This question had troubled me for years. It seemed as if
Jesus didn’t want the unbeliever to come to the knowledge of the truth and to
be saved – contrary to the Scriptures claiming that God wanted all to be saved
(2 Peter 3:9). His words had seemed unfair to me:
·
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do
you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given
to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been
given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an
abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and
hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the
prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never
understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart
has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they
have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and
understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’” (Matthew
13:10–15; ESV; Isaiah 6:9-10)
Why didn’t Jesus speak clearly to the people so they
could understand? They did not want to understand! Elsewhere, Jesus
described them as lovers of the darkness, the lie rather than of the truth:
·
And this is the judgment: the light has come
into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because
their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and
does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19–20)
God didn’t shut their eyes and ears. They did! Paul claimed
that God had eventually allowed these lovers of the darkness to go their own
way:
·
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the
dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the
truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up
to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those
that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations
with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing
shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their
error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave
them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:24–28)
They got what they wanted. It was because they had turned
away from God that He turned from them, allowing them to pursue their passions
– “the lusts of their hearts.” Nothing unfair about it! Therefore, Isaiah
proclaimed: “For this people’s heart has grown dull.”
When God allows us to go our own way, we inevitably become
more corrupt both in our “dishonorable passions” and in our “debased mind,”
(Romans 1). This introduces a harder question:
What would have been the harm had Jesus taught more
plainly rather than in parables? Why did He keep His truths hidden? I think
that He has always wanted to make a clear distinction between His children and
the children of the world. All too often, it seems as if the children of the
world are more impressive than His own children. Therefore, one of the reasons
that the Lord brought the 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, and not on Israel, was
to make a clear distinction between the two peoples:
·
“There shall be a great cry throughout all the
land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a
dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that
you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and
Israel.” (Exodus 11:6–7; 9:4)
He also makes this distinction in another way. As God allows
those who reject Him to go their own way, their minds and lives become
corrupted. Meanwhile, His children become wise:
·
“Many shall purify themselves and make
themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of
the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.” (Daniel
12:10; 2 Timothy 3:13)
We are beginning to see the foolishness of this world more
plainly as sound principles of justice are overthrown in favor of Marxist “justice,”
which gives preference to groups deemed as “oppressed” over those individuals
who are innocent of criminal activity. Boys can no longer be considered boys,
or even called “boys.” Instead, it has become a matter of choice.
And yet, such foolishness is according to God’s plan, in
which the wicked are allowed to become more wicked and more foolish, the great
divide:
·
Let the evildoer still do [more] evil, and the
filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do [more] right, and the holy
still be holy.” (Revelation 22:11)
Rather than ensuring that everyone would have exactly the
same things, our Lord sought to clearly distinguish between the two groups:
·
“For to the one who has, more will be given, and
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mark 4:25)
How will it be “taken away?” By their own choices; by their
love of the darkness of the lie. Consequently, they will call the evil “good”
and the good “evil” (Isaiah 5:20), and the world will see it. Some will wake up
(2 Timothy 2:24-26) to the lunacy, others will stumble in the darkness, hating
any ray of the truth. No wonder the parables! They would attract those who love
the light and repel those who didn’t.
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