Mark 4:1-20 tells the story of Jesus teaching the famous parable of the sower and the seed. In this parable, the seed represents God's Word and the different types of soil represent different human responses to God's Word. Jesus was a marvelous teacher and often spoke in parables, stories which illustrate truths about God and His kingdom. Jesus pulled from the common, every day realities of life, things like seeds, trees, birds, herding sheep, tending vineyards, and investing money and shed light on the nature and character of God's Kingdom. He was the greatest of teachers, drawing huge crowds, and followers and often it is noted that he was so good and so clear precisely because He used parables to make it easy for people to understand. Yet Jesus plainly states here that he uses parable so that some people do NOT understand. And we step back and ask, "can this be? Is this the same Jesus who claimed that God had sent His Son into the world so that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life?" Is this a contradiction? Does Jesus not want everyone to know God and understand and be saved?
First, what did Jesus really mean? Think of it this way. Jesus is saying that the parables are meant both to reveal and to conceal. He is saying that God actually reveals truth to some people and conceals it from others.
God is a God who reveals and that is what His Word is all about. He wants to be known and He wants us to know Him and that is why He inspired and gave us the Scriptures. So what of Jesus's statements in Mark 4:9-12?
Well take a look at Matthew 21:33-46. In this account Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard and its tenants and at the end of the parables it says this, "when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him..." So they did understand the parable and yet they did not really hear it. John 6:60-71 gives an account of Jesus teaching difficult things and some of His followers leave Him and quit following, others, like the Twelve Disciples, stay with Him in spite of His hard sayings. Jesus says in v. 64 that those who left did so because they did not believe and in v. 69 the disciples stay because they do believe.
The issue is one of attitude: do you approach Jesus in faith or do stand aloof in unbelief? It is a matter of the orientation of your heart. If you believe then you see; if you do not believe then you are blind. If you have faith then you hear; if you refuse to trust then you are deaf. So two people can listen to the words of Jesus and both hear the same words, get the point, and understand the meaning and yet one believes and they really hear and see and the other one rejects and they are truly deaf and blind.
It is about your response to Jesus Himself. God will reveal Himself through His Word to those who humble themselves, believe, and obey but God will conceal Himself and His Word from those who exalt themselves, deny Jesus, and live for themselves.
The question is ultimately personal: when Jesus says, "he who has hears to hear, let him hear," do you hear and believe? For only then do you really see and to to you God will reveal Himself and His Word. How will you respond to Jesus?
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