’re reading this devotional, you probably have a desire to want to grow deeper in your relationship or understanding of God.  Keep pursuing Him by reading the Bible, praying, reading Christian books, singing praise songs, and hanging out (fellowshipping) with other believers!  When we begin to pursue Jesus, he always gives us what we want—more of Himself.  Jesus IS the “secret to the Kingdom of God.”