The Great Divide: Why Jesus Obscures the Truth
Introduction: The Sanitized Jesus
We live in an age that has tried to domesticate the Son of God. The modern, sentimental portrait of Jesus is that of a gentle teacher who just wanted to make everything simple, accessible, and inclusive for everyone. He is presented as a master communicator whose primary goal was clarity above all, so that no one might be confused or left behind. His parables, in this view, were little more than folksy illustrations, spiritual pabulum designed to make the profound truths of God palatable for the simple-minded masses.
This picture is not just wrong; it is a flat contradiction of what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says about His own teaching method. When the disciples come to Him with a straightforward question, "Why do you speak to them in parables?", His answer is a thunderclap that ought to shatter our modern sensibilities. He tells them, in effect, that He uses parables not simply to reveal truth, but also, at the same time, to conceal it. The parables are a divine instrument of separation. They are a spiritual watershed. For those with ears to hear, they are a window into the very mysteries of the kingdom. For those without, they are a wall.
This is profoundly offensive to the democratic, egalitarian spirit of our age. We want information to be neutral. We want truth to be available to all on the same terms, as though it were a public utility. But the knowledge of God is not like that. It is not a commodity to be consumed; it is a gift to be received. And God, in His absolute sovereignty, determines the recipients. The parables of Jesus are not just stories; they are a tool of judicial hardening and gracious revelation, simultaneously. They are the savor of life unto life for some, and the savor of death unto death for others. They force a crisis. They demand a response. And in so doing, they reveal the true condition of the human heart.
Understanding this passage is crucial for understanding the nature of God's Word, the reality of divine election, and the terrifying responsibility that comes with every sermon you hear, every passage of Scripture you read. The Word of God is never neutral. It never returns void. It is always accomplishing its purpose, which is twofold: to save and to judge.
The Text
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will 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 them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; 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 WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD 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 to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
(Matthew 13:10-17 LSB)
The Foundational Antithesis (v. 10-11)
The disciples' question in verse 10 is direct and born of genuine confusion. They see the crowds, they hear the stories, and they perceive that the message is not landing. "Why do you teach this way?"
"And Jesus answered and said to them, 'To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.'" (Matthew 13:11)
Jesus' answer establishes the fundamental antithesis, the great spiritual divide that runs through all of humanity. Notice the language carefully. It is not, "To you who were smart enough to figure it out," or "To you who were morally superior." It is, "To you it has been given." Spiritual understanding is a gift. It is an act of sovereign grace. The mysteries of the kingdom, the secrets of God's redemptive plan now being unveiled in Christ, are not discovered by human intellect but are revealed by divine fiat.
And the other side of this coin is just as stark: "but to them it has not been given." This is the doctrine of sovereign preterition, which is simply the necessary corollary to the doctrine of election. God is not a frustrated deity, wringing His hands and hoping everyone will "choose" Him. He is the sovereign Lord who gives the gift of understanding to whom He will. This does not mean God is unjust. He is not obligated to give this gift to anyone. That He gives it to some is pure mercy; that He withholds it from others is pure justice, as we will see. The parables, then, are the instrument that makes this division manifest in the hearing of the crowd.
The Law of Spiritual Returns (v. 12)
Jesus then lays down a spiritual principle that governs how this gift operates.
"For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him." (Matthew 13:12)
This is the law of spiritual returns, a principle of spiritual capitalism, if you will. It is a terrifying and glorious reality. The one who "has" is the one who has been given the initial gift of a receptive heart, of spiritual ears and eyes. To that person, the one who receives the Word with humility and faith, God gives more. More light, more understanding, more grace, leading to an abundance. The Word of God is a seed that, in good soil, multiplies exponentially.
But the inverse is also true. The one who "does not have" a receptive heart, who hears the Word with pride, cynicism, or indifference, will lose even the little light he possesses. The parables present a measure of light to everyone. But for the hard-hearted, that light serves only to increase their condemnation. Their refusal to steward the initial light results in the forfeiture of that light altogether. This is why a nation that has the Gospel preached in it for generations and rejects it becomes darker than a nation that never heard it at all. Judgment is proportional to the light rejected.
Parables as Judicial Blinders (v. 13-15)
Jesus now connects this principle directly to His use of parables, and anchors it in Old Testament prophecy.
"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 them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled..." (Matthew 13:13-14)
The parables are the mechanism of the principle He just stated. They function as a divine filter. The story presents truth in an earthly vessel. The humble heart, given the grace to see, looks through the story to the heavenly reality. The proud heart sees only the story and is confirmed in his blindness. They are looking at the very incarnation of Truth, and they see nothing. They are hearing the words of eternal life from the Logos Himself, and they hear only noise.
And this is not some new, harsh tactic. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9-10. When Isaiah was commissioned, God told him that his preaching would have a hardening effect on a rebellious Israel. Jesus is saying that this same judicial principle is now at work in His own ministry. The people's hearts have become dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes they have closed. Notice the culpability. They are responsible; they have actively closed their own eyes. But God's judgment upon this rebellion is to give them what they want. He seals them in their self-chosen darkness. The "lest they... return, and I would heal them" is one of the most terrifying phrases in Scripture. It is a divine judgment that confirms the sinner in his sin, preventing the repentance that he himself does not desire.
The Beatitude of Perception (v. 16-17)
After this heavy word of judgment, Jesus turns to His disciples with a word of profound comfort and blessing.
"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 to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Matthew 13:16-17)
The contrast is sharp. "But blessed are you." Why? Not because they were intellectually sharp or morally pure. Peter was about to prove that multiple times over. They are blessed because their eyes "see" and their ears "hear." They have been given the gift. Grace is the only distinguishing factor. This should crush all spiritual pride within us. If you understand the Gospel, if your heart loves Christ, it is not a testimony to your wisdom but to God's unmerited favor. You are blessed because God chose to bless you.
And this blessing is placed in its grand, redemptive-historical context. The disciples were living in the fulcrum of all history. Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, all the great saints of the Old Testament, saw the promises from afar. They longed to see the Messiah, to see the kingdom dawn in the person of the King. And these disciples, these fishermen and tax collectors, were seeing it firsthand. They were hearing the mysteries of the kingdom from the mouth of the King Himself. This is an incalculable privilege.
Conclusion: How Do You Hear?
This passage forces a question upon every one of us. How do you hear the Word of God? Do you come to it as a consumer, looking for something that suits your fancy? Do you come as a critic, with your arms crossed and your heart hardened? Or do you come as a beggar, knowing that you are blind and deaf, pleading with God to give you eyes to see and ears to hear?
The principle of Matthew 13:12 is still in effect. Every time the Word is preached, you are either accumulating spiritual capital or you are going further into spiritual debt. You are either being softened or you are being hardened. There is no middle ground, no neutral territory.
If you find yourself understanding the truth, if the Gospel is precious to you, then the only proper response is profound gratitude and humility. "Blessed are your eyes." It is a gift. And if you find the Word to be dull, confusing, or irrelevant, then you should be terrified. It is a sign that a judicial hardening may be setting in. Your only recourse is to cry out to God for mercy, to ask Him to unstop your deaf ears and open your blind eyes, lest you be like the crowds who saw the Savior of the world and perceived nothing, and heard the words of life and understood nothing.