Matthew 13
v.11
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Jesus’ answer cannot legitimately be softened: at least one of the functions of parables is to conceal the truth, or at least to present it in a veiled way. In fact, it is entirely possible that the first word in Jesus’ response (left untranslated in NIV) is “because.” The disciples ask, “Why do you speak, etc.?” and Jesus replied, “Because the secrets of the kingdom have been given to the disciples but not to the others listening to me.”
v.12
Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
v.13
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
Jesus affirms that what is taking place in his ministry is, on the one hand, the decreed will of God and the result of biblical prophecy and, on the other hand, a terrible rebellion and chronic unbelief. This places the responsibility for the divine rejection of those who fail to become disciples on their own shoulders while guaranteeing that none of what is taking place stands outside God’s control and plan.
This sheds much light on the parables. It is naive to say Jesus spoke them so that everyone might more easily grasp the truth, and it is simplistic to say that the sole function of parables to outsiders was to condemn them. If Jesus simply wished to hide the truth from the outsiders, he need never have spoken to them. His concern on mission (9:35-38; 10:1-10; 28:16-20) excludes that idea. So he must preach without casting his pearls before pigs (7:6). He does so in parables—i.e., in such a way as to harden and reject those who are hard of heart and to enlighten his disciples. His disciples, it must be remembered, are not just the Twelve but those who were following him (see comment on 5:1-12) and who, it is hoped, go on to do the will of Father (12:50) and do not end up blaspheming the Spirit (12:30-32). Thus the parables spoken to the crowds do not simply convey information, nor mask it, but present the claims of the inaugurated kingdom and so challenge the hearers.
For example, the parables of the soils not only says that the kingdom advances slowly and with varied responses to the proclamation of that kingdom but implicitly challenges hearers to ask themselves what kinds of soil they are. Those whose hearts are hardened and who lose what little they have do not participate in the messianic kingdom they have been looking for, and for them the parable is a sentence of doom. Those who have ears to hear, to whom more is given, perceive and experience the dawning of the Messianic Age; and for them the parable conveys the mysteries of the kingdom.
v.31-32
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
v.39
and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
v.40
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
v.41
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
What is clear is that Jesus ascribes to himself the role of eschatological Judge that the Lord assigns himself in the OT.
v.44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
When a person sees it and hears it, it is his duty to sacrifice all that hinders his obtaining it, and to seek it with the earnestness with which other people seek for gold. The truth often lies buried: it is like rich veins of ore in the sacred Scriptures; it must be searched out with diligence, and its discovery will repay a man for all his sacrifices, Luke 14:33; Philippians 3:8.
v.49-50
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
v.52
He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
The truth, new or old, which you have gained, keep it not laid up and hid, but bring it forth, in due season and on proper occasions, to benefit others. Every preacher should be properly instructed.
v.58
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Unbelief is the great hinderance to Christ’s favours.
We are not to suppose that his power was limited by the belief or unbelief of people; but they were so “prejudiced,” so set against him, that they were not in a condition to “judge of evidence” and to be convinced. They would have charged it to derangement, or sorcery, or the agency of the devil.
And when there is little true belief, and prayer is cold and formal, there the people sleep in spiritual death and are unblessed.
This was a source of profound grief and frustration for Jesus rather than something that stripped him of power.